Making West
What comes after Komodo? Well, we wonder the same thing after leaving Flores behind and to our surpise the answer is a rather large island we'd never heard of called Sumbawa. After thinking it would be a short hop to Lombok then Bali from the dragons, it turns out Sumbawa is double the size of those two islands combined, so quite a few miles to cover yet.
Knowing nothing about Sumbawa island makes sailing across its north coast feel like true exploration as every new anchorage holds its own surprise. We pass a small and prehistoric-looking volcanic island called Sangean just to the north east and another volcano on Sumbawa greats us from the south. The Indonesian archipelago, located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, has 150 volcanos, and it seems we're getting ever closer to the epicentre of the action.
The eastern part of Sumbawa's north coast is quite exposed in sailing terms, with no protected bays or islands to hide behind for wary sailors. We day hop and endure sleep in rolly anhorages until we get to the tiny island of Satonda, harbouring a volcanic lake with a gently steeping crater covered in lush greenery all around it.
Satonda, with its natural beauty and strategic location cruising-wise, has caught the eye of some enterprising individuals who understanding the commercial potential of such a spot, decided to charge an entrance fee.
Or so we find out from a groundskeeper of sorts when we dinghy up to the jetty, who cheerily informs us it is 'expensive' to visit here. Expensive turns out to be $10 AUD each but you do get a nice, official looking ticket with a stamp for it. We negotiate this down to half price for the kids and reluctantly agree to pay then head down to the lake for a swim. When we get to the floating platform we planned to use for jumping off, we find the Indonesian navy there doing survey work on the lake. They are untying the platform and rowing it into the lake as we approach in order to measure the depth. For this, they use a single rope with knots as markers, which they periodically drop into the water as one guy paddles the plastic dock around a rather large lake. Not very high-tech but I suppose it works. All this in midday heat, fully uniformed.
The lake shallows are covered in green, slippery looking rocks making walking in from the shore look decidely unattractive. Swimming thus temporarily delayed, the only other island activity available is to walk up to the lookout at the top of the hill. It's extremely hot, approaching midday and everyone is now grumpy because we can't swim in the volcanic lake. An ocean swim may have been the smart choice here but it's not one we consider at the time. We opt for the walk despite all indicators pointing to abort.
The walk is steep but short and shaded, however no one enjoys it, least of all Jake who made his opposition clear from the start, perhaps reasonably so given the heat and the lantana we have to hack through in some sections to get up there. The entrance fee clearly does not include trail maintenance. The view of the lake from the top is nice enough but the scorching sun makes it a very short visit before we turn back. This is definitely an early morning or sunset type walk for anyone intending to visit. We return to the boat but not before we complain to management about the lantana (clearing it next week, he says!). A cool swim under the boat calms everyone down.
Controversy continues on Satonda when Wild One tell us later they only paid for the adults. When we all return that afternoon for a sunset swim at the peer, we politely confront the grounds keeper about this. He uhms and uhs a bit about 1 child ok, 2 children not, but it doesn't take him long to relent and offer a refund for the kids. As long as we can return 'the ticket'. Of course, the ticket is key! We agree to return later with said ticket and the whole encounter makes good fodder for laughs for the rest of the evening.
It's worth noting here that negotiating with Indonesians is largely a very enjoyable process as long as you smile and keep it friendly. Elasticity is the name of the game here, with concepts such as price, time and official procedure all up for negotiation with the right person and attitude. We've negotiated with immigration on how to pay for visa extensions, with various local officials who approach the boat for selfies but pretend it's on official business, as well as market vendors, taxi drivers and many, many others. Not everyone enjoys this but it's par for the course when travelling in foreign countries, mostly good-natured and I relish the challenge.
As the sun sets behind the green hills, we finally get the volcano swim we've been waiting for all day. We close the day off with beers on the floating pier dutifully returned by the navy, with kids alternating between jumping off and eating popcorn, surrounded by the sound of birds settling in for the night and the buzz of Graham's drone above us.
The next morning, after submitting our ticket and getting a refund (it's the principle!), we day hop to the island of Moyo, another safe heaven for yachts on the otherwise exposed coast of Sumbawa. It's known for waterfalls, especially the famous one visited by Princess Diana in 1993. I search for waterfalls on our maps and can see that there is a lesser known one on the north coast of Moyo, only a short distance from the beach. Anchoring is a bit tricky as reef is everywhere leaving only a small sandy spot to drop anchor. It's calm however and it's only a short stop so we drop and hit the bush trail.
We catch up to Wild One at the waterfall and we have the whole place all to our selves. The numerous cascading limestone pools are breathtakingly beautiful shaded by the surrounding forrest. We soak in one of the pools before climbing up the rocks to see what is over the cliff top.
Once at the top and further upstream, a small but very deep pool awaits, perfect for jumping in. I slide in and dive around to test the depth then Graham jumps in to double check. It's definitely deep and the kids are free to jump in - a jumping contest ensues with a lot of screetching which I am sure scares away whatever wildlife there is around us. A few minutes later, Graham realises he has my phone in his open pocket which somehow survived the jump. It's waterproof so no damage done - Ausbos crew strikes lucky again in the phone department!
After this we head to the small village on the west coast where scooters can be hired to reach 'Diana's' waterfall. After looking at photos of it online, it looks a lot like the remote waterfall we just visited in the north. Google maps again tells me there is in fact a waterfall a short walking distance from the village. After our negotiations with the scooter people fail to arrive at an acceptable price to go where Diana went and therefore all other land tourists ferried here from Sumbawa's capital want to go, we opt to walk to the nearby waterfall instead, especially after seeing the hoards pay to head in the other direction.
We are a bit picky with tourist attractions these days, having been spoilt with remote travel and amazing locations with no one else around. The walk we choose proves an attraction in itself. The locals have planted trees on both sides of the dirt road leading out of the village and through the farm land, new trees seemingly sprouting from branches broken off from other trees. It's like walking through a green tunnel the whole way, and the only people we encounter are villagers going about their business.
As we turn off the road towards the waterfall, we pass some local girls doing laundry in the stream and hear bells from cows let loose in the forest. One cow meets us on the path with a curious stare, posing for a photo before politely moving out of the way.
Further up, there are no signs of a waterfall but plenty of structures built along the stream to redirect water in the direction of the village, allowing doubt to slowly creep up just as Jake starts complaining that this waterfall will be crap. Minutes later and not a moment too soon, we are met with a deep pool with two gushing waterfalls above it and a rope swing to boot. All this in the middle of the forest and not a single soul there!
I am very content to soak in the cool waters of the shady pool and capture the rope acrobatics of others on camera but after an hour of nagging I am convinced (pressured) to try the rope swing. I give it a go but release early and do a sideways face plant in the water, making my face buzz with pain for 15 minutes after and thus making it the first and the last rope swing jump I will ever do.
This unpleasantness aside, the local waterfall delivers on all fronts and after we return to the village we have an excellent meal at a beach side restaurant before returning to the boat and continuing our travels west towards Lombok.
