Day 13: Raja Ampat

Day 13: Raja Ampat

There may or may not be a bird of paradise in this pic, THB never saw it in either case

Quote of the Day: 

I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached Bombay

Weather: Raining until around 7:45, then overcast, warm and humid

THB's boat was a little tippy; DB's was tippy AND the engine kept shutting off

It is still raining, hard at times, at the put-in point for the hike

Very early wake-up call, 5:15, and there’s a question of doing the early morning excursion because it is raining. THB and others agree it is too late now we’re up, it’s the last full day and this excursion is different than the others. Pastries and coffee on the tender, about 15 minutes at speed to the mouth of confluence of rivers, and we transfer to motorized long boats.

They are a bit tippy, and the one DB is in also has engine problems. A short ride and we’re on a rocky beach on one of the inlets. It is still raining, so the question to the group is are we going to hike up a small mountain with a chance of seeing the bird of paradise (this bird has a very long set of bright red wings). It’s agreed, we’re all going. It is quite a steep path, some of which there are ropes strung along the way.

Rain is letting up

Toilets! and this is the decision point of going up the hill to maybe see a bird or staying back. Everybody decides to give the hill a try

I think this pic was taken before the uphill hike, just in case some of us don't return (note: the crew is on the left side of the pic and they still have all their rain gear on)

Taken seconds after the pic right above, not sure how Glenn the leader erased himself, some sort of magic trick so he can pretend he wasn't on this excursion?

We're back down the hill, THB only slid a couple of times and the minor scrape on his hip has almost healed (5 days later)

CYS and SAS getting ready to begin the float down the river...everyone wears feet protection

Very pretty as the fog rolls in

The weather has improved so everyone is searching for rocks on the beach

Warm fried cassava for snack

Our local guides taking a group phote

THB and DB and one other person are the last to arrive at the viewing area. A few people have glimpsed a bird (has to be male, the females do not have very fancy plumage), THB and DB never see the bird. Back down the path, it is still raining lightly. THB leads in the slipping categories, 2-1, over DB, and leads the entire 13 cruisers in breaking a hiking stick: THB  - 1, all other cruisers zero. {ed. note: PT, even you couldn’t put this one back together} No photos of THB and broken stick, the locals discarded it in the underbrush.

Part 2 of the excursion: Floating down the Blue river for 20+ minutes with the forest canopy overhead. Water very refreshing especially since THB and the cruisers have been sweating a ton climbing up and down in deep humidity. Very unusual: one huge log to climb over, a number of submerged trees in the water to watch out for, one giant branch (okay, more like a twig) that fell from the canopy and just missed THB, a white cockatoo overhead, and of course another bird of paradise THB can’t see at the end of the float. DB does see it!

Back to Aqua Blu, hot showers, breakfast (two decafs with hot milk for both THB and DB), another episode of Ring of Fire, this one on a lost tribe of Borneo, sorting and packing for an early departure (this will make 4 or 5 very early wake-up this week) in Sorong, and gosh, it’s time for lunch.

A pic from the Ring of Fire movie. Note these are locals climbing uphill in a rain forest with 80 pounds on their backs. And they don't slip and slide like THB does. 

THB goes light on the food and heavy on the lemonade.

DB listens in on the other Aqua Blu itineraries here in Raja Ampat and we join a small group tour of the ship.

Pics from the tour of the ship:

Lots of pink post-it notes: warnings to 6'4" Adrian to not knock his head on the sprinklers

Italian owner installed pink lighting in kitchen

Engine room

Bunk room for two

Add caption

Glenn's room

Mess room 1

Mess room 2

Lower level cabin, M&B leave their shades up 24/7

DB ducks out of the last snorkel of the cruise. Good move: 3 of the divers are snorkeling with 5 all-the-time-snorkelers. They think it is great, the snorkelers rank it well below par: murky, rough, not many fish, decent corral.

DB settles the bill: OMG, we paid over 9 million rupiah. And VISA accepted the charge! Hmmmm, along with a $600 tip in the generic tip jar, turned out we had about $100 in hard alcohol drinks for the week….beer and wine were already included, as were all excursions (even diving was “free”).

Our incidentals and crew tips come to just less than 10 mil

Goodbye dinner is great: rare wagyu beef with chimichurri (not enough for the table by THB’s reckoning, who is craving a large 2^nd portion, let alone a 3^rd), thin sliced potatoes, and a chocolate mousse for dessert. Another 5* meal!

Finish packing (except housekeeping has returned our shoes from the hike/swim excursion in the morning), and THB sleeps the last night away.