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Indonesia/Ubud Round the world trip 2007
6-24
Today we took a snorkel tour to the three Gili Islands: Trawangon, Meno and Air. These are little palm covered sand spits, rising from coal reefs just off the north end of Lombok. We finally found the tourists: hordes of them – all between 20 to 30 years old, mostly male. These are the party islands serving drinks and fun!
The snorkeling was different. None of our equipment was 100% operational, the wind was gale-like and the current was so strong we could not swim back to a site once we passed it! This was drift diving one fast. Where was the pause button? The clarity was crystal, amazing due to the wind and current conditions, but the coral was ravaged. The fishermen use to practice dynamite fishing, plus many careless anchors on top of El Nino heating the water and bleaching the coral that was still alive, created a dead-littered sea floor. Now the area is under protection and in the last few years new corals have been planted and it is surprising how quickly they grow. We saw blues, vivid greens, purple and pinks among the beige and orangey colors of the bleached and damaged corals. Many, many exotically painted fish fed in these waters – MANY! We did see algae making its way into one area. We are not sure how the tourist populations with their demands on water and sewer will eventually affect the efforts made at replanting the once expansive coral beds. The dead coral washed up on shore in banks. What a dilemma these developing countries have. As tourists, we find ourselves wondering how we can lessen our impact on the ecology.
June 29 Indonesia/Kuta Weltreise 2007 >
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June 23 Indonesia/KutaWeltreise 2007
Today we took a snorkel tour to the three Gili Islands: Trawangon, Meno and Air. These are little palm covered sand spits, rising from coal reefs just off the north end of Lombok. We finally found the tourists: hordes of them – all between 20 to 30 years old, mostly male. These are the party islands serving drinks and fun!
The snorkeling was different. None of our equipment was 100% operational, the wind was gale-like and the current was so strong we could not swim back to a site once we passed it! This was drift diving one fast. Where was the pause button? The clarity was crystal, amazing due to the wind and current conditions, but the coral was ravaged. The fishermen use to practice dynamite fishing, plus many careless anchors on top of El Nino heating the water and bleaching the coral that was still alive, created a dead-littered sea floor. Now the area is under protection and in the last few years new corals have been planted and it is surprising how quickly they grow. We saw blues, vivid greens, purple and pinks among the beige and orangey colors of the bleached and damaged corals. Many, many exotically painted fish fed in these waters – MANY! We did see algae making its way into one area. We are not sure how the tourist populations with their demands on water and sewer will eventually affect the efforts made at replanting the once expansive coral beds. The dead coral washed up on shore in banks. What a dilemma these developing countries have. As tourists, we find ourselves wondering how we can lessen our impact on the ecology.
