Our Indonesian Sailing Adventure

As we arrived in Lombok we were greeted by nice man called Jeff that offered to drive us to the nearest town, Senggigi. As we spoke I told him that we were interested in doing a sailing tour so the clever little guy drove us straight to their office so we could arrange our trip for the following day (later on we found out that the town was covered in tourist centres that sold and arranged similar tours so very clever of him to get to us as soon as we walked off the ferry). In the end we paid 2 500 000 Rp (1560SEK/€156), which we've now in hindsight has found out to be about 500 000Rp more than what we could have got it for if we were aware exactly how much you can bargain with the Indonesian tour operators. Anyhow we got the following from booking with Lombok Adventure Travel Tours:
- One night stay in Senggigi with breakfast in the morning
- a 4 day/4night sailing trip including all three meals a day and tea, coffee and six bottles of water for the duration of the trip (you could choose to buy extra drinks through the company before boarding but the system didn't really work since they forgot a lot of the stock)
- snorkel gear (due old stuff so leaked quite a lot and was on the edge of being mouldy)
- open return bus ticket from Flores on the 24 hour bus back to Lombok (including the two ferries)
- pick up in Mataram in Lombok and transfer to Gili Air (including the ferry)

Day one:
We got picked up at around 9am and arrived at the boat that would be our home for the next 4 days at around 11am. We got settled in to our sleeping arrangements and had some lunch shortly after.

Our sleeping deck

This is when my personal nightmare started and my sea sickness kicked in. I spent most of the afternoon on deck with my eyes closed trying to sleep my way through the motions. I managed to crawl upstairs to our beds aka mattresses on the floor to sleep but I woke up in the middle of the night needing to pee. The boat was rocking back and forth with such a force that it was impossible for me to make  it out without stepping on anyone even though there was only three people between me and the opening. After apologising my way out I made downstairs to what I thought was the only toilet which consisted of a hole in the ground and a bucket of water (turned out that there was a proper toilet and paper around the corner but I had focused so much on surviving my sea sickness that I missed that one). Anyhow, as I was figuring out how to lock the door the boat hit a big wave and I went flying in to the door, pushing it shut, and even over the edge a little too far. So there I was on a boat rocking away, peeing in a hole whilst trying not to through up somewhere on the Indonesian sea. As I was going to open the door, I realised that it was stuck after I had fallen in to it and as there was no handle I tried to pull the door open by tugging on the little fishing line attached and also grabbing the upper part of the door where there was a small gap to pull it open but I was not only unsuccessful I also slipped on the floor and went crashing down so when I thought I had hit rock bottom before this was now the new low. I sat down on the floor banging on the door and shouting for help but everyone was asleep and the engine was loud so no help was around. The small toilet felt like a sauna and I could feel the panic starting to take over so with one last try I stop up and thought "fuck it, I will brake down the door if that's what it takes but I am not spending the rest of the night in here" and then there it was; the fresh smell of air and freedom and with my new found freedom I crawled to the railing and through up the dinner I had desperately tried to keep down before making my way back upstairs.

Our home for 4 days

Day two:
We started off bright and early and I was so happy to see land again. We swam to shore before taking the short hike to a waterfall through the river. It wasn't anything special from below but some people climbed it and said it was lovely from the top but after my traumatic night and lack of food in my body I decided to be safe rather than sorry and stayed put. We headed back to the beach instead where I laid down and tried to feel the earth and it's calmness instead of the constant movement from the night's rough sea. Ir went so so, but I managed fine and we got to our second stop of the day which was the salt water lake, my priorities here was primarily to breathe and try not to vomit even though we were on land. In the afternoon we started our massive sail which was an 18 hour overnight nonstop sailing. I was far from the only one that did not feel the love from the sea during this time and dinner time involved more food coming up then down amongst both myself and my fellow passangers.

Day three:
Without a doubt this was the best day! After that night we were all in desperate need of some good fun and excitement. First we stopped at a beach where we could also go for a hike at the top of a mountain, I made it half way before my not fully recovered body said enough.

After regaining some power we headed to Manta point where yes indeed we snorkelled and swam with mantas! A truly amazing experience even though it was hard work as the current was quite strong and we were in open sea. This was the kind of energy we all needed!

We finished the day outside Komodo Island where the fun continued after dinner when the disco lights came on and the music put on. We even had a little taxi bar boat pulling up next to us selling beers throughout the night as people ran low.

Day four:
We started the day bright and early, eagerly watching the state of everyone as they emerged for breakfast. We arrived at Komodo Island at around 7am and was meant to go for a two hour trekk around the island to spot the famous Komodo Dragons but the guide had no interest in doing so whatsoever and we turned around after half an hour and ending up standing in front of a house with dragons around it for another half an hour. The disappointment was high in the group as we headed back to the boat and on to another two hours of sailing. We arrived at Rinca Island where we met a great guide that actually gave us information about the animals and took us on a trekk around the island.

Sunrise over Komodo Island

Dragon nest at Rinca

The Komodo Dragon only lives in the Komodo National Park and are deadly animals as they can kill you with just one bite. They can kill a buffalo and normally eat once a month but then they can eat up to 60kg in one go. They attack by biting and then the late the deadly poision spread and as the buffalo gets weaker and weaker over the following 3-5 days the dragon returns to eat it once the animal has died. There is an anti dote though, however, the only one is stored in Bali, which is completely logical right?

As fascinating as it was we were more than ready to arrive in Flores and check in to a hotel/hostel/guest house well, anything with a shower really! It was such a great feeling and then knowing that my bed for the night wouldn't be on water made it an even better feeling to get off the boat. All in all, I'm glad I did it but if you are a bit unsure on the water I would recommend to simply make an alternative way to Flores and go to manta point and Komodo on a day trip instead!