Tag Archives: savu

Surfboattrip in Bildern: Timor, Rote, Savu, Sumba

19 Apr

HIER findest du die Fotos.

Im April letzten Jahres war es wieder einmal Zeit für ein Abenteuer. Ein Freund von mir schrieb in Facebook, dass ein Surfboattrip angesagt sei und er noch eine Truppe sucht, die mitkommt. Ich brauchte genau eine einzige Sekunde, um zu entscheiden, dass ich mit dabei war.

Wir entschieden uns für die Sama Sama vom Balicamp und für die Route Timor – Rote – Savu – Sumba.

Nur schon die Anreise war für sich ein kleines Abenteuer. Mit tonnenweise Gepäck und Brettern sind wir von Bali nach Kupang in Timor geflogen, von wo aus wir mit dem Boot losfuhren. Erster Stopp war Nembrala in Rote. Surfen im vom Sonnenaufgang geröteten Wasser. Nur wir. Lies hier, was diese ersten Tage uns so schenkten.

Die nächsten Tage waren einerseits mit beängstigenden Wellen und andererseits mit den tollsten Wellen gespickt, die ich jemals gesurft bin. Ich hatte das Glück, die schönste Insel dieser Welt bewandern zu dürfen und erlebte das Leben auf dem Boot von der schönsten Seite. Lies hier über diese wundervollen Tage.

Die letzten Tage verbrachten wir vor allem in Sumba. Nebst tollen Wellen, einsamen Stränden und einer nicht ganz erfolgreichen Wanderung durch den schlammigen Fluss und undurchdringliches Dickicht stattete ich dem Markt einen Besuch ab und war auf Süsswassersuche am Ende der Welt. Last but not least flogen wir zurück nach Bali und mussten, zumindest vorübergehend, unsere Bretter mit weinendem Herzen in Flores zurücklassen. Lies hier über diese wunderschönen, teils aber auch sehr harten Abenteuer.

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Indo Boattrip, April 2013 – Part 3

11 Aug

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Next overnight crossing. Off to Marosi in Sumba. We had a peaceful surf session in the morning. Small but good waves on a beachbreak. Went to the outside break after the beachbreak session. Was a bit scared in the beginning, the wave did look a bit like a big wild water-mountain. But figured the wave out after a while and found it quiet nice. In the afternoon I went to the market with Joachim to buy fresh vegetables, fruit and meat. It was a bit of an adventure I have to say. Firstly, we had to find a road on the beach. We drove to Marosi bay, asked some locals and finally found the road. Met some locals there and asked them where we could find the nearest market. They said in the city, about an hour from here (on super bumpy roads). So we asked them if they could help organize a vehicle. So we had to discuss a price with the guy that he would go and look for a car. He wanted IDR 50’000 as petrol money. We managed to negotiate it to IDR 30’000 (which is enough, really). Then we just sat at the beach and waited for him to come back. In the meanwhile, we were talking to some other locals and they offered us some young coconut. I found them quiet friendly and thought it nice that they give us some coconut from their garden. They were dressed in traditional clothes, still wearing that dangerous looking kind of sword on their belts. After a while, the guy came back, a bemo driving behind him. So we had a whole bemo for ourselves, hahaha. But then again, we had to negotiate about the price. Almost all the people in Sumba just wanted to rip us off, it was so annoying. And we know the prices and speak the language, so we’re not the stupid naïve tourists, but they just didn’t seem to get it. Anyway, we managed to agree on a price and then the guy who offered us the coconuts seriously asked for money for the coconuts. So we gave him some, but he wasn’t satisfied with it and wanted more. By that time, we were already angry, we felt like an ATM really and my opinion about the guy changed completely to the opposite.

On the way to the city. The scenery is beautiful, Sumba really is a treasure, very worth to visit. It’s a big island and if I remember right there are only around 320’000 people living there. Most of the island is protected area. And a friend of mine told me that they have very rigid laws concerning the protected land. For example, if a local is caught red handed cutting down a tree in a protected area, he’ll go to prison for many years. On one side it is a good thing that they are seriously protecting their island, but on the other hand I really think it too harsh to send someone to prison for that long. But then, how to find a good balance.

The market was like I would imagine it would have been in Bali 15 years ago. Very basic, very simple, a big chaos, loads of people, a lot of noises and it smelled bad, hundreds of odours mixing together. But we found everything we needed and I also found the women in Sumba so much more likable than the men. They were all smiley, happy to sell us their food, and they didn’t rip us off. It was really a scene worth seeing. From young kids selling products (mostly cigarets), to adults to really old people (one very old man with almost no teeth in his mouth, and the remaining teeth a reddish black, grinned with a big smile at us and held some scared chicken right in front of our faces and really really wanted to sell it to us), everyone gathered there.

Well, we found everything we needed and were on our way back to the beach, loaded everything into the Dingi and off we were, into the sunset and towards the Sama Sama. The whole adventure took us 7 hours. That’s life in Indonesia. You never manage in a short time, for everything you have to have a big portion of patience.

A quick surf to end the day and a warm freshly baked banana chocolate cake gave us some new strength and happiness.

At this point, my notes end. So, the rest of the trip is told quickly: We stayed a few days around that beachbreak, because it was the only option given that the swell stayed small.  It’s a beautiful place to stay. Tried a bit of SUP as well, explored a bit what was around at the beach. Ate well. Chilled out. It’s really amazing what our cooks could do on the boat, real magic. And sometimes I would stand there at the table, thinking about chocolate or crackers or cookies or cake, and they would sit at the other end of the boat, seeing me standing there and just reading my mind, and there they suddenly stand, grinning, with whatever I wished for in their hand 🙂 I was seriously impressed, I don’t know how they did that mind reading thing, but it worked well J

Our last spot was a reef break a bit up the coast, a very beautiful wave and I can imagine that it would be quiet vicious there when it’s bigger. We sometimes complained a bit about the small swell. But seriously, I think for our intermediate level, most waves would have been way too difficult and dangerous if it would have been big. So for my part I was really happy with what we got. The atmosphere was a bit tense though. Everybody was dropping on everybody just to get as many waves as possible. It was our last session after all and that’s were friendship ends. Just the fight for the wave counts, pure selfishness ruling that session. Hahahahaha. There you go. Humankind is a special kind 🙂

And then, overnight crossing past Komodo islands to Flores. We arrived early morning and went directly to the airport. Ah, yes, the airport is a tiny building with a small landing pist. Then our real problems began: Merpati wouldn’t take any of our boardbags with them. They said, the airplane is too small. We can send them with cargo. But three of the guys left in the afternoon and early evening the following day, so we couldn’t send it with cargo, the boards would arrive too late. We ran around in the whole airport, tried every company, tried to bribe different people, tried everything. The answer was always the same. Sorry, we can’t. We would if we could. And it’s not about the money. We just can’t.

Finally we had to leave all our bags in the airport and leave. Uhhhh, bad atmosphere during the whole trip back. I didn’t care that much because I stay in Bali, but it was a big disaster for the guys. So Joachim, our Skipper, had to go back to the airport and find a way to ship the boards back to Bali. He managed it somehow that all the boards arrived at noon the following day. I have no idea how he managed and why there suddenly was a possibility, but the important thing was that everybody got their boards on time.

End of an awesome surftrip and a wonderful adventure! Really recommendable to everyone who wants to experience something special, uncrowded waves and beautiful nature. The only thing I say is: Schedule your return flight a few days after the end of the trip, just in case you get some problems with the transportation of the boards or the flight or whatever, you never know in Indonesia.

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Indo Boattrip, April 2013 – Part 2

28 Jul

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On the water road again, heading towards Savu. Stopped on the way at an island for a surf. Nice small righthander, got a few waves, screwed up a perfect one, my (still very weak) paddle strength gone.

Back on the boat one of the guys caught a fish. Oh man, it took ages to get the (big) fish out of the water. Everybody gathered to see the spectacle. And then, the fish escaped from the hook, but luckily (for us) didn’t manage to jump back into the water. Our dinner saved 🙂

Joy and I went to the very rocky island for a little walk later in the afternoon. Or better: hopping from stone to stone. It was a bit of a scary atmosphere there I have to say. We felt a bit uncomfortable, images of people-eating people arising in our minds. So we never lost sight of the boat. But nothing happened. No magic, no bad people, no monsters or ghosts.Before heading to the next spot, which was a long way from this one, Skipper Joachim offered us another session on the outer reef. It looked wild. The guys looked at it and decided to stay on the boat. Joy and I gave it a try. Paddling was a torture, the currents super strong, but we made it eventually. So, there we were. Sitting in the line-up, feeling uneasy, but still eager to surf. And what happens? The first set arriving was a freak set, and a U-shaped one in addition, so Joy and I were surrounded by a U-mountain of waves and paddled and duckdived as if our life would depend on it. After that we had enough of adrenaline and headed straight back to the boat, being welcomed by a cheering and laughing crowd. We were the heroes of the day.

After another night crossing, we arrived at the spot we wanted to go. But unfortunately, the wind was too strong which means unsurfable waves. So we had two options: Hiking on a close by island or going straight to Sumba. The majority was for hiking, so that’s what we did. A very good decision indeed. Just imagine: Shimmering blue crystal clear water, pitch black rocks, lush forests and green grassy hilltops. We had to climb some rocks first, then find our way through the forest, Joachim always first making sure no spiders or snakes will be in our way. After that, a leisure stroll through the knee- to waist high grass until the top. What a splendid view we had. I think this is the most beautiful hike I have ever done in my whole life. There’s nothing comparable. A paradise island! A dream!

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Some of the guys were a bit cranky because we didn’t have good waves for a while. So we had a few small arguments. But all negativity was forgotten as soon as we arrived in Sumba. A perfect, big righthander was awaiting us. All the guys had good fun. Joy cracked her nose. I just got washed over and over again to the point I actually started crying I was so super frustrated. Was in a horrible mood the whole evening.

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Got a beautiful, long, big wave the next morning and the world and my mood was perfectly good again, even though I still got a few big sets on my head. Went to a different spot in the next bay later in the afternoon. A small lefthander, good fun. Then a sunset session back at the morning spot. The swell dropped off and we enjoyed some fun small waves. Alex, the Belgium guy, looking like the biggest tourist, joined us with a Stand up paddle. We were all really scared of his big plank and his obvious lack of ability to handle it so we sent him to the inside. Dome joined him. Alex lost the SUP board and had to look for it in the rocks (in the dark) and finally, after more than an hour, found it again. Dome got scratched over the reef and was full of bloody scratches. So much about surfing the inside. Hahahaha. We treated Domes wounds and cheered for Alex when he finally came back with the lost board. Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese with Parmesan cheese. What an awesome day

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In general, the food on the boat is absolutely top of the top. Absolutely amazingly delicious. Biggest breakfast with homemade bread (yes, they baked bread on the boat), pancakes, omelettes, cereals, etc., big salads with the best sauce, different curries, veggies, avocado, fruits, tons of nutella, pringels with homemade guacamole, fresh fish right from the ocean (grilled red snapper, tuna sashimi), homemade (or better: boatmade) chocolate banana cake, and much more.

Next day, cause the swell dropped off even more, we went to a beachbreak not far away from where we were and had good fun in the small waves. We also had a big toilet problem because the current was sometimes carrying our “floaters” right into the lineup. Oh well. It can’t be all perfect right?

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Went to the beach after the session, doing some more exploring. We first wanted to walk on the jungle-path, but decided to go the other direction. We ended up walking through a shallow muddy river. Ah, it’s such a disgusting feeling to walk through mud, feeling the mud between your toes, never knowing how deep it is. We were sometimes waist deep in the river mud. I don’t know why, but whenever I have to walk through mud or muddy water, I think of dead bodies floating around somewhere down there and me stepping on one. Absolutely disgusting. I’m even shuddering when I’m writing this. Just the memory of it utterly disgusts me. I wasn’t the only one. Except for our Skipper, who is a real adventurer, I could read the same feelings in everybody’s face. After the river, we walked along the beach again, through flaring heat and finally found another path into the woods. After a few steps into the forest and some wild attacks from big horseflies we fled back to the beach and gave up on our exploring trip. All we wanted was going back to the boat. After that, we went back to the bay we came from and stayed there for the night. In the late afternoon, Joy and I went to the beach with our Skipper to find some fresh water for our tanks. We passed a beautiful small beach with a cave and went exploring a bit, were sitting there and enjoying the nice scenery. Then we went to the next small bay with a river. Because the river was half dried up, the fresh water pond was quiet a bit in the back. We brought all the tanks there, filled them up and brought them back to the Dingi (I think, one tank must weigh about at least 20 kg) Joachim just put a canister on his shoulder, Joy and I dragged them through the sand. It was a good piece of work. A lot of sweat and a bit of swearing later, all the work was done and we treated ourselves with a swim in the fresh water, watching sunset.

Suddenly we realized that low tide has gotten quiet low and that we have to hurry back to be able to get back to the boat and not get caught up in the reef. The water was already too low to use the engine so Joy and I had to paddle while Joachim stirred the boat. We just made it in time. There was one critical part where a set came in and we just – really just – perfectly made it through a gap into deep water. Saved!

Back on the boat the cooks were preparing the most delicious dinner: Grilled red Snapper and fresh tuna sashimi. There’s nothing better than a freshly caught fish!

A lot of adrenaline for one day. But again: A beautiful day full of good moments!

… to be continued …

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Indo Boattrip, April 2013 – Part 1

25 Jul

Yeeeeessss! One dream fulfilled: Boattrip to Indo done! That means specifically: 12 days of blissful surfing on some of Indo’s uncrowded waves with my best friend Joy, five mates from Germany and a friend from Belgium.

The route was Rote – Savu – Sumba with the Sama Sama from Balicamp. The Sama Sama is a 23-Meter Motor-/Sailing boat, all in wood, just beautiful. The crew consisted of the French Skipper Joachim who was also our Surfguide, a Balinese captain called Wayan who was also a cook, another Indonesian cook (Agus) and a technician (Ludin) who was also our personal driver. Perfect.

We all arrived in Bali a few days prior to the trip. First of all that we can build up a bit of paddle strength, and secondly because we wanted to get to know each other a bit. Some of us have never met before, but everyone knew at least someone of the Crew.

Departure day: At Nghurah Rai Airport in Denpasar, all 8 of us with a ton of baggage and heavily packed double board bags (17 pieces all in all).

Me: Passport collector and responsible for checking in all of us and our stuff. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a problem at all. THANK YOU Garuda.

The guy at the check in just looked at our pile of luggage and bags and asked (with a bit of despair in his voice): That’s all yours? Me: Yes. The guy: Ok, I just calculated that you can take 160 kg in total with you. Just put everything on the scales.

Ah, that sounds like a good deal. Done. Everything checked in. Off we went. Not one Rupiah spent on bribing. And nothing got lost. Another big THANK YOU Garuda!

We safely arrived in Kupang, Timor where we got picked up. All the luggage went into the two cars, all the boardbags on the roofs. Ahhhh, there we go. First problem: They only brought two strings and wanted to fix each pile of boards on each car with only one single string. Guess what: That’s not a good idea.

But we brought some strings ourselves so we secured our boards (they’re our most valuable baggage after all) and off we went. Had to wait a bit at the beach and had the pleasure to observe a public ferry filling up with passengers. That means, because it was high tide, it was a bit difficult getting to the (small) ferry without getting wet. So one of the employees just carried person after person on his back from the beach to the boat. What a spectacle.

Then, finally, the Dingi (small motorboat) came and brought us to the Sama Sama. Finally there. What a feeling! Ah, I almost forgot: We got a beautiful greeting: Pouring rain! But that only lasted half an hour and it was the first and last rain we got during the whole trip. The other greeting was a delicious dinner, and at 8 pm we felt like it was already midnight. Slept like a stone, awesome!

First stop was Rote, Nembrala (we all understood Umbrella, and thought that was the name for the whole next day and asked ourselves why the hell the spot was called umbrella). The crossing from Kupang to Rote was about 10 hours, so we arrived at our first surfspot first thing in the morning. It’s just incredible to wake up to a blazing red sunrise, stretch a bit, brush your teeth, get your board and hop into the water. I stayed a bit on the outer side of the spot cause I was afraid going to the inside. So I enjoyed a few rather short waves, nothing really exciting. And longingly watched the good waves on the inside passing by. After a while I got very very pissed off and paddled to the inside, afraid but very very determined to get one of those good waves. And guess what: Perfect wave came rolling towards me and I rocked it. All the loooooong way down to the end. Anger instantly turned to pure happiness. It’s that easy to make me happy 😉

Went to the island later in the afternoon to get some young coconuts. Life there is a lot slower than in Bali. It was a nice experience for a change. I guess, Bali must have been similar 15 years ago. After taking loads of photographs, watching all the pigs and goats freely running around and wandering to the only bar to drink the coldest beer of the island, we happily went back to the boat for a snack.

I skipped the sunset session. It was low tide and the waves looked vicious. So I decided to walk over the reef and take pictures of my friends surfing. It was a really long walk over the reef and I had trouble to find the spot where my friends surfed. But then, oh my, big big waves hollowly breaking, sometimes tubing. Very fast waves. Very scary waves. Hahahaha, I was quiet happy I didn’t go. So took some pictures of our Joachim and other Surfers, but none of my friends. They were telling me afterwards that they were scared to death and just tried to stay as far away from the waves as possible.

Played a bit of backgammon against my friend’s iphone after dinner. Then the police came. It seemed that our papers weren’t good so we had to leave immediately. Well, we wanted to, but had some problems with the engine, so had to stay overnight. A very wavy wobbly shaky night. That’s what my friends said anyway. I didn’t feel anything as I slept like a stone again. Hahahaha.

… to be continued …

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