Komodo to Lombok

Sourcing diesel in Komodo Village

Welcome to Komodo Village

Large volcanic island on way to Lombok

Komodo to Lombok

Nov 5 to Nov 7, 2015

We had a few days to relax in Komodo after the park visit. All the boats moved on to another anchorage on Tues or Wed to get through the channel without an adverse current, before a Thurs. departure to Lombok.  Before that afternoon trip, we visited Komodo village and purchased a few jerry jugs of diesel. It was not very clean as we watched it going through the filters, but no problems so far. When we were there a group of 20 university students from Java arrived for a 2 month volunteer work term. Most spoke good English so it was interesting to hear about their projects and studies. One girl is a med student whose home is in Calgary! They will be staying in local homes which will be an adventure after seeing the poverty and simplicity.

We left early Thurs am to get a head start on the fleet. By Fri night we were all travelling together as planned. Fortunately, it has turned out that we do not need to be that careful about our security. The incident in the straights off Bali was not a criminal event. A woman crew member texted that she was being hijacked by the captain of the boat. He didn't want to check in to Indonesia so sailed off to Christmas Is which belongs to Australia. Or this is the current story, which makes more sense.

On Tues of the week one of the volcanoes on Lombok erupted. We definitely could smell the smoke and feel the ash as we travelld. The airports in both Lombok and Bali were closed for a few days which affected a lot of travelers. The ash is like a fine black sand which is covering everything and is ongoing. What a mess on the boat! I am writing this 10 days later and it is still falling. The airport on Lombok is still closed some days depending on the wind. Most of the time there has been no wind, so it is very hot in the closed up boat. We have all taken a holiday from the boat for a few days by taking the ferry to Bali.