I wish domestic US flights treated passengers like this. Cathay Pacific is constantly feeding us. Big switch up from peanuts and pretzels.
Let’s see a flight from JFK to Vancouver 5+ hours then Vancouver to Hong Kong, another 6 hours and a 4 hour layover. Thank goodness for Priority Pass. Sat in a comfortable lounge with wifi and was able to eat breakfast once again after the Cathay Pacific breakfast. Lovin these Asian noodles and vegetables.
Almost last leg of trip... I went from Hong Kong to Bali Denespar. Another 5 hour or was it 4 hours? I arrived around 5 or 6 pm local time and it was as dark as 8p in New York.
After clearing customs, I looked for the Ayanna Resort & Spa sign with my name. No sign. Uugh good thing I looked on line in NY for the name of the hotel Cecile sent me. Found the guy with the Ayanna sign however they did not have me on their list. Uugh ...reservation got it mixed up with last night as a pick up. Twenty minutes for a car to come from the hotel. Uhhmm no. I’ve been traveling for 36 hours, I’d like to leave now. Since it was the hotel screw up a got a free ride to the hotel via a voucher…sweet.
I met up with Cecile at the resort. The place is gorgeous. It used to be the Ritz Carlton, need I say more? There is an Infinity pool overlooking hill. Hotel is on a cliff. It’s a really nice property. I should have come a day ealier to enjoy the spa. That’s a definite in the future… long cross continent flight, then you need at least 24 to 36 hours to unwind from the air travel. One half day and back on another plane not so good. On the way back definitely will do a massage before I head back home. Aah yes and another awesome breakfast buffet at Ayanna niiiice.
In the airport we meet up with representatives from Arienui. We saw Luigi who sold us the trip at Beneath the Sea. He told about the Komodo dragons we will see on the trip. If you get bitten by one you will die right away or you live through the bit, but will have health problems the rest of your life. Evidently these dragons have a multitude of bacteria. The bacteria is what kills ya and that’s how they kill cows. The cows needless to say die a long a painful death. Note to self … don’t touch the dragons… not that I would any way.
We met two honeymoon couples who were going to stay on the Arenui. Josh and Abi (San Fran) and Drurie and Ted (Brooklyn).
Once we arrive in Labuan Bajo, there is a 10 min drive to the boat. We then took a tender to the Arenui. We waited to get our room assignments. Cecile and I had a room with two twin beds on the upper deck, but because of some last minute cancelations…poor us! Cecile and I get a room to ourselves . Whoo hoo. Life is good!
Ayanna Resort and The Arenui
Dive Log … Stardate 2011
July 24
First day of diving. I have to get the kinks out. Last time I dove was last July in Roaton. Brought baby with me (Nikon D80 with 2 YS 110 strobes and Sea and Sea housing. I was cold. OMG and we are going to south were it will get colder. I hope my 5/7mm suit will keep me warm. The 3m I was wearing was not doing the trick.
After the second dive after lunch I felt a sore through coming on as a result of my allergies kicking in after the air line flights. I skipped the 3rd dive and just slept on the top deck. When I awoke from my nap I had no voice. With the help of lozenges and vitamin C and Benadryl I nursed myself into fair diving condition the next day.
July 25
With what I now think is a sinus infection, is getting better. I dove 3 sights. Two dives needed negative entry because of the current. Negative entry is something I need to work on. Each time I came up. First time using a rock hook on a dive. Way cool to attach oneself and just hang as the current and fish go by you. Had my 30 min massage today. Found muscles I didn’t think were sore.
July 26
Komodo Island. Lizards who's saliva is so toxic you either die after one bite or you live through it but health wise you are never the same again. Supposedly the lizard has venom that is pressed into the open wound they have made. The venom makes you bleed out… no coagulation. We saw a couple of them. One had its belly full with a monkey he had eaten the other day. There’s a story that a Swiss tourist decided to go looking for dragons on his own. They never saw him again. Only remains were his sunglasses and watch. Wait a minute. When are we getting back to the base? Excuse me! No one informed me that this hike was going to be hike of about 2 miles in the heat. I would have bowed out on this little excursion, especially since I was only walking around with Tevas.
No diving today for me. I’m too congested and the hike through Komodo island hike killed my calves.
I’ll dive tomorrow. The site we are on has a lot of opportunity for macro pics. I must make up for the non diving day.
July 27
It wasn’t that cold. I’m not shivering in my 5/7mm given the temperature dropped. I need to switch to manual on pics. Too hard to adjust exposure and shutter speed underwater. Saw 2 octopi on second dive before lunch. Also saw a turtle. Sinus infection better, but it’s a pain coughing underwater. Got a couple of shots of nudibranchs .
July 28
It’s Manta Dive Day! The mantas come to this dive spot out from open ocean and into the National Park area for a cleaning. Before we even exit the tender, Cecile has spotted 3 mantas close to the surface. We enter the water and hook ourselves to coral as the current is strong in the Manta washing area. As I descend close the base of a mound of coral I notice that inside the coral something is moving. OMG it’s an eye of an octopus. I took a couple of pics, however the exposure is off. My attention is now directed in search of the mantas. Tobi our dive master is with Cecile. Lucas and I move to another location.... and there they are so graceful. Manatas!! This is an awesome dive. Second dive I have to do video to get the full effect! Best dive ever!!!!
On the 2nd dive a manta the size of 2 sofas hovers above us about 15 to 20 feet. The view is amazing! You can see the under markings of the manta. Each marking is a like a finger print to the mantas. Okay Cecile I got it. Net trip we go to the Maldives or Raja Ampat to see more of the big stuff! This is awesome!
I skip the 3rd dive of the day to do the night dive. The dive was great. Lot’s of marine life was pointed out to me by Tobi. Pics were coming out pretty good till my strobes drained. It appears that I can’t use them for a primary night source of light and still have juice left for pics. It was a shame though. I had this really good pic lined up of a frog fish and some other weird marine life who’s name escapes me.
July 29th
Last day of diving and I push and do all three dives for the day. On one of the dive I go with no camera as we were told that the current would be swift. It wasn’t it was more of a muck dive. I could have taken some cool pics on this dive.
Dinner is taken on the top deck tonight and the staff provided us with a little entertainment.
July 30th
Our last day on the Arenui.
We were originally scheduled to disembark at 9:30a, but since our flight is a 4:30p, the owner has graciously allowed us to stay later and they’ll serve us lunch too!
The staff escorted us back to the airport and didn’t leave until our plane arrived. Sad good byes. Really good trip.
Komodo Underwater
Komodo Dive Sites
The Arenui is my new benchmark as it relates to live-a-boards. The level of detail provided to ensure that their passengers are well taken care of is superb. Where do I begin? All we had to do was eat, dive and sleep. Everything, I mean everything was taken care of.
- The staff was very attentive and accommodating
- The food was fabulous. I gained five pounds on this trip!
- They rinsed and hung up our suits after every dive
- Our gear was setup for every dive.
- Our nitrox tanks were pre-analyzed for us. (If you wanted to analyze yourself you were free to do so.)
- Our beds were turned down every night and a chocolate was placed on the pillow.
- We had a welcome massage
- We had a welcome drink when we boarded.
- When we returned from a night dive we had a hot towel placed on our heads as well as a cup of hot chocolate.
- When we finished our dive the staff assisted us in removing our wetsuits . They then handed us our labeled room towel.
- They properly washed and cared for our camera equipment
- They checked in our luggage upon departure and called ahead with excess baggage fee amounts for us.
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