The journey begins

We began our voyage! Mathias, three young boys who formed the ‘crew’, the Latvian family and I were going to be stuck together (for good times and bad!) for the next few days, through rain and storm and Komodos…

The morning was clear, the sea calm and anticipation high. The wooden boat, that like its furniture on board had seen better days, took off, amidst the roar of the engine. We settled down on the wooden benches, placed around the wooden table (which was to serve as the ‘dining’ table). Mathias began his narration but finding no interested audience, quickly shut up and began to look around for coffee.

Ever since I stepped on Indonesian soil several days before, I had come to change my idea about coffee. I now belived that if coffee was to have a decent place among Indonesian beverage, then it had to be really strong, black and bitter…not like the Bintang, but worse.
I sat on the bow, sipping the bitter concotion, getting used to the boat’s rythm, balancing myself quite well while Amanda and her mother applied sun tan lotion to their delicate skins already turning red. I found that activity particularly interesting. I was convinced that brown skin never tanned and the sun couldnt affect it in any way.

I think I managed a smile and then busied myself with the scenary unfolding infront of me. This was going to be fun, so long as there was coffee, the boat moved over the waters and skies remained clear, I could handle the churning and the rolling.

I am a water person!

Small picturesque islands dotted the sea. Mathias told us that they were not habited, due to the lack of fresh water. The islands only served as a “decorations” in the sea, he joked. However, among the numerous islands in West Flores, Rinca and Komodo Island had few inhabitants. Fresh water was scanty but they survived. So did the dragon and the other wild animals that lived on the islands.