Snorkeling with the mantas, am I a travel blogger now??
So hello welcome back, maybe I’m finally hitting my newsletter groove although I’m coming home in two weeks so is there any point??
This edition of the newsletter is all about SNORKELING. Indonesia is pretty much best of the best for diving and because I am not yet dive certified I snorkeled. Julia too but she’s not going to get dive certified so snorkeling is her acme (is that the correct way to use acme? It’s in my lexicon cause I’ve been doing many crosswords. Whatever you get it.)
The snorkeling though, wow. Best ever. We took a short flight from Bali to Labuan Bajo, gateway to explore the island of Flores or the Komodo National Park archipelago.. and not much else. Unfortunately. We had two days in town shouldering the snorkeling adventures and there was nothing going on. So there, we found the reason I’m rapid fire writing these newsletters. Boredom. Sorry to sound petulant it’s just so hot. Okay enough. Talk to me if you’re planning a trip to Indonesia. You should absolutely come to Flores but the general internet is wrong about how to do it.
Now to the good stuff. We spent three!! days island hopping. Some of it on land, but most in the ocean. At one point Julia and I were dropped off on a sandbar, in the middle of the sea, surrounded by turquoise water, and I thought no way is any of this real. This isn’t something normal people get to do. You could tell by the mega yacht idling next to us. Then we saw a turtle and swam next to it for ten minutes. It lazily munched on sea flora before it wandered off beyond the reef to join a little turtle friend. So yeah, not normal. Maybe just do it.. quit your job?
The reefs here are alive and colorful!! Purple and green.. and white and grey.. but hey, we love a mostly un-bleached reef!! And so many fishies! Nemos and other kinds! I saw two cuttlefish! Have you ever seen a cuttlefish? They look like fluttery squids with octopus beards. And the water was so clear. Sixteen meters visibility. What’s that in feet? Do the math yourselves lazies. 16x3.2 is _____. Let me know. Or don’t, I saw it in real life. Drifting high above scuba divers as they investigated the ocean floor, popping their air bubbles, they had no idea we were there.
How much do you know about manta rays? Admittedly I didn’t know much before this trip so no judgment. They’re a little bit endangered, ‘vulnerable’ technically. And giant. 5.5 meters from fin to fin. Startlingly huge when you find yourself nose to nose with one. We were lucky enough to snorkel with two grown mantas and two lil babies. It was sick.
It’s finally time for us to get out of Labuan Bajo and back to Bali. It’s raining, hope our flight is not delayed ** I’m sending this a few days later so can say we made it back to Bali with no delays. Enjoy the photos, love you all!! Kisses and hugs, smooch you all in real life soon!!
PS feel free to reply to this email! So it’s less like I’m writing to no one. And because it makes it more fun.
One of our manta friends
An on land adventure, seeing the Komodo dragons in their natural habitat. I know what you’re thinking and don’t worry, it’s movie magic we didn’t actually touch him.
Padar island at sunrise. I don’t love being trotted out for sunrise views but it was pretty.
The reality of these types of tours. Crowds.
Ok this was actually very cool. At sunset the flying foxes take to the sky, leaving their mangrove island home to eat. (The little black specks are the bats)
On the way to our sandbar