Français Indonesia: Sulawesi - July 2007
These first two days in Bunaken have been going at full speed. The dives are up to my expectations: drop-offs covered with a variety of incredible coral. Side fauna, all the tropical panoply colorful is there.
A falling wall teeming with life
Fish-angels and butterflies, scorpion fish, nudibranchs, and the very sought-after leafy fishes are numerous ... I crossed few "big", if not some turtles and napoleons, as well as a pretty eagle ray ... A graceful black triangle seen at far in the blue - too far, alas - that seems to "fly" underwater.
The first day was hot and sunny. But that night, the rain came back in the wee hours of the night.
Gusts of wind creak coconut palms. The sound of the surf is impressive. There are real tides here. Which insulate my beach end when the sea is high. A gray, cottony sky has settled over the bay. That I look at leisure from the terrace of my overhanging bungalow.
The gray weather does not affect the quality of the dives. Grand luxury exploration outings, with a guide for me alone, Salim. He has the eye to spot the most tiny creatures. Suspended above the blue, we float in front of the falling, teeming with life.
Visibility is pretty good, if not very good. A vague sensation of vertigo and the strong feeling of being a tiny thing that makes bubbles, a few meters from the surface, while below the "wall" goes down to no end ...
I get used to the camera underwater immortalizing a green electric nudibranch. I had never seen one, like this one!
I share the first two days the boat with Bettina, a very nice German who travels alone, like me. She left today for Gangga island, another famous island for diving, two hours sailing north of Bunaken. She broke her piggy bank to afford Gangga. On this island, there seems to be only one dive resort for luxury stays. Bettina reveled in advance!
From tomorrow, I'll be on the same boat as Bert and Jeane, the Australians who do not like the stinking cheese I mentioned in the previous post ... Fifty, kind and courteous, but much less talkative than Bettina .
Peaceful atmosphere on Pantai Liang
On return, we "debrief" the dives with our guides, with identification books of the underwater fauna, devouring fresh cakes from the oven. As all the books are in English, the little game is for me to find the names of the critters in French
Dives occupy most of the day. Other than my end of the beach, I do not really have time to explore the rest of the island.
Everyone knows each other here, it's very small. The people are adorable, greet me the morning of a "Pagi" nonchalant, call me by my first name. Kids who play at the water's edge happily take the pose when I take out my camera.
Indonesia: Sulawesi - July 2007