For those of you who know me it won't come as a surprise when I say, "Me and any form of the deep blue anything are not particularly good friends". But.....this morning I overcame my distaste for the deep blue of the Java Sea and by 6:00 a.m. (Before the sun was even up!) we were out on a traditional Balinese boat with our captain Maleck and a couple from Russia. We were in search of the dolphins that are known to frequent these waters in the very early morning. And yes.....we found them! They are HUGE! Honestly, we both described them more like really small whales than any dolphins we'd seen before.....but then again....I can't think of a time when I've seen dolphins up this close before!
We set out this morning from the Lovina fishing village and there were only about half a dozen boats with us at that time. By the time we got out to where the dolphins were (a good 1/2 hour out) we counted 70 boats! We're not sure where all the other boats came from so are guessing that every little town along this coast has similar fishing boats for hire to see the dolphins too.
As much as I'm not a morning person (nor a water person) I have to admit that I'm thankful Lynda woke me up for the trip this morning. At the start I can't say that was my perspective (I think it was something a little grumpier sounding than that) but by the time we were out on the water (and the sea was calm) all was good as my attitude began to wake up too.
We were out on the water for a total of about 2 hours and in addition to having the opportunity to see at least a dozen sightings of the pod (At least I think that is what a group of dolphins is called) we also got to watch our captain fish on the way back to the village. When you think of a fisherman fishing....do you think of rods and nets or do you think of a simple spool of nylon line held in his hand and tossed out over the side of the boat whenever there was an obvious bunch of fish breaking the surface of the sea. Every time Maleck (our captain) saw their silvery bodies reflecting the sunshine on the sea's surface he would turn the boat in that direction and drag his "line". Unfortunately there was no fish for breakfast this morning but it was fun watching him fish in this traditional way. He had a fly/hook on the end of his line but honestly....all it was was a spool of line and his bare hands.
Sooooo we got to see the sunrise on the sea. We got to see LOTS of huge dolphins up close and personal (the closest were maybe 15 feet from our boat). We got to have a fantastic boat ride in a traditional Balinese fishing boat. We got to watch a "real" fisherman at work. And.....we got to have an adventure walking home too.
Yes, the day was just beginning as the dolphin tour ended. We came home via the fishing village and before we'd even left the beach we were invited to join a family as they sat on a makeshift bench (I think it was an old door laid across two logs). The two women and their children had an abundance of smiles for us along with an offer of Bali coffee. The generosity and hospitality of the people here is endless. This family had so little (in terms of material goods) but they had coffee and they have a desire to share whatever they have. We weren't able to stay for coffee as our breakfast would be waiting at home. Perhaps another day.
Also en route home we passed a woman cooking. Lynda had spoken to her already a couple of times. Well, I may be exaggerating there as Lynda doesn't speak Bahasa or Balinese and this lady doesn't speak English but.....they had communicated enough for Lynda to know that she wanted to support this woman in her "warung". As luck would have it, our host Birgit also happened along at the same time. Birgit is fluent in Bahasa and Balinese and so Lynda and I have put in our order for Nasi Goreng (fried rice) and fresh coconut tomorrow morning at her warung at 9:00 a.m. I'm calling her place a warung but this isn't a restaurant....this is truly where the locals stop to pick up something. Our meals tomorrow morning (including the fresh coconuts) will be a total of $5 and I'm betting it will be tasty too!
Walking back along the narrow little "road" from the village was so beautiful! The trees created enough shade that the temperature was comfortable. There were children riding their bikes, fishing in the creek, and just being kids all along the way. The kids who were fishing were using an old plastic water bottle as their fishing pole. The fishing line was wrapped around the bottle and there was a hook in the end. To "reel in" their catch, they just wrap the line around the bottle and to cast for fish they just let the line slip off the end of the bottle. It is quite an art and not as easy as it sounds. We've watched people in Mexico fish like that there too and are always amazed that they consistently have success with their primitive (but creative) fishing pole! There was a guy sitting on the bank of the creek with his fishing pole looking like he had nowhere else to be for a very very long time. There was an old man (and I mean OLD) squatting down chopping down weeds with a curved blade in his hand. The sights along this little roadway were like something you might see on a documentary....this was the real people living their real lives in a real little village....NO tourism here!
As we left the paved "road" we turned on to the short cut that would bring us directly back to Saraswati (our home). That short cut really is a bit of an adventure! First you walk along the top of a concrete wall that is one side of the creek channel. The top of that wall is about 6-8 inches wide and the drop to the creek is more than 10 feet. When you first step onto it there are some bamboo tree trunks you can grab hold of but once you're on there it is a balancing tight wire act for a good 30-40 feet before you come to another bit of bamboo you can hold on to. Once you've made it across the top of that wall then you move on to a much lower wall and you can either balance on that 10-12 inch wide wall or straddle the ditch that it is one side of. That ditch is about 2 feet wide so straddling it is possible but a bit awkward. As this was my first attempt at this "adventurous short cut" I initially tried straddling it but grew tired of that after a few steps and switched to the balancing act once again. Lynda knew what was coming next and so she had stayed back a little with camera in hand so she could capture the image of me taking my first steps into this tropical adventure trail! You're gonna have to go to Facebook to see those pics though cuz I still can't seem to get them to load to this blog.
Since our early morning antics it's been a pretty uneventful and lazy day so till next time....
L & L
P.s.
Lynda says that if we stay here long enough and if we practice every day she is pretty sure that either of us could qualify for the Canadian team at the next Olympics. We'll likely win the balance beam portion! (The only caveat here is that they can only judge us on the walking part of the balance beam....no dismounts.....no jumps.....no fancy stuff.....just one foot in front of the other without falling into the creek. In fact, now that I think about it, those athletes aren't that impressive at all! They don't have the risk factor of creek beds that are meters below! They don't have the risk of frogs, spiders, and poisonous snakes jumping out at them from the bamboo! WTH? We're already practically perfect! Our intention is to suggest that the Olympic committee add a little spice to those gymnastic events. If there was the added excitement of surprise those little bitty gymnasts wouldn't have a chance against us stable old grandmas. We're kind of like Rocky Balboa....this real world practice will serve us well when we make our international debut! )
P.P.S.
There has been a sudden change of heart! Someone who is on the patio of our hosts home next door to us here just sneezed and we both jumped out of our skin! Crap! We might have to practice a lot longer before we can do the balance beam and win.
No comments:
Post a Comment