It's a shame that most peoples have no idea about Indonesia often aside from Bali. While Bali itself is a special place there are many many other unknown beautiful locations in Indonesia.
This post is dedicated to shed some light into these relatively unknown parts of Indonesia for potential traveler and photographers who otherwise have no knowledge about this part of the world.
Part one of this post will cover the journey to Flores where you'll be able to witness wild Komodo Dragons, pink sand beach, and three colored lake on mountain crater.
- Getting Here.
Otherwise if you want to visit the capital city with it's 30 MILLION population one of a kind chaotic mega metropolitan renowned for it'sculinary and night life you can land in Jakarta first and catch domestic flight to Flores.
From Toronto the flight takes about 24 hours including transit, so I recommend bringing comfortable clothing and some sleeping pills with you.
The flight will cost you anywhere from $900 to $1500 CAD depending on the season (July --> September is generally the high season). I recommend using Hipmunk to search for your flight as it will search all of the major airlines and deal sites for you.
Upon arrival you will need to pay $25 CAD for 30 days visa entry, no prior application is required.
From Denpasar you will need to fly to Labuhan Bajo, Flores. To book this flight to Flores from Denpasar or any other local flights use Traveloka. The flight will cost around $120 CAD for return trip from Denpasar.
- Getting Around Flores
Our journey was guided by a kind local Flores resident called Floris, you can contact him via E-mail: nandi.florianus@gmail.com
The tour was a 5 days 4 night trip for 3 people which cost around $750 CAD per person.
It includes 3 days and 2 night on boat, hotels for 2 night,car and driver,meals on the boat, all entrance fee and snorkeling gear.
- Day 1 - Labuhan Bajo (Harbor), Kanawa, Gili Lawa
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| Harbor view from the restaurant Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f/9.0 1/250s ISO 100 |
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| Leaving the Harbor Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f/4.0 1/1000s ISO 100 |
After a 10 minutes drive we arrived at the harbor where the crew quickly helped us loading our luggage on to the ship
Kanawa Island
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| Arriving at Kanawa Island Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f/8.0 1/250s ISO 100 |
After an hour of snorkeling on its shallow clear water and calm waves we went back to the ship to our next destination, Gili Lawa.
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| Entering Kanawa Island Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f/8.0 1/250s ISO 100 |
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| View from the beach Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f/8.0 1/320s ISO 100 |
Gili Lawa
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| View from the top Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f/16 1/50s ISO 100 |
After enjoying the sunset we spent the night on the ship with the boat anchored on shallow water near the beach.
Dinner consist of steamed white rice with fried fish and various stir fried vegetables
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| View from the top Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f/10 1/25s ISO 100 |
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| Enjoying the sunset golden hour Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 35mm f/8 1/125s ISO 125 |
- Day 2 - Sunrise at Manta Bay, Pink Beach, Padar Island
Sunrise at Manta Bay
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| Our guide enjoying the sunrise Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f/5.6 1/200s ISO 160 |
After we had our fill swimming alongside the majestic creatures we had pancake for breakfast and headed toward the infamous Pink Beach.
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| Sunrise over Manta Bay Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 70mm f/5.6 1/800s ISO 160 |
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| Sunrise over Manta Bay Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f/5.6 1/1000s ISO 160 |
Pink Beach
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| Pink Beach Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f/8 1/640s ISO 100 |
After another 1 hour boat ride we arrived at Pink Beach.
This exceptional beach gets its striking color from microscopic animals called Foraminifera, which produce a red pigment on the coral reefs.
We did another another hike up steep slippery hill to gain vantage view of the surrounding beaches. After a scary slippery descent we dipped in the water and enjoyed the rich underwater coral ecosystem view.
After lunch on boat we again sailed to another island.
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| Pink Beach from vantage point Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 40mm f/8 1/320s ISO 100 |
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| Our guide looking badass overlooking the vantage point Nikon D10 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f/8 1/640s ISO 100 |
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| Our ship's chef with his cooking |
Padar Island
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| Arriving at Padar Island Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/5.6 1/400s ISO100 |
After a long eventful day we finished the day with 3 hours boat ride to Rinca Island where we will finally see Komodo Dragons in the morning
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| View from top of the vantage point Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/13 1/120s ISO100 |
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| Look at that clear water! Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/13 1/50s ISO100 |
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| Padar Beach view Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/13 1/250s ISO100 |
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| Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh Galaxy Note 3 |
- Day 3 - Komodos! Kelor Island
Rinca Island - Komodos!
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| Wild monkey at the dock Nikon D610 + Nikon 70-200 VR2 200mm f/2.8 1/500s ISO200 |
After a short hike inland we quickly spotted running through the woods a female juvenile Komodo. Within 10 minutes we arrived at the local village and saw a group of large adult Komodos, surprisingly relaxing near the villager's houses.
After taking some pictures of the Komodo we went deeper inland and hiked up the hill again to see the island's landscape
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| Komodo Island National Park Gate Nikon D700 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f4.5 1/5000s ISO100 |
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| Nikon D610 + Nikon 70-200 VR2 200mm f/3.5 1/150s ISO100 |
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| Nikon D610 + Nikon 70-200 VR2 200mm f/3.5 1/150s ISO100 |
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| Nikon D610 + Nikon 70-200 VR2 155mm f/4 1/200s ISO400 |
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| Nikon D610 + Nikon 70-200 VR2 155mm f/4 1/200s ISO400 |
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| Trying to look brave near the Komodo pack Sony Xperia Z3 |
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| View of Rinca Island harbor Nikon D610 + Nikon 70-200 VR2 135mm f/7.1 1/250s ISO100 |
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Kelor Island
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| Kanawa Island Sony Z3 |
We quickly left this island and headed back to Labuhan Bajo and spent the night there before heading to Ende to view Kelimutu (Three color crater lake).
- Day 4 - Ende, Moni
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| Mountainous view during car drive to Moni Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/8 1/60s ISO100 |
The drive takes about one hour through twisty mountain road, be sure to stay awake and enjoy the lush mountain view.
We spent the night at "Bintang Bungalow", again while you won't get 5 stars accommodation, the rooms are clean and comfortable enough. Be sure to try the red fried rice and fried banana as they're quite delicious
p.s be sure to tip your tour guide and ship captain, they don't make a lot of money and $50-$100 tip can go a long way for them
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| Mountainous view during car drive to Moni Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/8 1/80s ISO100 |
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Clear sky with no light pollution Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/2.8 20s ISO3200 |
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| Bintang Lodge Mountainous view during car drive to Moni Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/8 1/120s ISO100 |
- Day 5 - Kelimutu
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| One of the many many stairs to climb Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/9 1/250s ISO100 |
From our hotel Kelimutu is a 45 minutes car ride. Again through twisty narrow mountain road with gorgeous view of rice fields.
Make sure you have a good breakfast as upon arriving at the park entrance you will have to climb up a few hundred stairs to reach the main viewing point.
At which point we were presented with the view of three side by side multi colored crater lake. The lakes change color depending on the weather and volcanic activity. The color ranged from different shade of green, red and blue.
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| Kelimutu Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/9 1/250s ISO100 |
Be careful to not throw anything into the crater as the lakes are sacred for the local population.
After finishing our tour of the crater lake we headed back to Ende and flew back to Labuhan Bajo before flying back to Denpasar, Bali before starting our second leg of the trip.
Be tuned for part 2!
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| Kelimutu Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/9 1/250s ISO100 |
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| Kelimutu Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/9 1/250s ISO100 |
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| Kelimutu 3rd Lake Nikon D10 + Rokinon 14mm 14mm f/9 1/250s ISO100 |
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| Tea vendor at top of the stairs Nikon D610 + Tamron 24-70 VC 34mm f/3.2 1/3200s ISO100 |
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| Rice fields near Kelimutu Nikon D610 + Tamron 24-70 VC 24mm f/10 1/400s ISO100 |
- Parting words
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See you in part 2!
