Sleeping Sharks

I have to laugh right now because of my current situation. I just called Uncle Mike from The Quick & Easy Boys at 2:00am Oregon time (they just finished a gig in Bend), while I am cooking rice and lentils, as my neighbor is playing the Star Wars title song on his trumpet blaring into my house and my kitties are falling asleep like little drugged aliens after they ate their dinner, while I was squirting a stray cat from coming inside. My front door is open and it is just starting to get dark outside which means the local temple recording will soon sound at the 5:45pm call to Hindu prayer. I had to light incense since there was a cremation next door with my ceiling fan spinning constantly above. It has been a very hot day that I spent mostly at school prepping for classes while reminiscing on my last week diving in the Komodo Islands. There you go. Life in Bali. Nothing short of entertaining.

I did indeed see sleeping sharks, swimming sharks and many other amazing creatures under the deep blue sea. Before this trip, I had about 4-5 dives to my name (I can't exactly remember since I left all my PADI paperwork in storage and it was 20 years ago). This was a trip where I should have had at least 20 open water dives to be aboard. But I was allowed to dive. Barely.

The always entertaining and hilarious German dive master and boat owner, Vovo, was creative and I survived. He reminded me and guided me but was clearly used to pro divers. I was with my co-worker Teri and her husband Steve, who invited me along and worked out all the details.

Vovo's beautiful and sweet Indonesian wife, Yani, cooked us the best food I have ever had and three crew supported the trip. The boat was home away from and the weather perfect.

We shared the boat with a lovely Swiss father and daughter, who were 80 dives more experienced then me but very patient and kind.

Needless to say I learned an incredible amount and am in love with diving. I was especially nervous and scared with everything the first few dives. I had trouble clearing my ears, finding the right mask and breathing slowly, but it was all worth it. We dove in protected bays as well as open currents and saw sharks, turtles, scorpionfish, trigger fish, sea stars, sea slugs, sea worms, clown fish, manta rays, angel fish, grouper, and so many other kinds it was overwhelming. The coral was stunning and the fish came in every color possible. It was sensory overload for the eyes. And incredible will-power to not freak out in the mind. We are not meant to be 90 ft under water, and once I learned to trust myself and my equipment, I was much more relaxed.

Komodo diving can be quite dangerous with the currents and is considered a place for professionals. There were a few times that I had my hand held through the currents (thank god!) so I wouldn't panic or get swept away. We heard the stories that indeed happened with folks last year that were swept away and not picked up or found for days. No fooling. But we had Vovo and they did not. We also had his trusted crewman, Merajap, who was always in the speed boat waiting after each dive, battling the currents and looking for our bubbles. 

Vovo would brief us on each dive, what currents to expect, where to go, what depth we would be at, etc. One particular dive, Castle Rock, we dove about 90 ft into this bowl and there were so many fish all around, above and below that with the sun glimmering down, it was surreal. I wrote a poem.

"Castle Rock"


Descending down into the depths
Farther down than my ears wanted to go,
Farther than my eyes could comprehend, 
the world opened before me.


Shimmers, glints, shadows, 
Sunlight streaming down.
Losing sight of the surface,
Schools of fish living in beauty.


Here in this place we are guests.
With the coral cascading down
into the sandy bottom,
Where the sharks sleep.


Life continues in movement,
eating, attacking, breathing, dancing.
waters we pack heavy 
To be, in this light.


And stare in awe 
with mouths full of air,
with life all around
a constant flow moving before us.


Turning, staring, pointing, smiling,
we can't get enough of this place.
We don't want to leave, 
to believe it isn't our home.


Today here, tomorrow eager to return.
Breathe deep, breathe slowly
and again I will see the light
below.


Beyond the diving we did take the speed boat to Rinca Island to see the Komodo Dragons.

and spent a sunset watching thousands of flying foxes leave their roost in hunt of food.

Dolphins jumped and local fisherman fished.

The sunsets were mind-bending and the sunrises were beyond picturesque.

After our journey on the boat we went back to Flores Island (where we flew in from Bali) and spent a few days exploring, and getting our feet back on the ground. We went for a rainy hike in the rainforest, saw more rice fields, 

went to the market, meet some locals and then came home. 

Now I feel like I am in Indonesia.