Island hopping - Flores

After Bromo, we spent an easy afternoon in Surabaya our final Java destination: visiting a submarine and museum about the battle of Surabaya (10 November 1945). From here we will hop on, hop off a few other Indo islands to start with the furthest, Flores named by the Portuguese some time ago.

Labuanbajo is the little harbour town which is booming: fancy cafes and restaurants, dive shops, nice hotels and a lot of construction going on. It serves as the main gateway to the komodo’s, the beautiful snorkeling and diving spots and beaches of the surrounding islands. A multi-day boat tour is the best way to explore all of that but finding one was more challenging than anticipated. Apparently, the government appointed a few additional holidays around the islamic feast of sacrifice only a few weeks before and this extra long weekend resulted in a lot of bookings. Getting a boat for the days we planned seemed suddenly impossible. After lots of last minute contacting, organising, negotiating we luckily managed to find one.

Time to relax in a Dutch owned hotel (20 years ago they started their hotel adventure here after having travelled here themselves) with one of the best views so far!!Read more