Pena, my friend-driver from last year drove me 3hrs to Amed
I checked in at the Dive Shop the next day. I love this Dive Shop. It is owned by David and Lisa and one of them is there all the time; greeting people and making them feel at home. I really like that. They remembered me, and I set up 2 dives for the next 3 mornings with Carry, the same Dive Guide that i was with last year.
Since my time was cut short in Anilao, Philippines, i found myself in Indonesia with more time that i had planned for. I thought i’d stay here for maybe a week. Then i wanted to spend a week at Gili Air Island. I was there my first trip to Indonesia, and i truly felt like i had found my ‘Happy Place’, so i wanted to return and just chill. It’s a great place to do that, with no motor vehicles, only horses and bicycles. There was another place along the west coast called Pandang Bai, that was recommended to me from the divers in Anilao; so i wanted to try a week there also. Then head back on 2 April.
That was my ‘Plan’ … but the universe had other ideas.
Amed Cafe is obviously not just a Cafe, they have 40 rooms but across the road from the beach and up up up the mountain side in a beautiful jungle-garden setting with ponds, 2 swimming pools, and a roof top bar. That evening i enjoyed Happy Hour up there. No one else was there, there is a noticeable lack of tourists everywhere.
My drink was amazing. Made with a local ‘liquor’, called ‘Arak’, made from grapes and anise seed. The taste itself is not really so nice, but they put it together with Ginger, Chili, syrup and a bit of OJ. Loved the sliced peppers on the top
8am the next morning we went diving. Carry was already diving with another girl, Jess; so i joined them and we started our Muck Diving Challenge together. Carry is 25, cute, sweet, and is good at finding the critters. We would do 2 dives, then eat lunch (breakfast and lunch were included), then retired for the day.
We saw more new Nudibranchs that i’d never seen before. Although, true to form for me, they were so small, i never realized how absolutely breathtaking beautiful and unusual they were until i saw them on my computer.
Check out this one, Doto greenamyeri, i saw it referred to as Stacks of Pancakes, or Donuts. So unusual
This is another type of Doto racemesa
We saw another entire ‘Family’ of Nudibranchs that i’d never heard of. They are Eubranchus …but again, nothing but a 'blob' to my eyes; what a shocker when i saw them on my computer !
and my personal favorite, not surprising, since i love 'color'
Back in the water, we saw a 2 Spiny Tiger Shrimp, about 1/2" ...this one
and this one, who was obviously eating something he had between his claws
a Crinoid Commensal Shrimp, that means the Shrimp lives in harmony with the Crinoid that he lives with, neither of them being harmed.
The Dive Guides usually ask you if there is anything specific that you want to see. I told Carry that i wanted to see a Donald Duck Shrimp. I had seen one before, but didn’t know what it was, and didn’t get a photo. He did not disappoint. We saw 3, and 2 in one day. They are not easy to photograph, again only 1" long. He is facing left, with kind of a ‘platypus-type-beek’
but i LOVE them ... quack quack
While we are looking at Shrimp, this is a Saw-Blade Shrimp, very difficult to find since they blend in so well
up close they are quite distinctive and attractive
We found out after 2 days that the Gili Islands were now in isolation, no boats in or out. Bummer ! More disappointments this year than ever before. So, i told Lisa i would be doing more dives here, since i wasn’t going there. And we continued diving.
It’s always interesting to see what kind of ‘decoration’ the Decorator Crab has come up with as a disguise. This one has spent some time on it.
I don’t take many fish photos … but this is a Yellow Margin TriggerFish. I stalked one of these all around Raja Ampat snorkeling, and here was one posing for me ! As opposed to most of what i see, this was easy, they are large fish, 15 inches.
This Emperor AngelFish is another one that is difficult to see snorkeling, about 12”
And there there is the little peanut, a Baby Yellow BoxFish that is just irresistible
Also a Leaf ScorpionFish, which is much prettier than most ScorpionFish
I’ve seen a lot of Flounders in my underwater adventures, like this one, about 8 inches
I saw this ‘white thing’ and motioned to Carry to come look at it to see if it was ‘something’ … he gave me the ‘ok’ sign, and then continued searching. i continued to investigate. We thought it was a White Flat Worm; but i had an idea that it might be a Flounder, very small and very white Flounder. After looking at the photos, and searching the internet, Yes, it is a Baby Flounder ! It was only about 1"
Carry also found 2 tiny 1” FrogFish that were around a piece of rope that looked just like them. I even have a hard time trying to see it … but he has turquoise eyes, and a red mouth on a grumpy face
Everyone enjoys finding a SeaHorse, and also when someone finds one for us :)
I have shown photos of Shawn the Sheep before and he looked like this
but there are many different kinds, and this is another one …. he does look like a cartoon character !
We saw a lot of these white Nudibranchs that looked similar, white, small ... This one has an cute face
and this one has lines on it’s body
This is a Bi-Colored Flabellina, ....a very happy one !
This one also has a face, … i like the ones that have eyes, so i can tell what is what. In the book it looks like a Tenellia
A couple more colorful ones: Aegires villosus
Goniobranchus kuniei
Mating WestWind Hypselodoris
This one is so distinctive, i can’t find it in a book, but the experts suggest Nembrotha aurea
This is a boat that used to take passengers to the Gili Islands … not sure what happened, but glad i wasn’t on it, or in it !
welcome aboard
The Beginning of the End: When i arrived the morning of the 23rd, the Dive Shop was having a meeting and i was asked to sit and have something to drink. So, the word had come down …Amed was issuing restrictions and this was our last day of diving, 23 March :( Make the best of it !
At the end of your dive you need to stop for 3min at 15feet to ‘gas off’ … so you can surface safely. In these shallows you sometimes see interesting things. This is quite a large, about 3", and colorful, ... Wide Barred ShrimpGoby
I’ve posted photos of the beautiful Peacock Mantis Shrimp. I had no idea, but there are many other kinds too. i didn’t know about Lisa’s Mantis Shrimp, she is quite pink
We were coming in near the shore, and i heard Carry ‘banging’ on his tank. He was doing a motion like he was ‘pregnant’ … i had no idea what he was talking about. But i hurried over and saw a Mantis Shrimp that had a lot of pink on it, and i assumed it was Lisa’s Mantis Shrimp, because it is pink, and because Lisa (that owns the Dive Shop was pregnant 2yrs ago). I have photos of Lisa’s Mantis Shrimp. They usually hide, but this one was ‘performing’ for us. So, i took lots of photos. It wasn’t until we were in the car that Jess and Carry started talking about the Peacock Mantis with EGGS … huh? what? i grabbed my camera … sure enough !!!!
WoW ! I realize now that she was not 'posing' for us ... she was 'warning us' not to mess with her. This is my prize photo !
Another Surprise: After my last dive, i got back to my room, was cleaning up and changing when someone from Cafe Amed Hotel came to my door and apologized and said they were sorry, but they were closing, and i had to leave in the morning ! They did have another choice ‘somewhere’. i told her i would let her know later.
I walked to the Dive Shop, told Lisa, and she said, ‘well then you stay here of course!’ WoW. I packed up my things and walked down the road and moved into my new home for the foreseeable future. It is also a beautiful room, not only AC, but also a fan and HOT water !
My Sitting Porch, you can better see what i was talking about, the wood, the details ...
And the view of the Sea from there, through the jungle
Jess was staying there, and so was Rafael, another diver who had his plans disrupted. We were the only ones, and they were staying open just for us. The name is Geria Giri Shanti, i still don’t know how to pronounce it
So now i am in Paradise ... and there is nothing to do ... no diving, no snorkeling, and most everything is closed because of the virus. And i am still trying to find flights back to the USA
The Saga: I started working on my return flights early March, back when i was still at Kevin's. The first change was my attempt NOT to fly through Hong Kong. I booked a flight through Doha, Qatar, and the very next day, there were reports on the news that they were talking about closing their airports. Trying to be proactive, i changed my flight through Australia, costing extra. Still departing on 2 April as originally planned.
When we were kicked out of Philippines, i started calling to get home sooner. I felt like wildfire was nipping at my heals. Every change i made ... fell apart. I've lost track of how many changes, flights, and airports i was booked on: Australia, Japan, Qatar, and back at Hong Kong. Not to mention the hours on hold, the hours with Agents, and the full range of helpfulness, or not, of the Agents.
In the final days i was again scheduled through Hong Kong, on 26 March. That's all that was available, so i took it.
24 March: CNN reported that Hong Kong was no longer allowing transit passengers after 25 March, i would be considered a 'transit' passenger. I called the airlines with that info but they insisted that their information from the government does not indicate that. They could get me home on 6 April! I called back 3 times and finally got the suggestion to just keep the reservation. Then, when i get to the airport, if the flight is cancelled they will have to find you a way home. But at that point, while the flight is still 'a go', they couldn't do anything else for me. This is the same scenario i experienced in Chicago in Feb. So it made sense to me and i was comfortable for a day to wait and see.
I called my driver for a ride to the Airport on 26Mar. He said ok, but later he called back and said the police were at his home and he was ordered not to drive. I asked Lisa from the Dive Shop and she said her driver could take me to the airport. In my mind, i'm ready to leave.
Balinese Tradition: This year, 25 March was when the Balinese celebrate Nyepi, which is the beginning of their new year. It is designated as a Day of Silence and Prayer. NO ONE is allowed out, all stores closed, even Bali’s airport is closed; no electricity, no internet, no one is allowed even out of their homes !
The next day was 25Mar, Nyepi, so nothing happens.
26 March: The next morning, while eating breakfast, Lisa called and said that the government has decided to EXTEND the 'lockdown' one day.... everything closed, no one allowed on the streets. I checked on line, my 26Mar flight was officially cancelled, because Hong Kong was not allowing transit passengers ... duhhhhhh, 'I Told You So' :) I asked Lisa, why? The justification: The day after the 25th the Balinese people celebrate with parties and get togethers. Because of the virus, the government didn’t want that to happen, so they extended the shutdown i kind of laughed and exclaimed they will just party on the 27th ! But she said that wouldn’t happen; the tradition was to celebrate the day after Nypei, but not the next day. ok, that explains that ????
I called the Airlines again and confirmed the flight was cancelled and 'he' began looking for flights for me. The soonest i could get out was now 1 April. While 'he' was looking i checked Qatar Airlines web page and saw that they were still selling tickets for flights on 27, 28, 29 March. I asked why i couldn't have one of those seats? He said that they were not available on their list. I wasn't happy about that, but we booked 1 April.
That entire day i kept thinking about all that could happen in 6 days ! It was changing by the hour: Flights cancelled, Airports closing, Lockdowns ... i was not feeling comfortable with my situation. I called back again. Now there was one flight available, 1am on 27Mar. Unfortunately the 26Mar lockdown did not end until 6am on 27Mar ... impossible for me to get to the airport, 3hrs away. But they found another flight that left on 31Mar.... i booked it .. one day is one day.
I kept checking Qatar Airlines web page, they still were selling tickets for 28Mar flights. Later that night i tried 2 more times, the first agent i hung up on after 20min because of a less-than-helpful attitude. I'd rather wait on hold for someone else. The next very helpful and empathetic agent was a woman. I think my voice was quite desperate by now. I explained that i was concerned about getting home, the State Department was urging all citizens to exit immediately, things were changing daily.... plus, what if i got sick in the meantime! She understood my desperation, but did not see any earlier flights. I told her i was looking at Qatar's web page and could see quite clearly that they were still selling seats for 28Mar. She asked me to give her the flight numbers, routing, and dates. She said she would try to get them ... and ... she DID ! What an angel ! 28Mar leaving Bali at 7pm to Doha, Qatar, 10hr flight; 8hr layover; 14hr flight to Chicago; 7hr layover; arrive Kzoo 10:45p .... BOOKED and CONFIRMED ! I WAS GOING HOME ! I just felt like this would really happen.
Jess, Rafael and I were all working on our own schedules, but as it turned out, we were all leaving the same day. So we celebrated our last night together. We had dinner down the road and we walked home in heavy rain. i guess i'm the only one that looks water-logged. We had wine, beers, drinks, and had our own Karoke party with Rafael's phone ... just to pay back the locals for all the times we listened to them :) None of us felt that great in the morning at breakfast; but were all happy to be going home.
Pena picked me up at 1pm for the 3hr drive to the Airport. At the airport i passed my 'temperature test'. There were not many people in the airport and they had yellow tape marking distances in the lines, and on the chairs.
The flight to Doha was packed ... the flight to Chicago had 57 passengers on a 350seat plane. I will send a note to Qatar Airlines and thank them for getting me home, it seems they could have easily cancelled that flight.
The trip wasn't too bad until i got to Chicago. I was tired and cold, i thought the 7hrs would never be over. I arrived in AZO at 11p, my car was in the parking lot, and i drove home to disinfected groceries in my frig. All thanks to my Sister Pam, and Mose !
That is my story, and the end of a very unusual and unexpected 2020 Adventure.
Thank you all who were following me, thinking of me, and praying for me !
One last parting shot of me, looking, but seldom seeing, anything ! This is the posture for Muck Diving: Knees bent, feet in the air, hovering, so you don't stir-up the sediment on the bottom and make all photographers mad at you :) I'm beginning to think this is the reason for my back aches :(
Through all of this I was pretty good at staying positive. However, The Biggest Disappointment and Frustration: My camera, housing, and new light system did not serve me well. The housing fogged up about 15min into the dive, and the light system broke ... which is why you see me holding the flashlight ! Almost impossible to hold the camera, and position the light on the critter! Back to the drawing board on that mess.
dp
