We wanted to go snorkeling today. We thought it would be fun to kayak over to a nearby snorkel spot and snorkel off the kayaks, rather than taking the dinghy. So, first thing this morning, we got the kayaks down. We went to shore and asked the ranger to mark the good snorkel spots on the map. They were all really far away even farther than the hour and half dingy ride we had taken to see the bats. It sounded like we really needed to move Kosmos to go snorkeling. Hmmm”¦ if we were moving the boat anyway”¦

We talked about it and decided that the best thing to do would be to go to the nearby town of Labuan Bajo on the western tip of Flores Island. Komodo Island and the tiny islands north of Komodo are supposed to be some of the best dive spots in Indonesia. The current here is swift and sometimes the water can be treacherous. Many a peal diver has died in the area. As such, there was no way we were going to go out without a local dive master. The closest dive shops are on Labuan Bajo.

The original plan had been to snorkel around Komodo and go diving at the Gili Islands closer to Bali. But, we didn’t have good charts for the Gili islands, which made going to there less appealing. We also weren’t sure what the anchorage would be like. We did have a good chart for Labuan Bajo, and everything we read said the anchorage at Labuan Bajo was almost as calm and flat as the one we were in at Rinca. And, while the diving near Bali was supposed to be good, it was supposed to be better here. So, all factors combined, we decided to go to Labuan Bajo to go diving with a professional and skip the Gili Islands near Bali altogether.

The ride to Labuan Bajo would only be 2 1/2 hours, and it was only 1000, so we still had time to play with the kayaks. We paddled up the shoreline and back. At one point, we saw a break in the mangroves and paddled down a peaceful, calm little river in a cave of trees. We even saw a monkey in the trees. We turned around when the river narrowed too much for us to pass through, then went back to paddling up the shoreline. Eric is near the entrance and Christi is near where we turned around.

Once we were tired out from paddling, we headed back to Kosmos and got ready to go. The ride to Labuan Bajo was smooth, calm and quite pretty as we weaved our way through the little islands. The bright sunlight meant we could easily see the reefs.

From the distance, Labuan Bajo looked cheerful, with colorful, narrow buildings built along the shore and up the steep hill behind the shore. It looks like a painting you see of the Mediterranean.

As soon as we dropped anchor, another boat called us on the radio and offered us the use of an empty mooring, which was nice. We declined as we were already anchored securely. A minute after that, we were approached by a local in a small boat who introduced himself as on of the Harbor Master’s staff. He welcomed us to Labuan Bajo and let us know the Harbor Master’s office was going to keep an eye on our boat for us to ensure nothing would go wrong. He told us to bring our paperwork by his office right away.

We quickly got the dinghy down and went to the Harbor Master’s office, on the waterfront near the charter boat pier. They took all our paperwork and told us to come back for it on Monday, which made us a little nervous, but we also remembered that Napa wouldn’t give us our paperwork until almost the very minute we left Kupang.

Harbor Master taken care of, we set out in search of an ATM. We turned the corner from the Harbor Master’s office onto the main street that parallels the water front. The buildings were not quite as cheerful close up. Labuan Bajo is comparable to Ende, with a few mansions, a few shanties, and the majority of buildings in need of some work. Like Ende and Kupang, the first floor of most of the buildings are small mom and pop storefront shops selling a wide assortment of goods. It definitely feels third world, with open sewers along the sidewalk (the same in Ende and Kupang), chickens running around the main drag, vendors sitting on the dirt sidewalks selling fish and fruit out of buckets, and people burning trash at the side of the road.

Most tourists going to Komodo National Park take a ferry from Labuan Bajo, so Labuan Bajo sees a lot more tourists than Kupang and Ende. This was immediately apparent to us as we walked down the road. Everyone looked at us, and a few people spoke to us, but we didn’t get much more attention than a passing glance from most folks, including the children. A couple of little kids we walked past asked for money as we passed them. We miss being rock stars.

We made dive arrangements and went to a restaurant across the street from the dive shop that the lady behind the counter said was good. We tried a couple new foods. Coconut and tomato soup, which was tasty, but didn’t have a very strong coconut flavor. It was probably made with coconut water, which is much lighter than coconut milk. We also tried a fish and veggie omelet with sweet and sour sauce. It came with calamari rings on top and was very good. There was a nice view of the harbor from our table and a pretty sunset.

Once we were done eating, we went back to the pier and hopped in the dinghy. Within literally a minute of pulling away, it started to rain buckets. Though it was a relatively short ride, we were pretty darn wet upon arrival back at Kosmos.