Raja Ampat - Arborek Village

After our dive with the mantas, we stopped for our between-dives break at the village of Arborek. A large colorful boat was docked there and we learned was a Conservation International boat that goes around to villages to teach them about conservation.

Arborek is already a “model village” for conservation and tourism. It has a few “home stay” options, some shops/homes selling crafts and a little store selling convenience type items.

It was fun to see the kids playing in the water and on the dock by the boat. But they took off in a flash when our boat driver starting handing out crackers left over from our snack break.

We then did our dive near and then under the jetty, which has an amazing amount of sea life including some beautiful giant clams, and the sun shining through the pillars was beautiful.

Village map - both streets named Main Street (or are main streets??)

Kids playing on the dock by Conservation International boat.

Colourful bougainvillaea trees along Main Street

The village church

Andrew holding a sprouting coconut

Another view of the jetty and boat. Kids playing in the water.

Several of the kids came to check us out. Looking so serious but huge smiles and laughs
as soon as I turned the camera to show them the photo of themselves. 

Raja Ampat - Sunrise, Sunset, Carvings and More

Carving of the Raja4Divers logo.

We had some gorgeous sunsets almost every night. Only one morning did we get a very colourful sunrise. 

Sunrise view from our bungalow. Dancing statues in the water on the left; employee on the right taking supplies
out to the dock in preparation for the first dives of the day. Gorgeous!

I bought this sarong in Singapore but it took me forever to figure out the sketches on how to wear it!
Fashion savvy I am not!!!! Give me an Ikea puzzle any day!

Six of the eight bungalows

Office building on the left (seriously can you imagine a better view from your office window???
And our bungalow on the right. 

The dancing statues at low tide.

No, this is not Andrew and I.  :-)
 It's a couple of the dancing statues at high tide and sunset.

Sprouting coconuts in an old wooden boat. 

The "thinker." Another little statue hidden amongst the vines.

The entrance to the dining hall. R4D logo carved into the doorway design.

This carving was located on to of the "happy hour" gazebo. Note the bottle of Bintang (local Indonesian beer)
 in his hands. Someone has a sense of humour!! 

Walkway to the six bungalows.

Sunrise

Reading and resource area of the dining hall. 

Chess anyone? More wood carvings and locally made concrete slabs.

Two of these guys guarded the shore.

Even the benches had unique carvings!

Raja Ampat - Diving Scenery

I don't have an underwater camera so rely on Andrew to take the sea life photos. Internet was extremely slow at the resort so there'll be more to come but a couple highlights were diving under the mangroves and seeing the mantas. We had some great dives!

There are some strong underwater currents in this area (several drift dives!) and sometimes the visibility was only "ok" but the huge number of fish, the sheer diversity of sea life, and beautiful coral still made this one of the most amazing places we have dived.

We had very calm surface water most of the week.

One of the dive boats.

Always a smile for the camera!

Snack break between dives. Cappucino (instant), tea, Oreos and home made cake.

The only air conditioned, temperature-controlled room on the island was the camera room. A dedicated space for each diver with camera and a 27" iMac for viewing photos.

"Look! A big monitor lizard," said Andrew. "No," said our guide, "a small monitor lizard."

Stunning views from this platform. 300+ stairs to get there.

Wetsuit on, so we must be almost there! Most boat rides were about 15-30 minutes from the resort.

Dives done, heading back to the resort.

Raja Ampat - Bungalow Surprises

The last stage of our amazing holiday was a week of scuba diving in Indonesia, amongst a group of islands called Raja Ampat. The translation means “four kings,” referring to the four largest islands (Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati and Missol) amongst the thousands of smaller islands that encompass this area.

From Singapore, we flew to Jakarta where we had a 13-hour layover until our 1 a.m. and 4-hour flight to Sorong in the Province of West Papua. We both managed to sleep a bit but were still very tired when we (along with eight other people) were met at the airport by Raja 4 Divers resort staff.

It was still another 100+ km and a 3-hour ride via long boat to the island of Pulau Pef where we were enthusiastically greeted by the staff singing, dancing and playing instruments. (We were sent off at the end of the week in the same manner.)

The welcome message at our bungalow, written out in small stones, and the mangrove designs on the bed were the first surprises and indications of the attention to detail that abounds throughout the resort.

Coincidentally, we got the turtle bungalow. And they didn't even know about our love of turtles!

The bungalows are built in Papuan style with local materials. They are “open air” and have an “indoor/outdoor” bathroom.

Looking into our bungalow from the deck.

The "indoor" part of the bathroom.

The outdoor part of the bathroom with stepping stones to the clothesline.

In keeping with Papuan style, the bathroom does not have a shower but a large basin and ladle. But with the heat and the outdoor portion of the bathroom, you could simply pour the water over your head and not worry about also pouring all over the floor. Yes, there was hot water. And what a great way to save water! Although there are two fresh water wells on the island the water is certainly not unlimited, especially in the dry season, and there is quite a process that it goes through to get water pressure to the bungalows and kitchen.

The resort has it's own team of carpenters and we were told it's the imagination and talent of the head carpenter that adds so much of the attention to detail of the resort. 

Turtle shaped water faucet

Wooden carvings were placed throughout the bungalow as well as the whole resort. It was often humorous to see where you’d find one next and what the expression the carving would have. It took me at least a couple days to notice all three of the carvings somewhat hidden amongst the plants in the bathroom.

Also in the bathroom were locally made clothes pins. 

These ones greeted us at the door.

These were in various other areas of the bungalow.

Looking out to the ocean

 So humorous!

One evening after supper I went into the bathroom to get a glass of water from the dispenser just inside the doorway. As I was reaching for a glass, something dropped from the ceiling not four feet from me! A small black snake! Skinny, about 2 feet long. I yelled for Andrew to come see it. "Oh, it's harmless," Andrew said. "You probably scared it." Well, what do you think it did to me!?!? 

I'm sure Andrew would consider this to be the best surprise of all. Me, not so much!!