Once we got to the island we found a bungalow for $10 each including full board, and hung out with our neighbors for a little while. At this resort, Lestari, everyone eats communally and so we all get to talk and socialize. This was one of the best parts about staying on these islands. We had Canadians, Austraians, Germans, English, Spanish, and Indonesian people all represented at the tables here. Every night we ate amazing food and sometimes we got arak, or palm wine to drink for after dinner.
One day we decided to go diving. The dive site was interesting: a sunken B24 US bomber plane from WWII. The ride out to the site was beautiful, as the Togeans are as lovely from far away as they are up close. We passed by sea gypsy villages where the only access they had was by water, with children fishing off of the docks and cats jumping from house to house over the water. The lifestyle there is so different from what I am used to. We dove underwater where the plane was, and we found an interesting underwater world where we were flying above the plane! All around it fish were swimming, including some juvinile batfish, and beautiful corals were growing on the metal. Right on the tip of the machine gun sprouted a burst of vibrant purple coral that was serving as a home for some rainbow-hued fish. A perfect symbol of peace for our tumulous world. When we arrived back at our island we saw a rainbow, and I slipped into the crystal clear lagoon to look joyously upon this spectacle. It was unreal.
The next day we went on a boat trip with some other people from our guesthouse. We rode for an hour and got to a beautiful uninhabited island, the beach was amazing and only for us! We froliced in the warm, clear tropical waters under the equatorial sun. We donned our snorkels and swam out past feilds of underwater coral to another part of the island. We walked over some sharp volcanic rocks and found a lagoon. In the lagoon were hundreds of jellyfish, but these jellyfish had no stingers, so we swam all around them, poking and playing with them. It was strange, but cool. Like you go on those tours that are like "swim with sharks" or "swim with dolphins" but this one was "swim with jellyfish". Haha. We swam back to the beach and had lunch. The rest of the afternoon we spent in the ocean, having chicken fights and playing frisbee. Sadly, Travis's faithful camera that he has had for our whole trip broke this day by getting salt water inside. RIP Sony Cybershot.
One day we rented snorkels and decided to hike to a beach across the island. With our entheusiastic canine escorts we set off on the trail. The going was lovely, through green jungle peppered with coconut trees, butterflies, and wild mushrooms. Our hopes were high about finding our own private deserted beach to snorkel on. We marched past a big hole filled with water and some little campsites with hundreds of discarded coconut shells nearby. The paths began to branch off and we made sure to remember which ones to take. Soon, however, the paths became too numberous and we decided to head back. We eventually did reach a beautiful white sand beach, it just happened to be the one we started from. We spent the rest of the day marveling at the gorgeous coral fish we found just off the beach in front of our very own hut. In the evening we watched the sun set. After dark we could see so many stars in the sky, and in the water were so many bioluminescent algae! We stomped on the pier and it was an explosion of light as the organisms responded to the movement in the water.
On our last night we had a birthday party for Randy, an Austrian man who was staying at Lestari. A fruit platter was prepared, a tray of sweets, and the arak was flowing. At midnight, an amazing home-baked cake materialized. We all sang (or stumbled through) "Happy Birthday" for Randy. I must admit I felt a little jealous, as my birthday only a week earlier had been spent on a bus. We all got a peice of cake and began eating. We were all a little toasty by this time, and we were playfully smearing icing on each other's faces. Then someone threw a peice of watermelon, and someone got cake in thier hair. Call me a nerd, but I realized that it was time to leave at this point. Party was over. I ran away as a raging food fight erupted behind me. Travis and I went to the long pier and relaxed away from the rowdy crowd.
Oh Togeans, how did we ever tear ourselves away? These islands are surely one of the most magical places I have ever been, and will only get more magical in my memory, as places like this tend to. We are now on to other wonderful things, such as my parents being here to visit me in Thailand!
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