Why Indonesia and Agenda

Upon hearing that we are going to Indonesia, most people’s initial response has been: “Why Indonesia?” So we thought we would kick off our blog off by answering that very question.


THE LONG ANSWER

Our plan to do a big international trip this summer was hatched sometime early last year.  We love to travel, and save up to try to do a big-travel trip every few years.  There are so many places that we would love to see and experience so we had a bit of a challenge figuring out where to go.  We developed a destination narrowing criteria which included: 1. a place we both want to go 2. a place just this side of adventurous/exotic-the kind of place that if we did not go now in the prime of our health and the height of our what-the-hell-attitude, we would likely never visit.  And so our list was narrowed to: Indonesia, South Africa/Namibia, or Western Australia (we did the Eastern side in 2003).  All three places fit the criteria for #1, but only Indonesia really felt like a place that we would never be adventurous...(read: foolish) enough to go visit in the future.

We first became interested in Indonesia while watching Planet Earth, a BBC series on relatively unknown places, creatures, and happenings in the world. The series featured a brief clip about the underwater world all around Indonesia. Indonesian waters has the highest concentration of marine diversity in the world. Some individual Indonesian reefs contain as many fish as the entire Caribbean Sea. After our interest was piqued, we looking into the country a little more…and found out this: “With over 17,000 tropical and often deserted islands straddling the equator, and with the Indian Ocean to the east and Pacific Ocean to the west, Indonesia has the longest coastline of any country in the world. There are officially 17,508 islands of which 6,000 are inhabited. With almost 240 million people, it is the fourth most populous country in the world — after China, India, and the USA — and by far the largest in Southeast Asia. Indonesia also has the largest Muslim population in the world. Most of the country's islands are mountainous, some so high as to be snow capped, with volcanoes running like a backbone through the country. Laying on the western rim of the Ring of Fire Indonesia has more than 400 volcanoes, of which 130 are considered active (the most for any country in the world), as well as many undersea volcanoes.  It's this volcanic ash that gives the Indonesian soil its rich fertility, spawning such an amazing diversity of flora and fauna including the world's biggest flower the rafflesia and the mighty Komodo dragon.”

So we decided to go to Indonesia.  However, once we actually got to planning the Indonesian Trip of our dreams, we were stunned at the cost. The flight alone is exactly what you would expect to pay if you were flying Singapore Air through 4 cities until you reach the other side of the world---a small, remote island of Indonesia. While we loved the idea of our Indonesian Adventure, we really didn’t love the idea of how much it would cost. So eventually we reluctantly settled on the idea of going to one of our other destinations.....Although no matter how great Australia and South Africa sounded, they still always felt like our second choice.

Not long after giving up our Indonesian dream we mentioned to my mom about why our plans for Indonesia fell through and my mom, (who has almost had a stroke at the sight of a snake, who likes her kids to be far from home about as much as she likes a root canal, and who lays awake at night worrying about the kind of adventures that we volunteer for) said “that is ridiculous!” She went on to talk us into doing this trip of a lifetime because now is the time, and we might always regret it, and we have the rest of our lives to be reasonable and work (hopefully) etc.

THE SHORT ANSWER

 So basically the answer to the question of “Why Indonesia” is because my mom said “Why not Indonesia?”*

 *She has since learned about the animals, insects, health, and natural disasters in Indonesia and her enthusiasm has taken a marginal hit.


WHERE IS IT?

 If you are anything like myself and were wondering, "where the heck is Indonesia?"...it is lucky for both of us that I married a geography teacher. Watch the video below (or click here for a clearer version) to see Jeremy explain where in the world Indonesia is located:

THE AGENDA

Our goals were:
-have as an authentic of an Indonesian experience as possible in 2+ weeks (i.e. experience the culture, nature, and variety of Indonesia as much as possible)
-See the underwater miracles around Indonesia
-Be a little stretched
 So we each planned an 8 night itinerary….while taking each other into consideration (i.e. Jeremy will not have to live on a boat for 7 days, and Liz will not have to bushwack her way in the jungle without being chaperoned by a local Indonesian who knows how to keep people alive in the jungle)


 LIZ'S ITINERARY (from July 13-21)

 Fly (via JFK, Frankfurt, and Singapore) to the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi ("Strangely shaped, this island houses a diversity of societies and some spectacular scenery, Toraja culture, rich flora and fauna, world class diving sites").

We will be spending the first four days on the Island of Bunaken (off the northern tip of North Sulawesi) where we will be scuba diving around some of the most incredible Indonesian reefs. We are planning to do a night dive here at some point.

Then we are spending the remaining four days on the island of Lembeh (east off the northern tip of Sulawesi) and again diving. While in Lembeh we will be doing Muck diving in the Lembeh Straight (called "the best muck diving site in the world"). "Muck diving gets its name from the sediment that lies beneath most dives: A normally muddy or "mucky" environment. [In our case it will be a black volcanic sand background.] The muck is the perfect habitat for unusual, exotic and juvenile organisms that make their homes in the sediment that compose a muck dive. Creatures like colorful nudibranchs, anglerfish, shrimp, blue-ringed octopus, and rare pygmy seahorses." We are also hoping to do night diving in Lembeh. Then we fly on to Jeremy's Itinerary.


JEREMY'S ITINERARY (from July 21-29)

When Jeremy thinks of Indonesia, he said he thinks of rain forests, volcanoes, and orangutans.  Indonesia is the only country in the world where you can see all three, so he wanted to do something that included each.  After some research, it turns out that out of those 17,000 islands Sumatra is only one where you can experience the three.  So we leave North Sulawesi and fly to Sumatra (via another quick stop in Singapore). Sumatra - "Wild and rugged, the 6th largest island in the world has a great natural and cultural wealth with more than 40 million inhabitants. Habitat to many endangered species such as tigers, rhinos, elephants, and orangutans."

 July 21: flight gets in a night...sleep at a hotel in city of Medan in Northern Sumatra.

 July 22: Journey 4 hours direct to Tangkahan in the morning in time for elephant trek at 2pm.

 July 23: Visit butterfly beach in the morning and relax and swim in the river. Journey 2 hours to Bukit Lawang in the afternoon.

 July 24: Visit an orangutan feeding platform in the morning. Continue on trekking and spotting wildlife afterwards. The guide will teach you about the flora and fauna of Gunung Leuser National Park. In the mid to late afternoon the guide will select a suitable spot next to the river to set up camp. Help out with fishing for dinner or learn some jungle skills from the guides.


July 25: After breakfast river tube or trek back to the village from the camp. Go to a rural Indonesian family's home and help out with some farming activities in the afternoon and stay for the night

July 26: Help out with more farming activities etc. Journey 4-5 hours direct to Brastagi in the afternoon

July 27: An early start to climb to the summit of Sibayak volcano. (Approx 4 hours ascent and descent). Visit the hot springs on the descent. Continue for another 4 hours journey to Lake Toba. Visit Spiso Piso waterfall along the way and take in impressive views of the lake. Lake side accommodation on Samosir island.

July 28: Island tour around Samosir Island. Of special interest in this area are the small museum and cultural center at Simanindo and a local Batak king's residence at Ambarita. Also take the opportunity to visit a traditional Batak Toba house, a traditional dance, traditional tombs and a sarong maker. It's also possible to visit the local market or just kick back and swim and relax by the lake. (The car and driver will be at your disposal for the duration of your stay in Lake Toba so you can decide how much or how little you want to do)

July 29: Depart in the morning from Samosir Island. Arrive into Medan and after a rest take a tour around the city. (Visit the big mosque / Sultan’s palace / Hindu temple and Sumatra museum)...fly home via Singapore...returning to the United States on 7/30.