The blue pebble beach
ENHere, the black volcanic sand of the beaches disappears under colored pebbles. Blue, green, sometimes with a hint of turquoise or mauve... A new geological curiosity of the Indonesian island of Flores. This beach is also a kind of open-air mine, where women and children collect and sort the blue pebbles.
Blue Stone Beach
For tourists, this part of the coastline located a few kilometers southwest of the town of Ende, is renamed Blue Stone Beach. The beach of blue pebbles.
In fact, it is a succession of several beaches, which stretches over a dozen kilometers: Nangamboa, Nangapanda, Penggajawa ...
Misir, my driver, drops me off at the end of a beach. It is low tide. On the side of the road, mounds of blue pebbles are lined up, sorted by size and color.
Misir parks the car at the other end of the beach and lets me wander quietly among the pebble pickers. I am quickly spotted.
First, furtive glances, some laughter and exclamations. A small band of children observes me from afar. The kids finally get bold. The less shy ones come to pose for some pictures.
Decorative pebbles
A woman calls out to me, obviously asking me where I'm from. I start the conversation with my usual "Saya orang Perancis" (I'm French). Each time, the few words of Bahasa Indonesia that I manage to gibber relax the atmosphere and earn me big smiles.
There are two young girls with her. One of them speaks a little English. She refuses to be in the picture, but explains me nicely the destination of all these pebbles that they sort, tirelessly: they will be used for decoration. Ornaments for walls, gardens, aquariums...
I continue my way quietly, trying not to twist my ankle on all these rolling pebbles. The children escort me from far. It amuses them to see me photographing the pebbles.
The colors are amazing. The collectors prefer round stones, of a beautiful turquoise blue.
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I end up imitating women from the beach. Squatting on the heels, I also collect several small blue pebbles as a souvenir.
It's funny 😆 , if I didn't have the landscape in the background, I could almost believe I was on one of the many pebble beaches in the Hague region (west of Cherbourg) ❗
The next time I dive there, I'll have a little bit of Asia in my head... 😉
Once upon a time, little Thumbelina !!!
Thank you for making us travel ... That these photos are beautiful and these children touching!
@Laurence: Yes, it's funny, I also thought of the beaches of Normandy, by twisting my feet on all these pebbles...
😆
@Martinoo: Yeah, I'm contented with tiny pebbles, not to weigh down my 28 kg luggage in the hold ...
😀
@ Avril1904: Oh, you're welcome! That's the purpose of this blog. To share my travel emotions, to give a little escape. Everywhere, the kids have really great faces. It reminds me of these other pictures I took in Derawan, a small island near Borneo:
https://petitesbullesdailleurs.fr/bouilles-de-momes-20090922/
🙄
I have just been told that these beautiful blue pebbles can not be transported outside the territory !!
@Rubino: no idea, but it is indeed forbidden to take objects coming from the sea, such as shells, corals, etc. So I guess that's the principle that applies. That said, I can't see people filling their suitcases with pebbles... Hello weight at the airport!!! But there is no worry I think to bring back two-three small pebbles... 😉
Name of the mineral that colors the pebbles blue?