From Sengigi Chris and I were driven in Priscilla to a bus station in Mataram, about half an hour down the road. Prepared with a takeaway nasi campur for lunch, we sat on the curb and tucked in, eating with our hands whilst we waited to board the bus. Unbeknown, the new, clean, luxury bus with toilet and wifi waiting in front of us was not our bus, and we were ushered into the back of a pickup truck along with numerous parcels and boxes of all sizes. It was a bumpy journey sat on some railings in the back of the pickup truck, as we crossed the city to the actual bus station. Due to our eagerness we had nearly two hours to wait at the dusty, dirty bus station. So we plonked ourselves down outside a small warung and bought an iced tea. We were approached frequently by locals, some trying to sell various fruits, drinks, or fried foods, others trying to sell us bus tickets, and even some cheeky young boys who seemed as though they were out to steal. We kept our wits about us and soon enough they got bored of trying and moved on. I purchased some juicy oranges from a local fruit lady to take with us on our long journey ahead.
Soon enough we were on the bus, which was actually very nice as far as SEA buses go, with plenty of leg room, and not many seats taken. There was even a toilet on board. The first leg of our journey was a couple of hours back over to the eastern side of Lombok, to Lebuhanlombok. From here we boarded a ferry which took us over to the neighbouring island of Sumbawa. We had experienced many slow ferries whilst travelling around the Philippines, but none had on-board entertainment! A blind middle-aged man, along with two middle aged musicians (one on guitar and one on keyboard), as well as a young female, took to the small stage at the front of all the seating. I have to say it was definitely entertaining, but perhaps not in a good way. They sang various Indonesian songs for the entire two hour journey, making the journey seem fairly fast. Then it was back onto the bus for a long night ahead…
The bus stopped at a roadside warung at 11pm for us all to eat dinner, which was also included in our ticket. The small bowl of noodle soup, with our own helpings of rice and crackers filled a hole and took away our hunger before we tried to catch some shut eye. Since the bus was partly empty, we were able to take two seats each. As always, it is difficult to get any ‘proper’ sleep on a night-bus, but we managed to catch a couple of hours shut eye in between the sudden breaking, sharp bends, and a chain smoking driver.
At 4am we arrived at a bus station in Bima, only to be hurried off of our bus and ushered quickly onto a rickety, rusty, local mini bus. We assumed that the hurry meant it would be leaving shortly, but not surprisingly we were very wrong to assume. One hour went by….two hours went by….and nearly three hours went by before the bus filled up with locals and we left Bima bus station. It was then another couple of hours to cross the remainder of Sumbawa Island to reach Sape. Here we had just enough time to purchase the ferry ticket over to Flores, eat a quick breakfast of nasi campur, and purchase another to take with us for lunch. We boarded the ferry for our final leg of the journey. Finding a couple of benches near the front middle of the ferry, we placed our bags and selves down for the eight hour journey over to Flores. It was a beautiful day, we had plenty of food and drink with us, so we embraced our day sat on deck as we slowly passed by the many islands of Indonesia.
Finally, the 30 hour journey from Sengigi to Flores had come to an end, and we arrived early evening into the port town of Labuan Bajo. However, having not been able to find many cheap options for accommodation online, we arrived with no booking, and therefore needing to hunt around. It had been a while since we had walked around with our backpacks on in search of a room, and soon enough we were both losing our patience. The level of cleanliness in most rooms we looked at was appalling, and the prices were high for the rooms being offered. After an hour or so of walking around, Chris suggested we find a moped to hire, leave our backpacks with the office, and scoot around, saving our legs and time. Within half an hour we had found a new, modern, and very clean guesthouse set up on the hill overlooking the bay. Since it was now quite late, Cornelius (the host at ‘Palulu garden guesthouse’), gave us a very good price for his pride and joy room, with the condition of us moving to the cheaper room if we wanted to stay longer. We were more than happy with the offer, as the room was really lovely.
During our time searching for a room we had noticed a bustling seafood street market near the port, so with no question, we scooted straight down for dinner. We chose a decent sized red snapper for us to share, along with some rice and vegetables. It didn’t touch the sides and soon enough we were back to the room for an overdue shower and sleep.

Cornelius cooked up our favourite banana pancake (not!) for breakfast, then we were off in search of accommodation. We were hoping that perhaps in the daylight we would see further options and find something reasonable. However, this did not turn out to be the case, and weighing up our options, we decided it was best to stay at Palulu, with Cornelius and his abundance of cats.
It was now lunchtime so we stopped by ‘Warung Mama’ for a local lunch. We were able to choose the type of rice (white, red, or yellow), then choose from a spread of meat dishes and various vegetable dishes. We both ended up choosing the same; beef rendang with coconut vegetables, and some tempe fried in soy sauce to share. The beef rendang was up there with the best! The meat fell apart in our mouths and the flavours of the sauce were absolutely delicious. Just what we needed after a disappointing morning of searching around for nothing.
In theme with our day, we spent the afternoon researching dive shops. One of the main reasons for our epic journey over to Flores was to dive in Komodo national park, home to some of the most biodiverse coral reefs in the world. Of course it was also to see the Komodo dragons, but with our new found passion and hobby, diving was taking priority. Luckily, after visiting around five different but all highly rated dive shops, we both new that after our visit to ‘Uber Scuba’ that there would be no question about which company we would use.
The girls at Uber Scuba recommended a coffee shop which also had wifi, something we didn’t have the privilege of having at our guesthouse. ‘Café-In-Hut’ was a quirky but pricey coffee shop, but the frappes were to die for. The choco mint frappe was heavenly, and to top it all off, was served with an Oreo on the top of whipped cream. We spent most of the afternoon here before crossing the road to 'La Cucina', an Italian restaurant for dinner. We both fancied something other than rice for dinner, but unfortunately it was a bad decision to eat here. The food was extremely bland and Chris was literally forcing himself to eat his pizza. We were gutted as it was also much more than we would spend on an average dinner.

Having realized we would be staying at Palulu for nearly a week, we decided we would have to speak to Cornelius about the banana pancake and see if he could cook us a local breakfast. As it turns out, he is ‘too lazy’ to cook nasi goreng for himself so once he has cooked up the banana pancakes for his guests, he drives to the port and buys a parcel of nasi goreng from a local vendor. Basically it was a no and we would have to deal with the greasy, very buttery, banana pancake! So after forcing the pancake down we jumped on the moped and headed inland to find Cunca Walung waterfall. We followed the main road for about half an hour, passing by small villages with locals lining the streets and children holding out their hands to 'high-five' us as we rode by. Then we turned off onto an extremely daring track. It was a combination of patchy cement, rocks, dirt, and sand. At some points I jumped off as I saw what was ahead and decided I would rather walk and leave Chris to concentrate on him and the bike. But as always, Chris’ riding skills took us safely to our destination.
Somehow along the way we had befriended a couple of locals who were also on their way to the waterfall. We weren’t too sure at first if they wanted to be our tour guide or friend so we were a bit standoffish. The entry fee included a local guide so we happily followed the old man with no shoes on down the dusty track, passing through the farming village. The two locals continued to walk with us and as we spoke more we began to understand that they were local students just wanting to practice their English and tell us more about the area. One was studying tourism so for him it was a good opportunity to put his studies into practice.
The walk down to the river was about 40 minutes, along dusty pathways and climbing through the forest. A short paddle and clamber across the river and we arrived at a canyon. We were a little confused as we couldn’t actually see the waterfall, but we were informed it was a short swim along the gorge to reach the waterfall. However, to get to the river you could jump from the ledge, roughly 8 metres above the water, or climb down the rocks. After watching a couple of western girls make the jump, we decided we would go for it. Together we stood near the edge and I egged Chris on to jump first. He made it look easy and was encouraging me to make the jump sooner rather than later. I peered over the edge a couple of times and then something inside me just said ‘jump’, and so I did! I crashed into the cold water and appeared with relief and a smile. The jump was exhilarating! A definite adrenalin rush and a sense of achievement! We swam no more than 50 metres along the gorge and squeezed our way through some rocks to find a small but very powerful waterfall. It had created a natural whirlpool, pushing us to the edges against the rocks.
Having climbed our way back to the ledge, we sought the warmth from the sun and tucked into some snacks. We got chatting to an Italian couple who had also hired a moped and made the journey from Labuan Bajo. Finding lots in common, we arranged to see them later that evening and organize a trip to Kanawa island for the following day.
The trek back to the village was pretty tough. It seemed much steeper than we remembered, and by now it was 1pm so it was the hottest part of the day. The sun was beating down and causing us to drip with sweat. We were definitely glad to reach the flat land of the village nearly an hour later, and even more glad to jump back on the moped and feel the breeze. Chris managed to weave his way up the dodgy track and back to the smooth tarmacked main road.
We rode straight to Warung Mama for a late lunch and I couldn’t resist the delicious beef rendang. We also struggled to ride past Café-In-Hit without stopping for the incredible choco mint frappe and chilling in the quirky air conditioned café. The remainder of the afternoon was spent relaxing, and after returning to the seafood market stalls for a dinner of bbq’d prawns and a grouper, we met Guilia and Omar (the Italian couple) for a few beers at a bustling bar.

The four of us, myself, Chris, Guilia, and Omar, chartered a boat to take us over to Kanawa island. The small rickety old boat took us the hour journey to the secluded beautiful island of paradise. Privately owned, Kanawa has numerous small and basic huts which can be stayed in, however at a very costly price. Therefore we had to settle for a day trip.
As we climbed onto the jetty and walked towards the island we were greeted by clear blue water and white sandy beaches. From the jetty we could see loads of star fish lying on the sea bed and an abundance of needle fish swimming on the surface. We couldn’t wait to get our snorkels on and see what else we could find. So we quickly found a shaded spot on the beach, lay down our towels, and all headed off into the sea. The tide was out so we had to be careful when swimming around not to touch the beautiful corals. Perhaps it was luck, or the time of day, but as we swam out towards the drop off we spotted a blue spotted ray. It was massive! The biggest we have seen yet, diving included. The snorkelling was really great, a lot of life, and the vast amount of star fish and sea stars made the area different to our previous snorkelling experiences. After over an hour of swimming around we headed back to shore, and lucky for Chris, he caught sight of a small reef shark.
We all tucked into some snacks and dried off in the sun. Chris and I took a wander around part of the island, being nosey and capturing some beautiful pictures of the perfect island. Not before long we were all feeling very hungry, and along with the boat transfer we were provided with nasi goring. It was cold and very bland, but filled a hole, and gave us some energy to head out snorkeling again. This time we were lucky enough to spot a green turtle casually munching away on the sea grass and another blue spotted ray close by. We followed the turtle for ages and he was more than happy for us to rest on the surface and observe him. However, when Chris went to dive down to take a closer look, the turtle was not too happy about that and shot off within seconds.
We had time to dry off and relax a little more before climbing aboard the boat for the journey back. Chris and I later returned to the seafood market stalls for dinner. Having seen many customers order calamari the previous night, this was an easy choice for us to try. The pile of fresh calamari which we dipped into a homemade spicy sauce was perfect. Some of the best calamari we have eaten. We also tucked into another grouper as we had enjoyed it so much the previous night. A very meaty fish with not so many bones, which is great for me as I can’t be bothered with faffing around too much! We finished off our evening at a bar called ‘Treetop’ with Guilia and Omar and saying our farewells as they were to leave the island the following morning.

Finally our day diving had arrived! We were so excited to be diving Komodo national park with Uber Scuba. It was an early start, and Cornelius as usual took his time preparing our not so favourite banana pancake! Unlike us, we were the last to arrive and as soon as we walked through the door of the office we set off to the port. The Uber Scuba boat was without doubt the best looking dive boat in the port. We were welcomed on board with a spread of doughnuts, buns, bananas, tea and coffee. There was a small group of eight of us for a twenty seat boat, so we had plenty of space. After a short briefing with regards to the boat, the day ahead itinerary and the diving groups, Chris and I went and took a seat on the comfy beanbags at the top deck. Not before long everyone realized that these were the best seats on the boat, so everyone squeezed in for the hour and half journey over to Siaba Besar, our first dive site. The waters around Komodo national park are a tad cool, around 24/25°C, compared with the 28°C we prefer to dive in! Luckily we were provided with a full length 3mm wet suit, however neither mine nor Chris’ fitted us properly, they were slightly too big and therefore wouldn’t do the job they were supposed to. Needless to say when we took the giant stride we definitely felt the cold water.
Siaba Besar was a great dive site to begin the day. Very easy conditions, some nice coral areas and a large sandy bottom. During our briefing we were told that we have a chance of seeing seahorses along the sandy bottom. So when our dive guide asked what we were hoping to see on this dive, I immediately said to him that I was desperate to see a seahorse. After swimming around the coral and seeing the really cool frog fish, a leaf scorpion fish, loads of turtles resting and some sleeping on ledges, a crocodile flathead fish and harlequin sweetlips, we swam towards to sandy bottom. It wasn’t long before the guide waved us over and pointed to a very camouflaged and small thorny seahorse! I was ecstatic inside, as obviously it is hard to show how excited you are 20m underwater! Then he pointed to another seahorse, which when you see two seahorses together it will always be a male and female. Then a few metres away we found another! We were so lucky. As well as the seahorses, lots of dwarf lionfish were hanging around a small area of coral. It was here that we also spotted some banded pipefish.
Back on the boat it was hot tea and watermelon for a snack and straight into the sun to try to warm up. We had an hours break on the boat as we travelled to our next dive site, Manta point. Manta point was a 2km in length natural cleaning station for manta rays. Luck had never been on our side when trying to dive with mantas before, so we never get our hopes up too much. The briefing for Manta point was exceptional. We were shown a basic diagram of the dive site and thoroughly explained about the strong current, how to dive safely and reserve energy in this situation, and how to act around the mantas. Mantas are very curious so can swim very close to divers and even perform acrobatics.
As we prepared to jump in we noticed loads of manta rays feeding at the surface. A great sign and got us very excited and eager to get going. It was a quick descend as the current was fairly strong and as we dived deeper the current became even stronger. There was no point in finning as the current took us along the dive site at a good speed. We had our eyes wide open, searching around in hope. After a good 20 minutes we had still not seen any mantas, just a blue and yellow ribbon eel which looked like a small snake peering out of the sandy bottom. I thought that would be it, no chance of seeing any, and luck was again not on our side. However, I was wrong to give up and when I heard the tapping of our guides pointer stick on his tank to indicate that there was a manta ray my heart was racing. There one was, a few metres away at a cleaning station. Whilst we all scrambled around to try and find a large piece of dead coral to hang onto, the manta made it look extremely easy staying in one place in this strong current. I couldn’t help but laugh through my regulator as I grabbed hold of dead coral to find that it stayed in my hand and moved along with me. Finning against the current was simply not enough, and it really helped to find something to attach yourself to. Luckily we did manage to find a rock to hold our body weight, but we still had to fin frantically, and make our bodies as stream lined as possible. During which we could enjoy the sight of a 5m wide manta ray being cleaned by wrasse. My heart was racing, both from excitement and exercise. It was absolutely fascinating. Reluctantly we let go of the rock and the current took us further along the dive site. It was worth the risk as soon enough we came across another couple of mantas who very kindly interacted with each other before one swam off. Further along the dive site we saw an eagle ray and another manta being cleaned. Just as we thought our experience couldn't get any better, as we surfaced all of a sudden we were surrounded by manta rays feeding on the plankton. It was unquestionably one of the best experience of my life as a couple of manta rays swam right up next to us and performed an acrobatic sequence. These mantas were 4/5/6m wide! It was magical and a real highlight of our trip. Beaming from ear to ear we climbed aboard the boat. We couldn’t stop talking about the experience we had just had, and according to the free diving instructor, this was the most manta rays he had seen this season.
Another reason for choosing Uber Scuba was the promise of a freshly prepared lunch on board the boat. Lunch was some of the best food we have eaten in Indonesia. A delicious curry sauce served over large chunks of chicken, rice and plenty of vegetables. Just what we needed after two dives and one still to come. 
Batu Balong (“Hollow Rock”) was the third and final dive site and was not far from Manta point. It is a rock pinnacle that lies in 75 metres of water, right in a channel, and therefore it is home to some of the strongest currents in Komodo national park. This also means however that it is a high-action dive site and the fish life here is always a full-on festival! And what a festival we saw! The colours were exuberant and every species we saw seemed to be bigger and better than usual. I can only describe the dive site as like swimming in an overfilled aquarium. Due to the strong current it was not possible to swim around the pinnacle, instead we zigzagged our way up, turning around when we noticed the fish swimming and struggling more than usual as they were trying to fight against the current. We saw plenty of turtles, a white tip reef shark, loads of lionfish, napoleon wrasse, and huge hump-heads. As we swam closer to the surface the free divers were able to reach our level, which was cool and impressive to see them diving down without the scuba gear. With the sun beaming down, near the surface the colours jumped out at us. At some points it was difficult to even see the coral with the amount of fish around. A truly beautiful and special dive site. We surfaced in amazement. It had been a fantastic day and to top it all off ended with tea and biscuits.
As always we were tired and hungry, so we popped back to the seafood market stall for our new found favourite calamari and grouper for dinner. It was an early night for us after the exciting day and not only that, we had a couple of adventurous days planned ahead in search of the Komodo dragons…..!