Watusi Woman - Lombok Sailor

Medana Bay in north Lombok was our next destination. We cruised along the top of lombok from Sumbawa in very little wind and the iron sail on to get us to our anchorage spot, Medana Bay, just north of Bangsal harbour. What a beautiful calm anchorage it was, with a restaurant that kept the beers cold and actually had wine. What a treat!

We were here to explore Lombok so a scooter was definitely a must. We headed off to check out the Lombok Wildlife Sanctuary as I'd seen a sign that showed elephants. Wherever you find elephants you will find me. Top of my list of favourite animals. Of course, whale sharks have now joined that top billing 😁.

This Sanctuary an absolute delight to visit. Alot of the animals are 'rescue' animals and they are all so well cared for. I'm not a fan of caged animals but the rescued ones are definitely in a better place than their previous living conditions. And let's face it, who doesn't love feeding elephants, patting bear cats ( I'd never heard of them before), talking with a cockatoo or 2 and holding huge pythons. And the pygmy hippopotamus with a gorgeous chubby baby were adorable. I mustn't forget the antics of the 2 juvenile orang-utans or the siamang gibbons.

The personal guide was a nice touch and his knowledge of all the animals was extensive. Gotta hand it to him, he obviously loves his job. The gardens throughout the Sanctuary were a sanctuary in themselves. So lush and green with trickling water and meandering paths. With over 150 animals and 50 different species, the whole place was wonderful and so well worth our visit.

Lombok Wildlife Sanctuary

this grand old lady is 45 years old

gotta love a pygmy hippo smile

siamang gibbon showing off to us

bearcats, too cute

Hubby found a matching accessory

We took to the hills after that, up through the monkey forest - stopped to feed them of course, then along winding roads with stunning views of the valleys and coastline of North Lombok. We rode back into Senggigi and had a delicious late lunch on the water.

roadside monkeys

best friends

For a treat we headed to Sekotong, in the south west corner of Lombok, to stay a couple of nights at Silver Fern Resort. This delightful boutique resort sits right on the water overlooking some of the 'secret gilis'. The kiwi owners are hands-on and make you feel so welcome it's like coming home.

The secret gilis are made up of 12 beautiful and mostly uninhabited coral islands. If you don't like crowds, other tourists and local sellers then these are where you want to be for diving, snorkelling or just lounging on white sand in crystal clear waters. We spent a day exploring 3 of these magnificent islands, one of them so tiny I walked around it in just a few minutes.

Gili Nanggu had a wonderful coral garden complete with concrete letters underwater spelling that out. There were plenty of schools of fish and clouds of tropical fish all around us as we leaked little morsels of bread into the water. It might be cheating just a little bit but the resulting feeding frenzy was awesome to watch. Also awesome to watch was the huge turtle we followed for a good 10 minutes as he moseyed along chomping on coral.

Silver Fern Resort, Sekotong

gili kedak

gili kedak

On the way to the islands our boat guy stopped off at a bagan, a fishing platform, for us to check out. We scrambled up, over and around the floating platform. These large structures are made of bamboo lashed together with blue cord then floated using polystyrene blocks. Who needs to buy a boat to catch fish? They have huge nets underneath that are dropped down up to to 20 metres at night time. The fishermen crank up the generator, turn on the very powerful lights and wait for the fish to come. The nets are raised and the fish are trapped, ready to be taken to shore in the morning. Climbing back down, I stepped on a length of bamboo that broke under my weight. Oops. Was it too dried out or do I weigh that much more than a local fisherman? 🤔

bagan - fishing platform

bagan

The Medana Bay Marina was a great spot to base ourselves for several days. The restaurant kept us fed with delicious local and western foods, and did I mention the wine? Chilled crisp rosè. Mmmm.
The North Lombok tourism department put on an afternoon of cultural dances and foods on the marina grounds and backed it up with a local band so we could get our boogie on. We all did the rally proud, even had some karaoke going on too.

The restaurant put a BBQ on for us the next night so we requested the awesome band back. The band obliged, for free, as they had enjoyed partying with us. We all dipped in our pockets and the tips the band made was more than their paid gig the night before. The food was delicious, the drinks cold and the band was rocking.

a feast of local cuisine provided by these lovely ladies

dance performedby men only

tribal fighting demonstration

Thanks Medana Bay Marina and thanku Lombok for a memorable visit.

Until next time, Watusi Woman - dancing queen, out.

medana bay