Day 274: Flying Further East in Flores — Soccer Ball Story — Ecolodge in Moni
All of us slept hard. Big day, late night, bellies full of pizza and AC on high.
We convened for an 8:30 breakfast on Margaret and Willa’s balcony.
We got a little dish of Nutella for our toast and pancakes. The kids are such sugar addict slobs that by the end of the meal it looked like they had spread it on each other. James’s t-shirt made it 10 minutes into the day before needing to be removed and cleaned.
Margaret and Willa decided to walk down the hill to the main drag of Labuhan Bajo to check out the shops and maybe hit a pharmacy for a pesky little skin irritation on Willa’s chin.
Turns out there isn’t much to see. It’s a gritty little town with dozens of dive shops and locals selling every possible tour to get you on a boat and cash out of your wallet.
All of this is changing though, if you walk to the end of this street there is a huge resort / marina situation being built. In five years everything will look very different — and according to Marino, that’s both good and bad. The jobs and tourist income is obviously good for the local community, but everyone has seen the shitty parts of Bali and you just know that’s going to happen here.
When Margaret and Willa got back I did a 30 min round trip myself — only confirming their scouting report. The kids took a quick swim while I was gone.
Marino and Jimmy picked us up at noon for the five minute drive to the airport.
There is a bag check upon entering the airport. The x-ray spotted James’s mini soccer ball we got on our last night in Paris. Turns out the issue is just that it’s inflated. We tried to deflate it, which didn’t work. So we gave it to the security guard, who happened to be friends of Marino (he also chatted up an airport employee on the tarmac — this guy knows everyone in these parts.)
We weren’t super attached to this ball. This is our 3rd ball of similar size that we’ve traveled with this year (and it’s never been an issue keeping it in a checked bag). We’re due for a new one.
The security guard was getting off his shift right after this all went down and maybe 30 minutes later Marino had this pic. Happy ending!
Speaking of James’s special items: we believe a new O’s hat has arrived at our first hotel in Australia. Stay tuned for updates!
It was an uneventful 45 min flight east from Labuhan Bajo to Ende, on the southern coast of Flores. There we met Marino’s old buddy Yopi who will be driving us for the next few days. We all piled into his SUV, made a pit stop for snacks and an ATM, and then headed north for the twisty turny 90 minute drive to Moni.
We made a couple photo stops along the way.
The landscape is mountainous with hovering clouds and fog. Willa noted that this place reminded her of Peru. I agree, and especially because the dominant religion here is Catholic, which is really noticeable after several weeks of Hinduism and Islam.
Our destination is the Kelimutu Crater Lakes Ecolodge. It’s a zero-frills place but the grounds are very nice. We have two adjoining cottage rooms.
We’ll stay here for two nights, with a big day planned tomorrow, starting with a sunrise hike to the Kelimutu Crater Lakes.
We got a quick dinner at the lodge and then went to bed early listening to the sounds of frogs, geckos, crickets and the burbling river just down the hill.
