I previously wrote about the friendly people I met on the Gili Islands
I previously wrote about the friendly people I met on the Gili Islands, lying slightly to the west of Lombok. These are some very interesting and really great people. It was interesting meeting people of the same country here on Gili, but with such diverse languages, customs and dialects. It is a real eye opener!
While sitting on the beach at Gili Meno watching turtles being released back to mother nature, a good friend I met there, Mo, was helping with the release of these beautiful animals. This guy has so many talents.
Off to the ocean it goes
After releasing a few turtles, he came over and sat with me for a while. We were talking about general knowledge topics and I got stuck on talking about Bali. He looked at me, smiled and said “you know J, Indonesia is not Bali”
That kind of made sense, many people I have met around the world and spoken to about travelling to Indonesia, mostly say, “Oh yes Indonesia, Bali?” referring to Indonesia as “just” Bali. There are so many great places to explore in Indonesia. If you think about it, there are 17500 Islands so there are bound to be some beautiful all around this country.
The Turtle Sanctuary
I think one of the most memorable times on these islands was literally swimming with the turtles. It is a feeling one can only describe as “unreal”. These creatures are so majestic.
In other areas around the islands, there are brilliant places to dive or snorkel. It was pretty cool seeing the Gili Meno Statues (NEST) on the western side of the island located about 40 meters offshore in a depth of about 4 meters of water. The materials used by the artist (Jason deCaires Taylor) consists of Stainless steel, pH neutral cement, basalt and aggregates. The 48 life-size statues were cast from real people! The purpose of the statues is to encourage the growth of coral, due to the fact that a lot of coral in the area is dying because of climate change and pollution.
Simon’s Reef was another spectacular place to dive. The most wonderful experience was having a glimpse of the camouflaged pygmy seahorse! WOW, WOW, WOW!
It felt like hours trying to spot one, but the local guides know exactly where to take you to see this the wonderful miracle of nature! It was only on my fourth visit that I had the privilege of seeing one of these magnificent creatures (and they are VERY small!) Support the local guides, the benefits are well worth the fee.
While I could spend hours writing articles about all the great experiences, I had on the Gili Islands, there are many other places I was also lucky enough to visit while in the Lombok area, more on that later. Pink beaches come to mind.
Of all the diving sites I have experienced thus far in my travels, if I had to choose a place it would most definitely be a very difficult choice. It would probably be between Gili Islands and Raja Ampat (Papua).
Gili Meno
Papua islands are just as magnificent! Papua still has a place in my heart though. I really loved visiting this region and meeting all these wonderful people.
