We while away the days in the Togian Islands.
After a two-day drive through the mountains from Rantepao, it’s another full day journey on the water from Ampala to the Sandy Bay Resort, on the island of Malenge.
We have to thank Soufiane and Jessica once more for this experience: we share a car and driver with them for the journey to Ampana. They plan to stay in the Sandy Bay Resort, so we tag along.
It’s a short boat trip further to arrive at the resort.
It’s pretty nice, I must say. Even snorkeling in the bay is like a mini Great Barrier Reef.
It’s about $CAD70.00 per day, three meals included (for two people).
The small boats are how we get around.
But it’s hard to get here. And once you’re here, it’s hard to get around: boat schedules and availability of accommodation are difficult to verify without internet service.
A noteworthy day trip is to the jellyfish lagoon. In fact, this is one of the more remarkable places we’ve seen so far. In a lagoon cut off from the sea, we drift in bathwater-temperature water for an hour among serenely floating sting-less jellyfish. It’s like ‘floating among corpuscles in a blood vessel’, or ‘floating among souls in purgatory’; pick your own analogy.
We set out for another expedition to several offshore reefs.
In the front are Frans, from the Netherlands, and Alina and Dominick, from Germany.
In the rear (or ‘abaft’ is the nautical term), Soufiane, Jessica, Maria, and a pale-looking me.
Snorkeling on these reefs is like swimming in an aquarium.
We’ve never seen such crystal-clear water.
And the sunsets are superb.
Something to keep in mind: there is no cellphone or internet service, electricity is limited to a few hours of generator-supplied juice per day, and you’d better like fish, because that’s the main dish for most meals. Freshness guaranteed.
Sight or Insight of the Day – Togian Islands
We make an excursion to the Bajau village in Pulau Papan to see how the sea gypsy people live.
Like many countries in this part of the world, the government encourages the ‘Sea People’ to settle in permanent villages.
They have live lobster for sale, but no one has the heart to transport them home to meet a turbulent fate in the pot.
We’re a source of amusement for the locals.
The village at the end of the boardwalk.
