Flozirkus - A Manege of Wisdom and Whimsy: The Travelogue, Part XIX

* Unfortuntaly my camera keeps being bitchy, so no more pictures for this post, I'll try to add them later, or follow facebook.*

Anyone wondering where I had been for the past week? I'm sorry, internet and mobile coverage couldn't reach me, I was on the Togeans, a cluster of equatorial islands and one of Sulawesi's best chill out spots. If you want it "social", ten people on one beach is all you'll get, and if you want to be the only foreigner on an island of your own, go ahead and pick one. On none of them the house reef is further than 20 steps away from your door, and never more than 2 meters from your nose while you snorkel.

The view from my window

So how did my day look like?

Getting up because the tropical sun has risen above the neighbouring island and shines into my room. Chilling out on the terrace watching the bay wake up into a iridescent painting of turquoise and blue until Atta (the local go-get-girl) calls me for breakfast.

Kadidiri Beach

After that I head for a dive on one of the many different types of reef surrounding the islands, or even in the old B-24 Bomber wreck. Getting back in time for lunch, usually fresh fish directly from the sea onto the plate, and fresh fruit. I get back to the terrace, trying to write a few more pages on that dark medieval fantasy book, but failure to imagine the correct setting causes me to admit defeat, and I decide to explore the surrounding islands by kayak.

Yes, a picture of me, as some of you insisted.

Discovering my own beaches by kayak.

While searching for a spotless empty beach to my liking, I stumble upon a scattering of houses, built on stilts in a sheltered mangrove bay, where the locals won't let me leave without having some tea and a snack, although our communication is limited to my name, origin and destination. I let the current carry me into a nice lagoon, where my peaceful silence is only disturbed by a gang mosquitos. In the evening I try to get a glimpse of the giant coconut crab, but find only spiders even bigger then a dinner plate. When its net refuses to budge even after throwing a stick at it, I call my quest off and head for the beach bonfire instead, where the boatboys and sea gypsies sing english love songs to copious quantities of Arak, a locally brewed moonshine. I chat with them and the group of mixed travelers until the night, when the last light comes from the glowing ash and the dancing of the fireflies in the trees.

Kadidiri Cottages

And now if all of that sounds like an excerpt from a travel book; well, this is literally just how it is.Pictures shall tell the story, although lack of underwater camera means some of these had to come from wikipedia. They come very close to what I saw though.