To Swim Or Not To Swim…

A Journey from Lombok to Flores - Part 1

After leaving work to jet off on this journey of ours, we wanted to take time to unwind and find a new rhythm in our lives. Funny really, to be 50 years old and deciding to do things differently and then knowing the best way to do that is to stop at the closest resort and chill. A kind of reset, you might say and then see if we can let go of the pace we had been living for most of our lives.

Leaving Denpasar and heading to Lombok was the location of choice, and we settled into what we can only describe as a sloth-like resort vibe. Not much was really achieved other than a couple of books (Bill is currently tackling Harry Potter 1-7) and the joy of moving rooms after being upgraded halfway through our stay to a villa because they needed our room for 200 doctors coming in for a conference.

**OUT OF OFFICE is on…**

Currently unavailable due to happy hour 🍻

If you would like to know more about our stay in Lombok, have a listen to Episode Two of our Audio Newsletter that is available to stream on Spotify. We also released a trip guide from our time in Lombok, where we share all the details on where to stay, places to eat and some cool locations to visit.

Here is the resort we stayed at: Pullman Lombok Merujani Mandalika Beach Resort

Check it out, Episode 2 is now live on Spotify!

Goodbye Lombok

Despite the title, we didn’t decide to swim from Lombok to Flores; the swimming decision would come the next day. The 18th of April arrived, and bags were packed to leave the bougey comfort of our villa in Kuta Lombok and make our way to the designated cafe meeting point of The Breakery to meet our driver. At 7:30 am, bags were dropped in a pile at the cafe door, and a couple of flat whites were ordered as we started getting to know some of those travelling with us for the next four days.

What a group they turned out to be, and we are very thankful for the lovely people we met over this time. A special shout out to Darby and her Mum, Darlene and despite the challenge of her hip, Darlene did everything we did; there wasn’t a sunset hike or dive off the boat she missed. Thanks to Lea for the extra sweets and teaching us Danish Yahtzee, and Max and Katrin, who should be full-time photographers rather than a financial controller and banker in Germany. Max introduced us to a waterproof phone case for your iPhone, which we had never seen before, and all the amazing photos they took were on this. Here is a link to Amazon if you are interested in buying one -

At 10:15 am, we arrived at the Port to meet our boat for the next four days. The Lady Grace is one of the boats used by Komodo Luxury and is known locally in Indonesia as a Phinisi-style boat. Historically, these sailing vessels were used primarily for the spice trade in South Sulawesi; nowadays, they are just moving spicy tourists who are sailing across the islands in Indonesia.

Lady Grace - Happily awaiting our return

Komodo Luxury offer several different itineraries and, like most of the operators in the region, focuses mainly on trips that leave from Labuan Bajo and spend a few nights in the Komodo National Park. From what we can find, though, they are the only operator that provides a trip from Lombok to Labuan Bajo. It’s a four-day-three-night tour all-inclusive with meals, soft drinks and tea/coffee. Most days, you are getting a light breakfast and then a second breakfast after the morning activity. All up the tour and park passes cost us 17,250,000 IDR. This works out to be about $1,395 AUD for both of us. The only other costs were two Bintang beers and tips for the crew of about 200,000 IDR.

After much excitement, our bags were loaded on board, and we were all huddled together on the main deck under the awning to meet our crew and get our first of our daily info sessions. Our guide for the trip was the joyful Emmanuele, always ready for a laugh and quickly named Bill Will.I.AM.

We set off from the harbour to make our four-day journey from Lombok to Flores. We were designated to cabin three, which thankfully was exactly how the picture online looked. Now, despite what the title of the tour operator suggests, there are varying levels of luxury that are available to those taking this trip with Komodo Luxury. For us on this trip, we decided on a cabin called “Penyu”. The Penyu cabins, I would say, are mid-range in terms of what they offer on board. There is a double bed, desk, toilet and shower. If you haven’t been on a vessel like this before, heads up, you are not flushing paper down the toilet. I am not sure we need to detail the process here other than saying there’s a hose with a nozzle.

Jokes aside, this is a lovely boat and the crew works really hard to make the trip an enjoyable one. Hot tip: if you end up taking a trip like this one, you are allowed to take your own snacks and alcohol onboard. The crew do sell Bintang for 50,000IDR each; however, most people take their own and you can store them in the communal fridge in the main dining area. Our group was a pretty quiet bunch apart from the three Danish girls who decided to empty the contents of their booze on the last night LOL.

Later in the day, we reached our first stop at Kenawa Island. Kenawa Island is an uninhabited island off the coast of West Sumbawa and was the perfect place for a jump off the boat and a swim. In the afternoon, we gathered together and headed ashore for some sunset trekking with the guests on several other vessels in the area.

We didn’t know it at the time, but the boat doesn’t sail and only has an engine, which runs all night to get you from location to location. It’s not till the last night when you are close to Labuan Bajo in Komodo National Park that you anchor offshore. The Penyu cabins, it turns out, aren’t far from the engine room, so the chugging and clanking of the engine through the night is something you just need to get used to. Bill, luckily or not, is a pretty heavy sleeper, so not much wakes him up; however, for Jo, it was time to pull out the new pink eyemask and insert the earplugs (thanks, work colleagues, for the gifts, very handy). We needed to have an early night and get a good rest as we were told to be ready for a 5:30 am start to get ready for the next day. We needed to be up at dawn with the snorkelling gear and cameras.

To Swim or Not To Swim

During the evenings on the Bay of Saleh, local fishermen from villages like Labuan Jambu operate lift nets and bright lights so they can catch anchovies in the area. Some time ago, the local fisherman started to notice Whale Sharks congregating to feed on anchovies that were being trapped in the nets. Over time, the local people, through conservation work and the introduction of eco-tourism, sought to share the experience with tourists. It is important to note that the fishermen of Labuan Bajo believe the Whale Sharks to be protected by gods, and actually there to help fishermen at sea. The local name for them is Kareo dede, meaning “God’s Fish”. The Bajo people follow a strong customary belief that forbids Whale Sharks from being hunted, and they must be protected.

As we woke at 5:00 am, eager to get up on deck for the sunrise, we were still unsure of whether we would actually get in the water and swim with the Whale Sharks. We had arrived in the bay of Teluk Saleh just as the sun was starting to kiss the sea with golden light. A slight ripple of breeze was washing over the water, and Lady Grace had come to a stop with the engine now idling to a low hum. In the far distance, lights from the local fishing boats could be seen marking their location.

We have heard horrible tales of forced feeding the fish to bring in countless boats of tourists every day, who are all fighting for a photo of themselves swimming with these gentle giants of the sea. Because of this, we had been talking about this experience for some time, and it was one that we were pretty hesitant about. Our plan ultimately was to see on the day if we were actually going to get in the water. Now two Australians travelling the world, deciding not to swim with Whale Sharks that day in protest, I‘m not sure would have made much of a global headline. However, this was going to come down to a personal moral choice.

We want to note that the Whale Sharks are not forced to perform or be somewhere at a certain time; they remain in the wild and are not locked in a zoo or brought out on show at a circus. There is an element, though, of human influence, and without a scientific degree (we will leave that to the Marine Biologist in our family), we can say it appears there is a learned behaviour of feeding. Where the difficult choices lie is in how many of us get in the water and then what we do when we are in there.

The boat started to make its way slowly to one of the fishing boats chosen by the Captain to tie up against. Once there, we all rushed to the side of the boat and peered overboard to the back of the fishing boat. In that moment, we could see these beautiful fish gently rising to the back of the fishing boat as fishermen were tossing small handfuls of fish into the sea. The Whale Sharks, splendid in grey with white spots, seemed to be hovering and floating just under the surface with their mouths open. We looked deeply into the sea, and now our own mouths were open in amazement breathing out countless “wow’s”. Emmanuele pulled everyone together on the main deck he looked around and said “It’s time to get in the water”.