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Favorite Views of the World: Bromo, Indonesia.

Mar 182009

If there’s one country that I can really recommend for a visit it’s got to be Indonesia. For our honeymoon we decided to take up an offer from a well-known travelcompany that we simply couldn’t refuse. Exciting as it was going to be my first (non-journalist) group travel ever and also my first time Asia. After having travelled half the world I somehow miraculously managed not to visit that huge part of the world. Something that I quite made up afterwards, travelling to Asia at least six times the next four years.

Java and Bali were going to be our destinations, the latter for diving, the first for round travel in two busses filled with us, tourists! Never figured group travel could be so much fun if you’re just lucky to hit the right combination of age, personalities and the amount of people travelling with you. We simply had a great time and one of the definite highlights of the trip was an old volcano called the Bromo [Google Earth].

It’s not a volcano as you’d normally see, it’s a small but highly active volcano which is situated in an unprecedented sandy area of almost ten square kilometers, the remnants of an even older volcano that blasted itself into history many, many millions of years ago. Seeing the sunrise on that old craters edge is one of the most popular highlights of Java and attracts countless tourist that walk up there very late at night (or better: very early in the morning).

So there we are at 03:30, after a wee night of sleeping getting our tired heads up a steep hill while beeing surrounded by zillions of Indonesian salesmen and women. Hats, umbrella’s, raincoats: guess it must rain here a lot because the majority of little shops are into that sort of stuff. Food is also highly available but who needs something to eat when you’re still in sleep-mode?

As high as the expectations so low is reality: the platform where we wait for the sun to come up over the crater rim is huge and packed with tourists, oh: that’s us then. Hundreds of people from all over the world have their camera ready and wait for the sun to burst through the fog. Which, sadly for us, manages not too. Leaving us with a half-baked sunrise and a good forty minute walk back down the road where a cup of hot soup awaits us. OK, now that’s a highlight!

Actually, the sunrise is nice but it’s the crater itself that’s way more interesting. A nice carride over the massive rim into the flat area where the actual Bromo active volcano resides. And by active, I really mean active: just short over eight months after our visit it suddenly went beserk and killed two tourists and injured five! But the horseride to the edge is amazing. Still can’t understand why all these horsemen compete eachother so massively. All looked like they haven’t got a dime to spare. Guess, if they worked together they could set some overall higher prices and actually make a bit of an income… there’s probably a reason but I felt sorry for them as the competition for tourists looked pretty nasty.

The sight into the grey and yellow crater is one to behold. Smoke still bellowing and a tribe of people walking around in it to catch the flowerofferings that people can buy for a few cents after which they throw them into the volcano. Good bit of recycling I suppose!

All in all a sight that should be high on the list of things to do and see in Java, definitely on of our many highlights and a true View of The World.

Full series (slideshow) here:

Dominica in REIZEN Magazine

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Jan 062009

Four pages on Dominica (no, not the Dominican Republic!) in December issue of ANWB REIZEN Magazine:

Faces of Oman

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Dec 282008

In december I had the privilege to travel Oman for a week and see so many places and people my head started to spin after a little while. Not only is the countryside spectacular but what really struck me where the people: their joy, friendliness and their faces. This is a tribute to them. Oman must be one of the friendliest places in the Middle-East.

Click here for the full album (21 faces).

The Ras al-Jinz Sea Turtle and Nature reserve

Travel 4 Responses »

Nov 292008

Imagine a beach where you can see turtles. Nothing special you say, just go to a warm place and you might get lucky. But what if there was a beach where you can see wild turtles every day? Laying eggs as well, every day! There is such a place and it’s called: Ras al Jinz and You’ll find it at the most eastern tip of Oman.

It’s 4:00 AM as we walk through the dark sands, trying not to fall as it is still pitchblack except for the incredible starlit nightsky above us. Our guide, this is a nature reserve, points us the way with a red light as one of his colleagues brings the word “we’ve found one just digging its nest!”. Our group, three journalists, three German biketourists and our Omani guide for the week halts with excitement. Bad news though: she’s just started digging so we’ll have to wait for the egglaying to start. This will take about an hour, would we show up earlier we’d scare the turtle away. As long as the egglaying itself hasn’t started the turtles don’t like to take chances.

An hours wait at this hour is a long one, still cold, wet and chilly we gaze upon the countless stars above until the time has come to advance.
But what a sight and what a worthwhile wait! A massive Green Turtle has dug herself a massive hole and is slowly but steadily laying her 60-100 eggs for the night. Every female does this every year for three years in a row and is then gone for four years before returning to the same beach for her whole productive life (age 35-80).
It’s an emotional moment to see the turtle working hard, we can even see the eggs: small golfballs without the dimples. Then it’s over, with her backfins she carefully covers up the eggs, moves forward and starts filling up the hole. Quite a task as it’s almost a meter deep. It takes ages and while the sun slowly advances to the horizon she finishes up her task in about 45 minutes.

And just when the sun is about to show it’s time for her to get back into the sea. It’s a short crawl as she dug her nest quite close to the shoreline. And while two small hatchlings advance as well to the safety of the water (for now, the seagulls have awoken for breakfast as well) the first wave hit’s the massive turtle shell. A wave later and she quickly disappears in the sea, she’s deserved her rest now! And then, the sun comes up. What a great way to start the day!

Favorite Views of the World: Saba

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Nov 182008

One doesn’t stumble into little islands very often. Certainly not tropical ones, but some time ago I had the pleasure of actually doing so. On route while doing a major feature on Caribbean Island Hopping (which later won me this award) we had a stop in Saba [check in Google Earth], a tiny speck of green in a huge ocean of stunning blue.

It’s a little known island which is great because not too many visitors actually manage to get there. It’s so small, the Tourism Office usually knows exactly how many tourists are on the island at any given time. Very tiny indeed then, which makes it a fantastic place to beat the crowds while still being able to do some decent exploring.

Besides being a very small, the way to get there is quite unusual as too. Saba sports the smallest commercial airstrip in the world and at a length of a mere 400 meters it’s a sight to behold! Landing, while sitting behind an open cockpit of a Twin Otter [Youtube, 250.000 views in one year], is quite something as the only space to build the strip was a stretch of lava at the far end of the island. Yes, Saba is volcanic and that is also one of the main attractions: Mt.Scenery, an old volcanic dome which makes for a fantastic climb.

Going up through the lush green forest of the island one notices that the volcano blocks the moist air from the sea which makes for a lot of clouds and plenty of hillside rain! You need to be lucky to catch a good view because one minute it can be crystal clear, a minute later fog is all you will see. The good thing is that all off the rain makes this stunning island with a green color rarely seen in the Caribbean. Fortunately the inhabitants were smart enough to insist on a rigorous building code: all the houses are tiny cottages built in one style. You won’t find a more pittoresq place in this area easily.

The climb up the volcano isn’t really tough but the heat makes it strenuous during the hour and a half long ascent (1064 steps to be precise). But the higher one gets the more extreme the plantation gets as well: lush trees with huge leaves make you feel like you’re walking in a Jurassic Park setting but then, when you reach the top, the view is just unbelievable. This island is a pure tropical gem in the Caribbean seas, simply stunning and if you’re lucky the skies stay clear long enough to enjoy the view from all sides. Definitely worth the title of a Favorite View of the World!

And take off! Bye…

Cover Snowboard Magazine 2008/2009

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Oct 132008

Now in stores all over Holland, the new Snowboard Magazine. Keep an eye open on this site for more new wintersports photo’s and articles from this issue.

11 Pages Gran Canaries in REIZEN Magazine

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Sep 302008

Eleven pages from one of the nicest islands I have been to: the spectacularly beautiful Gran Canaria. For some reason 99% of the tourists stay in the horrible concrete and beach misery of the Playa del Inglés and other soutside resorts while the rest of the island is a heaven of beauty and peace.

For the largest travel Magazine in the Netherlands, ANWB REIZEN, we did a report on six of the many fantastic nature walks that you can do. Keep an eye open on my website for a Favorite Views, coming later this year from Gran Canaria.

For a lot more info, visit the REIZEN website with the Gran Canaria article and the details of the six walks and a couple of amzing car trips.

Winner Caribbean Travel Writer Award 2008!

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Sep 262008

Foto: Nelleke Launspach

Just won the Winner Caribbean Travel Writer Award 2008 for best Dutch article on the Caribbean! The article on “Caribbean Island Hopping” was published in Tulp Magazine. View the pdf here.

More info at Tourpress.

My winning article:

Longest zip-slide in the world

Extreme, Travel No Responses »

Sep 202008

Click here to watch the hi-quality version on Youtube.

2000 meter long, 280 meters high and speeds up to 120km/hour. Sun City (South Africa) has the longest zip-slide in the world: The Pronutro Zip 2000 (what a name!).

Thougth I’d give my Canon EOS 1DmkIII a spin with a med-resoultion setting and the motordrive on the medium setting as well. ISO 200, aperature priority at f5 and a plus stop of 1/3 for that extra bit of light. The whole video is composed of over 350 resized jpegs.

Many thanks go out to Sun International en the Pronutro Zip guys.

World Championships Bogsnorkling

Events, Extreme, Travel No Responses »

Sep 022008

Snorkling, most people envision wildly colored coral reefs and incredibly beautiful fish swirling around them. Not in Wales, where snorkeling has been taken to new heights or should I say new lows? A 60 meter long and 1,5 meter deep trench dug into a pleasantly sodden field somewhere in the Welsh hills is the competition ground for the one and only World Championships Bogsnorkling.

Bog snorkeling? Yes that’s right: with the aid of fins, masks and snorkels participants do a 120 meter back-and-forth in muddy, very muddy water without using regular swimming strokes. As the underwater viz is about zero the mask mostly functions as a way to keep deep brown water out of your eyes. And hey, it looks great too!

Upon coming to Llanwrtyd Wells [Google Earth], a small town with 700 inhabitants in the middle of Wales, I only had to follow signs “To the bog” or “Bog not very far now!”. Easy as one, two, three but I did end up in the middle of nowhere (though it has a name apperently: the Waen Rhydd Peat bog, Google Earth) but apparently that’s where I had to be. A small two pound fee for the farmer whose field was being plowed in an uncontrolled manor (read: damaged) by many a car was the only exchange of currency for this event. All was free to enjoy and so was the field where it was quite difficult to see the difference between water and the grass as it was completely soaked after this year’s awful summer. Nice, end of August and still up to my ankles in mud.

But who cares? I haven’t had so much fun in quite a while with all these guys jumping in and trying to make it as fast as possible (and it’s rough snorkeling such a length I can tell you from the exhausted look on the snorkelers faces. It’s just one of these things you gotta see!

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