March 30th - Arrival in Manado
After a long long trip (Maastricht > Amsterdam > Singapore > Manado) we arrived at Manado. To our big surprise there was nobody waiting for us to pick us up?! When mentioning the 'Bunaken Cha Cha' we were asked whether we were Frank Essers, the party they were waitng for. Fortunately Frank and Annemiek, a Dutch couple that just moved to Singapore, didn't arrive yet at the pick-up, so we could join them.
After an hour in a taxi and an other hour on a boot we arrived at the resort. A bit later, entering the room, it became clear that we weren't expected to arrive. The room was far from tidy, and the rubbish and building material didn't give us a welcoming feeling. We were suposed to check in into room 1, which still needed some repair.
After a good dinner, we had a long sleep.
March 31st - Change room
The next morning after breakfast, another nap and a good lunch we moved into room 1. This was a lot better! Our holiday could start :-)
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| Van Bukanen Cha Cha & Lembeh Strait 2009 |
In the afternoon we 'explored' the beach, accompanied by 2 of the 4 dogs of the resort. Later, during the afternoon tea, we had a nice chat with Frank and Annemiek, our new neighbours. They both were teachers and had jut moved to Singapore, after having lived in Cairo for eleven years. Before that they lived in Jakarta. But as always, the world is small, as their sun lives in Maastricht.
April 1st - The diving starts
Today we dived Lekuan III and Tawara, where we saw our first Harlequin Ghost Pipe Fish.
April 2nd: Mandolin, Fukui
April 3rd: Siladen South, Cha Cha II
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| Van Bukanen Cha Cha & Lembeh Strait 2009 |
April 4th - Current, worms and a vet
Today we made 2 nice drift dives (Timur I & Muka Kampung), which was quite funny as Frank didn't join yesterday as there were 'dives with current' planned. Reality was that we had a lot more current today, and Frank joined.
In the evening I addressed the 'red worms' that were in the tap water. A 'I'll have them look at the filters' was all he could say - not even a slight sorry. The fact that Raf and Reiko, the owners of Cha Cha, had some issues with their staff was more than obvious. We guess that's why we didn't find the 'warm and carring' people we read about so many times on the reviews. On the other side, we met a a very enthousiastic dive guide, Soleman (who spoke Dutch). And a very nice American girl, Kara, who was Cha Cha's Yoga teacher and did some dive guiding on the side.
In the afternoon the local vet had arrived to check out the old femal dog.
April 5th: Lekuan III, Lekuan II
April 6th: Tiwoho Reef, Abang Point, Cha Cha II
April 7th - Last day in Cha Cha
Today, when leaving for our last 2 dives in The Bunaken National Park (Mike's Point & Long Beach), we saw dolphins passing by. A lovely sight.
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| Van Bukanen Cha Cha & Lembeh Strait 2009 |
During the day we urged Raf to assure the transfer to the Lembeh Resort was arranged. Finally, after dinner, he confirmed.
During the last night I was bitten by a Centipot (aawch) while I was sleeping. Although I was told the ones in Cha Cha weren't poiseness, but you're never sure and you feel strange tinteling everywhere. Nope, I didn't sleep that much anymore that night.
Cha Cha in summary
Bunaken Cha Cha is a simple resort and they have their issues. But looking back we realy enjoyed ourselves here. Something we wouldn't have guessed when we arived.
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| Van Bukanen Cha Cha & Lembeh Strait 2009 |
April 8th - Lembeh Resort
After a ride of about 2 hours from Manado to Bitung, listening to the drivers Scorpions tape (again and again), we arrived at the Lembeh Resort. Yes, we had planned our holiday in the correct order. This was quite a few classes better.
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| Van Bukanen Cha Cha & Lembeh Strait 2009 |
Arrving around lunch ment that we could have our first dive (Aer Prang 2) already in the afternoon. At first it's quite strange this 'muck diving', only black sand and no corals. You wonder, will this still be fun to do the 8 days? On the other hand, there are lots of very strange and very uncommon creatures at show in the Lembeh Strait.
April 9th - Camera 'fixed'
Startin the day with Do (Elly's music) on the speakers.
After having been a bit frustrated while trying to take pictures on the deep parts of the dives, and having a camera that refused to do what it should do: take pictures, I finally found the reason. The zoom button didn't go back to the neutral possition by itself due to the water pressure. Knowing this I could simply push it back manually and shoot the next picture!
Dived: Rojos, Nudie Falls and Serena Besar
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| Van Bukanen Cha Cha & Lembeh Strait 2009 |
April 10th - Erwin
Today when walking into the dive shop a guy introduced himself as 'hello, I am Ûrwin'. I said; 'I know you!'. We met Erwin (his parents are Dutch, but he realy is a Kiwi) a few years ago on Wakatobi. He soon remebered.
It was funny to meet him again at another resort.
Dived: Pante Parigi, Makawidi 3 and Police Pier 2
April 11th - Mimic & Pygmee
The day started with rain and thunder storm. This didn't hamper the diving, as today we saw the very fanous Mimic Octopus. In the morning we already saw 8 Pygmee Seahorses. A very good day!
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| Van Bukanen Cha Cha & Lembeh Strait 2009 |
Dived: Nudi Retreat, Aer Bajo 2 and Jahir 2
April 12th - Easter
Today we watched Erwin giving a snorkel course in the pool. To my surprise I learned a new trick: When coming back up to the surface one should release a small breath of air in the snorkel. Do to the decreasing pressure while surfacing, the air expands and clears the snorkel (you need to look up to make this work). At the surface the snorkel is clear of water and you can immediately breath and don't need to 'blow clear' it.
Dived: Hair Ball 3, TK 2 and Tanjung Kubur
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| Van Bukanen Cha Cha & Lembeh Strait 2009 |
April 13th - 4 Dives in 1 day
For the 1st time in our diving 'carreer' we did 4 dives on 1 day. So after the 3 day dives on programm, we did an additional 'Mandrin Dive', visiting a bush of deerhorn coral on the House Reef where the fanous Mandrin Fish performs his&her daily matting ritual during sunset.
Dived: Nudi Falls, Makawide 1, Aer Prang 1 and Mandrin House Reef
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| Van Bukanen Cha Cha & Lembeh Strait 2009 |
April 14th: Hey Hus, Slow Poke & Aer Prang 3
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| Van Bukanen Cha Cha & Lembeh Strait 2009 |
April 15th - 250 dives
Today, during the last dive day of our holiday, we both made our 250th dive. Petra during the 1st and Jos during the last dive of the day.
Dived: Washuck, TK 3 and Makawide 3
April 16th - Last day in Paradise
As always on a diving holiday the last day is a 'no dive day'. You need to detox, assuring you don't get divers desease when flying back home. Despite the overcast I got a sun burn.
We ended the day with a nice masage.
Lembeh Resort summary
Diving the Lembeh Strait may have been our best diving experience ever (allthough difficult to compare with Mozambique). Looking back in our dive logs and counting the number of strange and uncommon species we have seen dive after dive after dive ..... mind blowing. The resort itself also added to the experience: a view to die for, super clean and very very well run. It will be difficult not to return here somewhere in the futur!
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| Van Bukanen Cha Cha & Lembeh Strait 2009 |
April 17th - Butterflies and Koi
Today we had a long trip home ahead of us. During the 7 hr stop-over in Singapore we enjoyed the butterfly garden and had a nice Thai dinner.
April 18th - Back home
Arriving back home and picking up our cats at there hotel. A beautiful holiday had come to an end.
List of all video's on You Tube, shot during this holiday:
And what a habitat that is. Madagascar is a world on its own, and has been for millions of years. We were looking forward to new 'experience of a lifetime'. How shocking and disappointing it was to learn a few weeks later about the political roller coaster Madagascar had become. Hoping for the best we waited for the situation to calm down the next few months. But the longer we waited the more it became clear, the issues in Madagascar will not be solved overnight.