The ride inside the channel was pretty. There were islands on all sides of us. As we got closer to the islands in the channel to Timor, we could see that, while there is a lot of foliage, it is actually pretty dry, with much of the shrubbery brown. From 10 miles away we could see the tall structures of the city of Kupang in the distance to the right. We could easily pick out a refinery, with it’s big smoke stack. All the other surrounding islands have few structures, maybe one or two low buildings here or there.

Kupang has a population of 350,000 people. The refinery must be on the edge of town. We passed the refinery and moved towards the heart of the city, looking for the anchorage. The shore line is pretty sad looking. There are a few extremely nice buildings, but most need some serious work, and a few are dilapidated shacks that look like they will collapse at any second. There are several half built buildings that you get the sense will never be finished.

We were pretty sure that we would not be allowed to get off the boat until after the government officials came out to do their inspections, which probably would not happen until tomorrow since today is a Sunday. We were bummed since after 8 days we were very ready to get off the boat. We were even more bummed out because the cruising guide said the anchorage was really rolly, so to us it would feel like a ninth day at sea.

We got a call on the radio from the agent we had hired, Napa. He had been sitting on the beach watching for us to come in. He directed us to a spot he wanted us to anchor at, which was a little farther north than where we were going to drop anchor. While we anchored and got Kosmos situated, he was making arrangements to get the quarantine officer over. By the time we got the dinghy down, the quarantine officer was on the beach waiting for us.

We took Kosmopolitan to shore. The waves were rapid and strong, making it hard to get the dinghy in and beached. The shore is covered in rocks and trash, just adding to the difficulty. We are so glad we have a hard, lightweight dinghy. Both men are middle aged, short, thin, and have big, warm smiles. Napa was dressed in casual clothes, looking ready for the gym, the officer had on a pin striped suit vest over his uniform. We thought the plan was to pick up the agent and officer and bring them back to Kosmos for inspection. Much to our surprise, we were told he wasn’t going to inspect the boat and we would do the paperwork at Napa’s house.

We followed the two men up the steep, crumbling stairs leading from the beach through a narrow walkway between two buildings and emerged on the street. The infrastructure didn’t look any better up close than they did from Kosmos. Eric hopped on the back of the agent’s scooter and Christi hopped on the back of the quarantine officer’s scooter. The ride was only a few blocks up a steep hill. In the few blocks we saw, it was painfully apparent that this is a third world country. There appear to be no zoning or building codes and there was a lot of trash around.

At the house, the paperwork was quick and simple. The officer was really nice. He didn’t ask many questions, and none about the food we had on board. It turns out he needed to be quite a ways away to check in a big boat of people very soon, so he was in a hurry, which is probably why he skipped the on board inspection. Napa walked us down the hill to an ex-pat hangout, a bar, hostel, restaurant and internet café called Lavalon (http://www.geocities.com/lavalon_edwin). He told us he would go to the customs and immigration offices at the airport and do the rest of the paperwork, then meet us back at Lavalon in a few hours when he was done.

Lavalon is basically a covered concrete slab patio, with one computer and a handful of chairs and tables. It is right on the water and has a nice view. There was a menu, but the only thing available at the moment was noodles, so we got two orders. The food was excellent.

We decided to walk around town, but after a few blocks we decided we were tired and it was just too darn hot, so we went back to the restaurant. We are literally in a steam room, with temperatures close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity at close to 100%. Out on the street, most everyone said hi to us. All the little kids we passed would walk up and talk to us. They would say all the phrases they know in English, and giggle excitedly each time they got a response. Most of the kids only knew “What is your name”, but a few could say more. Two of the kids even proudly counted to 10 for us. Most kids were dressed in shorts and adults wore long pants.

Napa returned after being gone almost 4 hours. We didn’t mind waiting on dry land, since it would have been rocky had we waited on the boat. He quickly escorted us back to the beach where the customs guys were waiting. They were probably in their early 20’s and dressed in jeans, not looking very official like at all. From the beach we would see that Kosmos was much too close to a mooring. We all went back to Kosmos, where once again the paperwork was quick and simple and the agents were really nice. They also didn’t ask many questions and only did a halfhearted inspection of the boat.

Once the agents had been delivered back to shore, we turned our attention to the mooring line. The line had managed to get itself wrapped around our stabilizer fin and tightly wedged in the small crack of space between the fin and boat bottom. Christi hopped in and untangled the line, then we re-anchored farther from the mooring. The swim was a welcome relief from the searing heat.

By this time it was 1730 (5:30 pm). Christi was exhausted and went right to bed. Eric managed to stay up until 2200 (10:00 pm).