Indonesia: Alor + Raja Ampat - July 2012
Dear English-speaking readers, this page is an automatic translation of an article originally written in French. I apologise for any strange sentences and funny mistakes that may have resulted. If you read French, click on the French flag below to access the original, correct text:
Français The Indonesian archipelago of Raja Ampat sometimes looks like Jurassic Park. The pretty little island of Mioskon is home to thousands of bats.
A swarm of bats
We believe to arrive on a small desert island of dream, paradisiac, with its white sandy beach and its mini-jungle in the background...
Surprise! The island of Mioskon is in fact a den of bats.
We hear a kind of strident whistle when we approach... It is the cloud of bats... 😲 They come out of their diurnal lethargy at our approach, awakened by the noise of the boat's engine.
The spectacle is striking. But I realize afterwards that we would have done better to approach in silence, engine reduced or cut. Our noisy arrival disturbs the colony of bats. Shortly after they disappear, return to their interrupted nap under the trees...
Mioskon : the pictures
Aside from bats, Mioskon has everything to please. It is located not far of Kri Island and Sorido Bay Resortwhere I spent a few days in July 2012.
The only other guests at the resort, during my stay, are a family of Dutch people on vacation - the parents and a little girl of about 8 years old. They are only snorkeling (fins, mask, snorkel).
Next, Sarah, a young scientist who came to take surveys for Manta Trusta British NGO which works for the protection of manta rays. She dives like me with her camera. So we are perfectly synchronized as underwater partners.
I'm lucky, as I often am, when my solo trips... I'll be doing "private" diving for most of my stay!
I'm happy to meet Nathan, my favorite guide, with whom I had already dived in March. Jimmy or Julia, managers of the resort at the time, who have become friends, also come to dive with us whenever they can. A dream team, for me, the photographer under...
Short. That day, we land the family of Dutch on the beach of Mioskon, after the show of bats, who returned to their trees.
They will discover the corals on their side, in snorkels, with one of the Papuan guides of the resort, while we, the bottle divers, will be busy making bubbles a few meters below...
Because under the surface, the amazing Mioskon is also worth a visit... On the program: giant clams.
