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Written by: Tricia Welsh
The thrum from our tender’s outboard motor breaks the early morning silence over mirror-like Saleh Bay within the island of Sumbawa. From our Aqua Blu expedition ship we’re making a bee-line for one explicit bagan, a conventional Indonesian fishing boat, we will see brightly lit on the horizon because the solar breaks crimson by broody clouds.
We’re on a mission and have the GPS coordinates to fulfill sure fishermen earlier than they depart for the day, having hoisted their in a single day nets full of anchovies and squid from the deep clear waters under. This dawn ritual has turn out to be the feeding web site for whale sharks that feast off the spillage.
Our plan: to swim with these majestic mild giants! Masks and snorkels on, no flippers for worry of flipping them – and over the facet we go. There could be as much as 5 and even six whale sharks at this location, we’re informed, however this morning there is only one – however we’re thrilled.
Abruptly, I’m eyeball to eyeball with one of many largest fish on the planet. At greater than 18 foot lengthy, this magnificent darkish gray noticed behemoth glides gently round our bare legs sometimes brushing us with its tough 6 inch-thick pores and skin. It’s an eerie feeling as we float mesmerized for timeless minutes as this feminine juvenile gathers the residue of the catch – earlier than swimming off into the nonetheless darkish waters.
Again onboard Aqua Blu, we’re briefed on this slow-moving member of the rhinocodon hypus genus, that may develop to 60 toes lengthy and has a lifespan of some 130 years. Native fishermen hunt them for his or her meat, pores and skin and fins – fragrance being made utilizing their oil. However steadily conservation efforts corresponding to Aqua Expeditions’ gesture to pay fishermen so vacationers can work together with them are proving efficient.
This superior encounter is only one of many highlights throughout our 550-mile week-long expedition cruise by the pristine waters of Indonesia from Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores, by myriad islands and bays of the Komodo Nationwide Park, round Lombok and the Gili Islands to Bali.
Earlier, we had been welcomed on board by cruise director Glenn Wappett, a former British Royal Marine Commando, who has been with the ship because it started cruising right here 2019, simply months earlier than the pandemic. Whereas cruises restarted in Could of this yr, its schedule continues to be being fine-tuned as little-known secrets and techniques are additional found within the largest archipelagic nation on the planet, whose 1,700 islands are scattered over three time zones.
On this barefoot cruise, we’re simply 16 friends aboard the five-level luxurious motor yacht, Aqua Blu, a former British Royal Navy survey vessel, HMS Beagle, inbuilt 1968. After reconstruction and refurbishment overseen by main Dutch yacht designer Cor D. Rover, she has morphed into some of the luxurious small vessels afloat with simply 15 individually designed cabins with ensuites and spacious, snug indoor and out of doors social and eating areas. Gleaming brass stair rails, plush carpets, amassed cushions and sink-into lounges set the stylish tone, whereas regional artifacts and exquisite artwork items give an innate sense of place.
Having settled into our air-conditioned cabins, we meet for sundowners on the highest Solar Deck the place we spot dolphins and move our first volcano because the solar units, turning the ocean the palest blue tinged with tender pink ripples. We later be taught this complete area is a part of the Ring of Hearth – a horseshoe-shaped rim across the Pacific Ocean the place earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are prevalent.
Founder and CEO of Aqua Expeditions, Francesco Galli Zugaro, makes some extent of offering fabulous meals onboard his 5 luxurious vessels. On these within the Peruvian Amazon and the Galapagos, meals is overseen by Peru’s first Michelin-star chef, Pedro Miguel Schiaffino; his riverboats on the Mekong and the Irrawaddy, boast menus designed by Thai delicacies maestro David Thompson.
Dinner on the primary night units the culinary bar excessive: tuna ceviche adopted by melt-in-the-mouth rendang of slow-roasted beef brief rib, natural Javanese prawns and Balinese urup salad with pineapple and ginger tarte tartin and ice cream for dessert. All meals, other than buffet breakfasts, are served en famille at big spherical blonde-wood tables.
With six completely different nationalities to please, it may show a troublesome activity, however consulting chef Ben Cross understands his transient properly. Having honed his abilities within the kitchens of Neil Perry’s Rockpool, Cross runs his personal restaurant, Mason, in Bali. For Aqua Blu’s menus, he has taken inspiration from the close by Spice Islands and the cuisines of India, Morocco and Indonesia. He makes use of regionally grown cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in flavor-explosive dishes corresponding to his 48-hour slow-cooked beef rendang, braised oxtail, grouper in Shaoxing broth, Moroccan spiced rooster and charred chermoula tuna. His meals is great – every meal topping the earlier one. Home wines and beer are complimentary, with a superb spirits and reserve wine checklist obtainable.
Life onboard Aqua Blue is relaxed, informal and really low-key. With a mean age of round 45, friends actively take part in all actions. I’m not a diver, snorkeller or swimmer having almost drowned when 5 years outdated, however I snorkel day by day and even attempt SCUBA diving – such is my belief within the properly credentialled, pleasant and intuitively attentive crew. At full capability, the ratio of crew to passengers is 1:1.
There are dive and snorkel websites aplenty, with often the prospect to discover the underwater sea-life a minimum of as soon as a day. Websites have been chosen for his or her completely different examples of soppy and exhausting coral, the number of tropical fish and the probably presence of rays, turtles, giant reef fish corresponding to trevally and blue-fin tuna. One web site is aptly referred to as Shotgun, the place the fast-moving present carries snorkellers alongside: simply lie again and drift alongside for the experience. So good was the primary drift, we rode Shotgun once more – sighting a hawksbill turtle, a blue-spotted stingray and wall to wall faculties of fish of all sizes – like swimming by confetti.
In Horseshoe Bay, we’re on the hunt for Komodo dragons – the most important monitor lizard on this planet, as a tribe of macaque monkeys certain over the rugged steep terrain above the water’s edge. Via binoculars, we see these cheeky-faced primates that make tasty snacks for dragons. Quickly, we spy deer grazing within the undergrowth – one of many dragon’s essential meals provide. Dragons solely come to the seaside to ambush their prey whereas ingesting at waterholes.
The possibilities of seeing dragons on these seashores could be hit or miss, in accordance with Glenn, however with 20 pairs of eyes scanning for these rock-shaped prehistoric animals, it isn’t lengthy earlier than a mild cry goes out: “Over there!”
The dragon ambles alongside below the shade of historic timber – the entire state of affairs of mild mountains coated in thick jungle development, paying homage to Jurassic Park. The large lizard walks with a assured swagger, its forked tongue whipping out and in to sense the air.
Quickly we spy one other being adopted by a household of untamed boar. ‘Right here comes breakfast’, somebody suggests. However the mom and three infants wander away nonchalantly into the undergrowth to dwell one other day.
On Komodo Island, we go to a rangers’ compound the place two dragons have come to go to. It’s a brand new inclusion, Aqua favoring a extra pure setting relatively than one with numerous guests and vacationer stalls.
On this little-known a part of the world, day by day brings new experiences, new islands and luxurious sunsets punctuated by nonetheless lively volcanoes. A brand new modern-day vacation spot, these waters and islands are steeped in historic historical past and age-old tradition and simply beg to be explored.
And whereas the remainder of the world may know Bali, simply wait until they uncover what’s a bit additional past – simply across the nook. www.aquaexpeditions.com
Written by: Tricia Welsh
