Wednesday 4th May 2022 – Watu Boga Beach to Wodong

After breakfast I went ashore to have a look around and to visit the local fishermen and their families before heading off. I took with me the large filleting knife that I found while I was out diving.

 

As soon as I got to the beach, I was surrounded by happy laughing kids who all walked with me along the beach up to where there were three houses set back behind the trees. 

I stopped at the first house to chat with a nice man and his wife who were relaxing out the front. I gave him the knife I found and his eyes lit up and a huge grin appeared across his face.

 

While the moment was right, I pulled out four packets of shitty ginger coffee that Luke had purchased by mistake and I asked him if I could trade them for four coconuts.

He said no problem, but he also asked if I had any more sun glasses. I said unfortunately we had already given them all away.

We chatted for about half an hour, showing him on my phone where we had come from and where we were going and he was amazed. I wanted to see the other two houses and people, so I said to him I’m going for a walk and I will drop back later to pick-up the coconuts.

At the next house were many young men, one playing a guitar. They were very friendly and curious to know where I was from and what I was doing. Like the last couple, none of them spoke English, but we managed to communicate well enough and they all wanted to take a selfie with me.

The final house was much larger and had chickens and a large well for their water and a couple of dogs hanging about. All houses were very basic and were only occupied now and again when they came here to go fishing. They were all from a village about five kilometers away.

Every house was very neat and tidy and there was no rubbish in sight and the kids were clean and well mannered. They spent their time working on fishing gear, boat engines and relaxing. It seemed like a very idea relaxed stress free life style.

These people were so nice and friendly and interesting to talk to, it was hard to leave, but finally I walked back to the first house to collect my coconuts and dragged myself away from the playing kids to head back to Sirocco.

 

We departed Watu Boga Beach at 10:45 to sail to the Ankermi Dive Resort at Wodong 35.8nm / 6.5h away. The passage was uneventful and the weather was good and we arrived around 16:30 in the afternoon, finding a nice sandy bottom in around 15m about 400 metres from the dive resort to anchor for the night.

 

Right away we dropped the dinghy and headed in to see if the resort was open. It looked deserted and a bit overgrown but I walked in anyway and called out to see if anyone was about. A startled woman cautiously approached us to see what we wanted and after I explained we were yachties looking for a feed, she relaxed and invited us in.

 

I also asked her if she was able to organise us a driver to take us to the Kelimutu volcano to see the three coloured lakes. She dusted off an old brochure to show us the prices and went away to call the driver to see if he still owned a car.

 

She hadn’t had a guest for 2 ½ years because of COVID and was completely broke and couldn’t afford to do any maintenance on the beautiful little resort her & her deceased husband had built.

 

The roof had collapsed on a couple of the rooms and nature was taking over, but she had managed to keep a couple of local girls on as staff. She was worried we were going to rob or rape her and I think she kept the girls on to keep her company and for protection.

 

Claudia, originally from Switzerland, who was the owner invited us back at 18:30 for a feed while she sent the girls into town to purchase some produce. To kill some time, we went for a long walk down the beach where we got swamped by some of the locals to take selfies with them. I don’t understand why everyone wants to get selfies with us, it’s like being a celebrity.

 

 We then walked up to the main road where I got a Kimberly cool Bintang in a road side warung, before wandering back down to the resort dining room for a lovely meal and a nice chat with Claudia.

 

It turns out the driver still owned a car and was eager for work, so it was all arranged for a 07:30 pick-up after breakfast at the resort.  

Around 21:30 we headed off into the pitch-dark night to try and find Sirocco without a torch and without any lights on the boat. We made it back without any dramas, but we need to make sure we are a bit more prepared with a torch and anchor light on in future.

   

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