Derawan Island sits in the middle of a small archipelago of atolls named after one of the smallest but richest islands in the group, Sangalaki. The archipelago lies off the northeast coast of Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) in the Strait of Sulawesi. The whole area is a proposed UNESCO world heritage site due to its incredible marine biodiversity and unusual atoIlic formations. This was clearly a place we needed to explore!
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Uncategorized The Life Aquatic on Pulau Derawan
Our week on Pulau Derawan was the life aquatic. On this speck of sand and palms in the equatorial ocean, the air was staggeringly hot and the sea was mercifully refreshing. Light reflecting off of the crystal waters shone through the floorboards of our room at the end of a pier and we could hear the unmistakable sounds of green sea turtles surfacing below us to take a breath before we even got out of bed. In the mornings we relaxed on our deck with tea and pastries while kids fished and men prepped their boats for the day.
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Uncategorized Beyond the Shark’s Fin
Thanks to the southerly trade winds and a ribbon of ridge line, the Bukit Peninsula is home to epic soaring. In the month since we arrived less than five days have been unflyable. Typically, the wind has a bit of east in it, limiting the paragliding to about ten kilometers of ridge line between the Nikko, a soarable resort hotel to the east, and the Bali Cliff, the ruins of the abandoned presidential villa to the west. The ridge dies out at the Nikko, but pilots can hop over to soar the updraft on the hotel and wave at the tourists in the pools and on the beach. Below the Bali Cliff, the beaches disappear, leaving pilots without a bomb out landing. So, it’s a rare day to fly further west, but with the right conditions, an unbelievably beautiful fifteen kilometer stretch opens up to pilots lucky enough to experience it.
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Uncategorized A Vacation Within a Vacation!
Agung is large by any measure. Its volcanic heights reach upwards of 3000 meters. The mountain’s spiritual significance is paramount to the Balinese with the Mother Temple Besahik located on its flank. Agung towers majestic over the small fishing villages of Amed in the northeast corner of Bali. Amed is composed of a number of villages that run south from the actual village of Amed. Each has a crescent beach of black sand that is lined with Jukung boats, small double outrigger sailing canoes that are used as fishing boats and by the tourists as diving and snorkeling platforms. Just off of each beach is a lovely coral shelf and wall.
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Uncategorized Selamat Makan!
For the last week, we have been on a mission to return to our favorite places to eat and to find some new gems. I had forgotten some of what makes Indonesian food so good.
Thankfully, we both love street food. Of all the street foods, bakso tops my list. Bakso is as much about the situation as it is about the actual dish. It’s a clear meatball soup with rice noodles and other ingredients that vary from one place to another. It is served at a stand, from the back of a motorbike or out of a pushcart. It can be served with rice, an egg, wontons, and fried onions. Squeeze bottles are always on hand with sweet soy sauce and hot sauce. The key, though, is the sambal, a firey salsa that people here eat by the spoonful. For me, about a quarter of a teaspoon of sambal in my bakso means an unbelievable hotness that is as spicy as I can stand. I have to ration my tiny bottled sweet tea, while I sweat and gulp my way through my bowl of bakso. Yum!
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Uncategorized Hello Indo!!
Our first week in Indo. has gone by so quickly!
We’ve been having a blast with Elizabeth and Cooper. There has been a couple of fantastic flying days. One in particular where I got a 3 hour flight and got to show Cooper around the flying area. On the other I broke out the mini-wing (Niviuk Zion19m) and got to fly it around the ridge at Timbis. Flying that wing is super fun with all its speed and banky goodness!
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Uncategorized Spring, Summer and Indonesia
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Uncategorized Spring Break!
It’s spring break and we’re up at our Tahoe at our cabin. The week has been awesome! Last weekend and into early this week the weather was clear and warm. Spring conditions prevailed in true Tahoe style. We toured around Donner Peak and Mt. Judah and made some super sweet turns in the Judah bowls and The Lake Run (with Petey!). We also spent a great day out at Rose Knob Peak where we toured into the back bowls. Conditions were perfect corn for all these tours. The snowpack was well consolidated so the uphill travel was quick and easy and the the turns were buttery and smooth!
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Uncategorized New Blog! Blast From the Past!
Range of Light is the proud owner of a new blogging engine! Now we can tell our stories and file trip reports with even more technological glory!
On the outside, our new stories page looks similar to the old one, but it has some nifty new features. Readers can now search by tag, date or author, very exciting! On the backend, we’ll now be able to blog more easily from anywhere and from any device. That means our tall tales will arrive faster and with even larger distortions of the truth, even if we have to send them in by carrier pigeon.
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Uncategorized Starting 2012 in Valle de Bravo
Within a day of arriving in the Pueblo Magico of Valle de Bravo, we had settled in to the rhythm of the place. We awoke each day in our room at Meson de Leyendas, a 17th Century convent turned bed and breakfast, and sat down in the garden for a big, delicious breakfast amid banana trees and sky-high bamboo plants. Fueled up, we made our way out to the cobblestone street to flag down a taxi or find a van to take us to the El Peñon launch.