This expedition is my fourth venture into Indonesia; a vast country with incredibly varied cultures, cuisine, flora, and fauna. Anyone who has been to Indonesia and says they “have been there and done that” has never really experienced Indonesia and is missing out.

I had Claude create a map of every place in Indonesia I have visited before and overlaid where this expedition is taking us. The areas visited, and the immense size of the area which remains untouched (Indonesia is wider than the United States) are breathtaking. It is with that perspective that the Goldring Travel Culinary & Cultural Journey of Indonesia and Borneo with Aurora Expeditions starts.

After an early morning breakfast at the Hyatt Regency Sanur, followed by a transfer to the Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia airport, it was a 3.5-hour charter flight to Sorong, Papua, Indonesia; about as far south and east as you can go in Indonesia (and not far from Northern Australia) to meet Aurora Expeditions’ Greg Mortimer and my home for the next 15 days. (What will be discussed later is how we crossed The Wallace Line, an incredibly important biological boundary created by a deep ocean rift.)

Having been shocked at Bali’s modern international airport, I was still surprised by how modern and well-equipped the domestic terminal also is. Understanding a bit about how poor the Indonesian economy is, and how significant the economic impact is of tourism (Bali and scuba diving, especially), all I could think of was “IMF” (International Monetary Fund)! Hence, it was quite a comfortable experience from check-in to security to Priority Pass lounge to boarding gate.

Having downloaded some movies onto my iPad before the flight, I settled in the pretty ancient 737 with a somewhat upgraded interior. Aurora’s charter on Garuda Airlines made sure we were well fed, offering a choice of an actually good hot meal, followed by a sandwich an hour later.  

Arriving in Sorong, I was expecting a ramshackle town with a rudimentary airport. However, Sorong surprised me, starting with the airport. Fully prepared to use stairs to disembark from my flight onto the hot, humid tarmac, i was greeted by a jet bridge and air conditioning. Again, IMF came to mind…and, selfishly, I didn’t mind it.

Once we collected our luggage, we handed it off to a porter who would bring it onboard the Greg Mortimer and right to our staterooms. And then…a bit of chaos. Rather than having someone from Aurora advise us which of the five buses we were to take to the ship, either before we left the Hyatt in Bali or while on the plane, we wound up trying to find five women, each with a different passenger list, who had names for each bus. So you had to go person to person until you found your bus number. (Of course, that led to a few people just getting on any bus, which held up everyone because each passenger had to be accounted for…and not left at the airport!)

Driving through Sorong, I found it more developed, modernish, less polluted, and more interesting than the areas of Bali I have been through (save the resort areas such as Ubud).  While I can’t say it motivated me to return here to explore, it didn’t discourage me and had me wondering if it is the gateway to exploring more of Papua, an island with quite an exotic (and, at times, quite violent) reputation that has captured my interest ever since I lived in Brisbane, Australia in the 1980s.

One overriding concern on this expedition is smoke from fires, including those almost 1,000 miles away. It has been an incredibly dry rainy season, and places such as Kalimantan (Borneo) have been experiencing horrific wildfires and extremely dense smoke. I guess having lived through the wildfire near my home in Truckee, California, I immediately noticed not only the smoky haze, but a slight burning in my nostrils. It wasn’t terrible, but the reality of it raised some concern about how the smoke and fires might affect our expedition. Alas, we shall see.

Upon arrival at the port, I saw a gangway rather than a zodiac transfer. But more interesting was a troupe of Papua dancers that performed welcome dances for us. It was the second time I had thought about returning to Papua, since we would immediately leave Papua after boarding the ship, heading to the Raja Ampat archipelago. I was thinking about what the culture must be that the dancers are representing and how I want to know more. Alas, it was not merely a welcome dance but, hopefully, an introduction to experiencing what is currently unknown.

Boarding the Greg Mortimer, I was greeted by the expedition team, crew, and officers that I had sailed with before, so it was a bit of a true “Welcome Home” experience before the requisite registration, litany of briefings, and muster drill. My luggage was quickly delivered, and, especially since this is a very tropical expedition and limited clothing is required, I was unpacked, and my office was set up before the welcome cocktail reception. After a buffet dinner (usually à la carte), exhaustion from the past days set in, and it was time for bed so that I could be ready for our first day on expedition.

After sailing all night, we arrived at the Misool Marine Reserve and, more specifically, Bal Bulol, for a snorkeling experience. I have literally waited my whole life for this moment. As a child, teenager, college student, and biological aid at the National Marine Fisheries Service, I had numerous saltwater aquariums and fish from Indonesia. (This was long before it was learned that the harm caused by unscrupulous fish and coral collectors was damaging Indonesian reefs and fish.) So I have lived with some guilt that has overlaid my wonderment about being in the environment from where those wonderful fish came.

The first expedition experience is always a bit less intensive, as it provides guests with the opportunity to self-assess their actual (rather than perceived) abilities and the expedition team with the opportunity to assess guests. So, our time was limited to 45 minutes or so of snorkeling and 45 minutes or so of a zodiac exploration. (I must pause and note my surprise at the number of first-time snorkelers and less-than-proficient swimmers. While I am enthusiastic that this experience is not only available, but being taken advantage of, there should be a split between those who need flotation devices and those who are more advanced snorkelers/swimmers.) 

As is normal on expedition, the conditions at the first designated site prevented us from snorkeling there: stinging jellyfish, so it was Option B. But it was still beautiful. While I was surprised by the number of guests that opted to use snorkel vests or noodles to assist them, it didn’t stop them or me from enjoying the freedom of the water and seeing what had to be over 100 species of corals, dozens of species of fish, a giant clam, and at least the antennae of a painted lobster. (I did use an inexpensive video camera for the first time, so playing with it was interesting. But it most certainly did not distract from my just taking in the beauty of these magnificent reefs.)

One big plus for Aurora Expedition’s less-mobile guests is that it uses a snorkeling landing platform where you literally walk out of the water and onto a floating platform. You then easily step into the waiting zodiac. No awkwardly climbing up a ladder and into the zodiac.

Other than it obviously is an expensive bit of equipment, I am not sure why more companies (including in the Galapagos) do not use it. It is brilliant!

Our zodiac experience was a bit hampered by the smoke softening the brilliant colors of the water and the shallow reefs juxtaposed with the towering limestone islands, but we should have other opportunities for that.

However, all was not lost! We came upon a pod of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins and a large billfish jumping out of the water. (While I probably would not have gotten the photograph, I did get a wonderful photo of the hat the woman next to me was wearing when she jumped in front of me for her photo opportunity of the jumping billfish. Ugh.)

After a great morning, it was time to cruise over 600 miles to Wakatobi National Park in Southeast Sulawesi for more snorkeling in a UNESCO-protected marine area (one in the morning and one in the afternoon), a visit to a local village, and a birding opportunity. As this will require an afternoon and the entire next day at sea, it is not only a great opportunity for me to catch up on my work and writing, but for the Aurora Expedition team to show off their expertise with lectures on:

• The impact of Indonesian spices on geopolitics,
• Volcanos,
• Photography,
• The distribution of Indonesian mammals and birds (aka the impact of The Wallace Line), and,
• Coral reef biology.

Yes, all of that in 36 hours. Impressive!

As the afternoon was coming to an end and the sun was getting lower in the sky, I took some time to enjoy the Greg Mortimer’s outdoor lounging area on Deck 7.

False killer whales and short-finned pilot whales swam in the distance, and spinner dolphins were jumping just off the starboard side of the ship. (No time for photos, but plenty to just take in the experiences.) What a magical way to end our first day on expedition.

Next up: Time at sea. Time for Plan B…or is it C?