Day 11

Woke at 6:45 and read for a while. We got up at 8 am and went down for breakfast. Just as we were finishing breakfast, the rain started to fall. Our driver arrived on time at 10, in the rain and we set off for Turtle Island. We drove down the same road as our trip to the resorts. Over the same bridge and past the resorts to a check point, where we had to pay an entry fee. More driving to the boat area.

At the place where we were due to set off, we had to negotiate a price for the boat trip across to the island. He wanted 400000 per head, but we got him down to 200000 = $20 Aus per head. I took some photos of the amazing array of boats all seemingly speeding through the water without any obvious plan. Lots of para sailing and some up on huge inflatables.

Getting on board the boat was adventurous, no hope of doing so without getting slightly wet. The boat set off at a fast speed, then slowed down while it was negotiating all the shallower water. The really sad part was all the rubbish in the bay. We arrived at the island but there was a long walk through the shallows from the boat to the beach. Climbing out from the rear of the boat had to be done very carefully. Unfortunately Val fell into the water. The boat moved as she was getting out and her lower half and bag were drenched.  Luckily her bag was closed and only a little bit of water got in. The walk across the sandy silt on the bottom was not pleasant in bare feet. The shells and small rocks were sharpish and I trod very carefully in my bare feet. (On the way back I wore my shoes.)

The island was very small. We had to pay a donation of 2000 ($2) to enter. Although the animals were in small old cages and pens, they appeared to be well fed and the water in the tanks was clean. I took photos of the turtles, but it was sad to see that they had minimal space to swim in their tanks. There was a snake, two iguanas with their beautiful skin, two owls, a toucan, fruit bats, two lemurs huddled in a corner and two porcupines. I wasn’t sure why they had this “mini zoo” because it was supposed to be a turtle sanctuary? We sat and had a drink before boarding the boat again.

The island could have been amazing. They could have made it far more of a commercial enterprise. Maybe in the future, but not for a while. We were quite disappointed by the cost and the conditions endured by the animals

On the trip back there were no issues. We got back into the taxi vehicle  and tried to find a craft store in Kuta. I’m glad we saw Kuta, even if we couldn’t find the shop. It was just like any other up market tourist beach town, with only a few original Balinese shops and alleys left among the high rise buildings.

We stopped at a small Balinese restaurant recommended by the driver: Warung Taman Bali. The meal was nice. It was enjoyable sitting there with the breeze blowing through the sides of the building. After our lunch we drove the short distance home, sat by the pool and read.

At 4:45 we all had to evacuate the garden area for them to fumigate the mosquitoes. My goodness the fog was incredible. We could see it from our window, where we were inside watching a video.  “Choices”

Fumigating the garden

Peter and Holly tried several times to ring Sandra via messenger. We could hear them but they were getting no sound from us. We had to resort to writing our replies for them to see. Needless to say it was a short phone call.

When the movie finished we walked up to Marlo’s for dinner. Again a delicious feast- sausages and sauerkraut, roast lamb and rump steak. We asked for the recipes of the potato salad, sauerkraut and gravy sauce- no hope. All secret. Home again to read/ computer down stairs. The mosquitoes seem to have avoided the fog and were buzzing around being quite cranky about being fogged.