February 17-20, 2007: An adventure to Batam
This weekend is Chinese New Year - and we have Monday and Tuesday as
holidays. Some friends invited us to a kelong in Batam - one of the
nearby Indonesian islands. We went, we enjoyed, and we'll probably go
again. Friendly faces, plenty of opportunities for swimming, fishing
and my sport - insect photos. More important, we traveled over a
cable stay bridge as we left the island of Batam - with a span that
exceeds that of the Ravenel Bridge. Here is our story - well, part of it.
The whole story is on my
Adventures in Indonesia
Getting there - we took the Batam ferry from Harbor Front - and wound
our ways around the cargo ships to Batam. Then by van to another island,
then by boat to Lincoln's place. Here are our GPS tracks
To get there, we had to cross from Batam to another island over
a cable stay bridge
A closer view
We took the ferry from Singapore to Batam - and then overland, to
a small river where we loaded everything on a small sanpan for about
a 45 min ride to the kelong. A kelong is a small wooden home on stilts
built for fishing. Loading
The boat trip to Lincoln's Kelong
The Kelong where we stayed
A nearby home
Lunch - a seafood delight
Some fished
Evening of the first day
The next morning, we found a Praying Mantis - cleaning its antennae. She / he
starts at the nearing part to her / his head and gradually builds a loop until
the entire antennae is whatever
A small loop
A larger loop
An even larger loop
Finished
A view from the top
Then off I went in search of insects - more focus practice. First I found
a small small grasshopper inside a flower
Then Sunday morning - Here are two mating brownish dragonflys
A red dragonfly from the top
an aqua damselfly (I think)
Another red dragonfly
What I call a tiger dragonfly - sort of tiger stripes
Another red dragonfly
A blue dragonfly
The morning of our last day (Tuesday) - just enjoying the quiet
Reflections of the poles that support the nets
Bringing back the morning harvest
A last look along the boardwalk
Checking the fish nets
Breakfast - fried noodles, prawns and eggs
Leaving our weekend home
A bit further away view
Another kelong - in the middle of the channel
Going home down the last river
Unloading and off to the Batam Ferry Terminal
