Siladen Day 2

June 22, 2018

Another spectatular day on the island & loads of photos (again!)

"What a difference a day makes"-
Everyone up early and motivated after yesterday's adventures.

"Plan your dive & dive your plan."

Our descent along the wall

Little fish in the anenome

Just like Nemo

School of tuna

We are but tiny creatures in the big ocean

An Orangutan Crab-
this teeny tiny guy (only abut 1 inch long) is covered in reddish hair and has extra long arms just like the land mammal...very interesting! 

A family that plays together...   :)

Tube sponges

Spiny lobsters do not have claws but these impressive antennae were as long as Matt's arms!

Turtle resting on a ledge to get a shell shine from these fishes

When the air runs low, you must rise to the top-

Back to the boat for a surface interval & time on the top deck

We loved our labeled mugs!

The water is a warm 26C but it is even warmer up here.

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There was still time after the afternoon dive to snorkel in the shallow reef that ran along the beach.
These are some of Matt's snorkeling shots:

Chocolate chip sea stars and sea urchins

Giant Sea Clam (one of my favorite ocean animals)

Crown of Thorns starfish- another venomous creature

Moray eel

Same eel coming out from his hiding place for a swim- looks like a snake but it is a fish.

FIFA again! Great way to finish out our time at Siladen.
Tomorrow we fly to Bali-

Palau Siladen

June 21, 2018

The Bunaken National Marine Park is an area of 5 islands where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meet. It is touted as one of the top diving destinations of the world for its marine biodiversity.
The well-run Siladen dive center sends out boats 3X a day and also offers a night dive.
We plan to take advantage of as much diving as we are able while visiting here.

Map of more than 50 dive sites-
The arrow points to the place we are in the world right now.

Some of us are more ready than others for the early morning dive-

We can only imagine what treasures are waiting for us underneath-

FULLY awake now!

What follows is just a small sampling of the photos Matt took during our dives on the first day.
We did 3 "wall dives" which is diving a vertical underwater cliff face covered in coral.  It is likened to leaning out of a skyscraper and peering down hundreds of feet...
Anyone who knows me & my fear of heights, understands what a challenge this was for me!

We all made it down without any trouble and saw amazing underwater creatures- hard and soft corals, beautifully colored little "happy fish", turtles, nudibranchs, crinoids, and the graceful but venomous lion fish.
A whole new world 65ft under the sea!

The graceful but venonmous Lionfish waiting for their prey

See how down, down, down, deep the wall goes...
This turtle looks so small...

On top of the boat with a book was a favorite way of the boys to spend the 1 hour long surface interval time between dives. 

Lounging is a very appropriate way to end a day of diving! 

Tomohon to Siladen Island

June 20, 2018

Today is the day that we get up close and personal with the volcano that we have been admiring during our meals at the Gardenia Inn. There are actually twin volcanos within 2K of each other, Mt Lokon and Mt. Empung that are both still active and are among the most active volcanos of Sulawesi.
Mt. Empung last erupted in the 18th century but Mt. Lokon's most recent eruption was in 2015. We rose before the sun this morning to hike to the crater's edge of the higher peak of Mt. Lokon.

The 2 hour trek up took us along this dry river bed which is an old pyroclastic (lava) flow

It was fairly steep and the smooth rock was pretty slippery

Nearly there...

At the crater's edge!
(the patch of bright yellow on the rock face is sulfur) 

Photos of course do not allow for the full sensory experience-
...the sound of the hissing plume and the smell of sulfur from the fumarole...
We really couldn't even imagine what was boiling underneath-

With the sun high in the sky and the heat bearing down, we headed back to the base

Breakfast awaits! Our last delicous meal at the Gardenia Inn-

We have one last hike to a waterfall before we travel to the small island of Siladen.

Quite a contrast from the landscape of the hike this morning-

Kali Falls
Another experience that a photo cannot do justice-
...the booming sound & vibration of the force of the water & it's cooling spray...

We even get a smile from Matt

As was mentioned earlier, this area of the world played a large part in the history of the spice trade-
our guide climbed up a tree & picked this to show us what nutmeg looks like before we buy it in little jars of brown granules.

Wori Harbor-
Our "taxi" to Palau Siladen and our introduction to the underwater world of Bunaken National Park

When they said "small", they meant "tiny" island!
It reminds us of our visit to Heron Island in Australia.

The Nusa Indah Villa-
our home for the next 3 nights

Siladen Resort really means it-

Just walking along the beach at the water's edge, the sea stars welcome us too.
(These are known as chocolate chip sea stars)

Difficult to leave the beach, even when the light is leaving

No explanation needed for this one-

Yes, that is lightening captured on film by Matt

...and the rain that followed.

We haven't even stayed the night yet but already love this place!

Indonesian Green Coconut Pudding, called Klaptertart, is the signature dessert dish of Manado.
There are many evidences of the influence of the Dutch in this region and this dessert is one of them.  It was delicious!

Another perk of the resort- a TV for watching FIFA!
It was a special treat for this soccer-loving teenager-