A Story from Mesa
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Book Cover
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Mesa Island, Preseving Fish
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A Fishing Village Off Komodo
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Published in 2004
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Traditional Ikat Weaving : copyrights Bason
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The Narration by : Dr Isak Mansur
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The narrator : Dr Isak Masur
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Map : Sumbawa.. Flores Sea
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Journal of Kay Goon

Paradise DOES exist ! My last weekend spent in the islands of the Coral Triangle was the nearest I got to Paradise ! I did not know what to expect and I think that this made the trip even more fascinating and awesome. At the end of the 3 days I came away with an experience that included primeval landscapes, prehistoric creatures, cool clear bright and deep blue seas, dazzlingly white sands, smiling Kampung children who have so little in life but are happy because they know nothing better, friendly simple and innocent fishing folk living in a world apart from ours and coral amd marine life that in your wildest imagination you cannot conjure up both in variety and sheer beauty. I now realise that in our lifetime we will still never know the bounty, marvel and untold riches of nature. It was an experience that was both humbling as well as unbelievably enriching for the human soul. Nothing in life can compare to the value of what nature has given us for free !!

Last Friday, we flew to Bali for a short overnight stay . The next morning our Group of 14 flew to Bima on the island of Sumbawa where we boarded a propeller plane for Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores. A charming village town reminiscent of Mersing but more heavily populated. From Labuan Bajo we took a speedboat to our 'live-aboard " vessel the Sea Safari - a charming replica of a Bugis schooner with wooden decks and cabins - which was to be our home for the 3 days. Sunset on the top deck curled up in a comfy deck chair with the breeze in my hair was one of many highlights of the trip !

On the shores
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The Writer & Photographer
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Along the way Bali to Sumbawa

ALONG THE WAY
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Last Friday, we flew to Bali for a short overnight stay . The next morning our Group of 14 flew to Bima on the island of Sumbawa where we boarded a propeller plane for Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores. A charming village town reminiscent of Mersing but more heavily populated. From Labuan Bajo we took a speedboat to our 'live-aboard " vessel the Sea Safari - a charming replica of a Bugis schooner with wooden decks and cabins - which was to be our home for the 3 days. Sunset on the top deck curled up in a comfy deck chair with the breeze in my hair was one of many highlights of the trip !

WELCOME TO INDONESIA
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Stories : Dragon Princess oif Komodo

Getting to Komodo by Kay Goon
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What of the famous dragons ? Well, I saw my fill - on the islands of Rinca and Komodo itself. They roam freely but are smart enought to keep their distance from humans as much as we humans kept our distance from them. I had a wondeful session ( this was one occasion when i was thankful that i paid attention in my Bahasa classes in school ) one morning ( whilst the rest of the group went on a 2nd hike ) with a wood carver cum story teller called Isaka Mansur - a wizened but active villager with a twinkle in his eye who delighted in telling me the legend of Komodo - a wonderful story that the inhabitants believe in and follow to protect their island home. It tells of Putri Naga Komoda a princess who came to Komodo and married a human . She bore him a son and unknown to him at the same time she also laid an egg. She hid the egg safely with a protector to look after it. Her son Si Gerong, grew up and one day as the young man went hunting he saw a large dragon and was about to kill it when his Princess Mother appeared and stopped him saying the dragon was in fact his sister, hatched from the egg that she hid. The legend continues that as long as there is a balance between man and dragons and they live in harmony, Komodo will survive and be prosperous. I was quite fascinated. As he was telling me the tale in the raised wooden cafeteria on the island, a large dragon walked up to just a few feet below where we were sitting and proceeded to drink from the drain outside the makeshift toilet that visitors use. It eyed me suspiciously when i went up to take a photo and was none too pleased with the flash, flciking its huge tongue at me. I was able to have my picture taken crouching behind it safely watched by the park ranger !!!!

Airport on Bima
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The propeller Air Craft
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THE SEA SAFARI by Frank Goon
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The Coral Triangle

Sea Safari V : A Replica Bugis Schooner
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If I thought the session with the dragons was exciting, I was in for the TIME of my life with the mantas ! I told Frank and the Boys that at almost 60 years of age my life's greatest moment was when i gave birth to my sons - that is now somehwat dim in my present memory and I was about to experience the next greatest experience in my life - swimming with the giant mantas !! Again, with no expectations beyond the anticipation of seeing these wonderful creatures in the wild for the first time, we went out to an area called Karang Makassar off one of the many islands in Komodo National Park ( a marine protected area ). The divers in our group had radioed back from their dive site that there were mantas gathered in that area to feed. It was around 4pm on our 2nd day and with that message we immediately abandoned one of our snorkelling sessions and headed out. We stopped the engines of the speedboat at the site and almost at once saw at a short distance from the boat the wing tips of the mantas flapping and cresting above the water. Excitement began to build and soon they were swimming right up along side the boat - beautiful black shadows gliding beneath the water on either side of the boat. On came the mask and snorkel and flippers and before I knew it I was over the side, and into the water. Excitement knows no fear and I was heady with excitement. There I was in the water face down waiting for the encounter of a lifetime ! I was not disappointed, suddenly a huge black shape appeared and this magnificent creature with an enormous wingspan glided slowly just below me. I cannot begin to tell you how i felt - I held my breath with such awe as I watched it move under me and then it was gone - I thanked God and my mother up in heaven ( and dad too ) for having given me the sheer magic of such an experience and when i got back onto the boat I was unable to put into words how I felt. When I got my breath back, I realised there were really no adequate words to describe it beyond just - awesomely magical !!! That is how I left it and it was a moment that will remain vividly with me forever - something to recall whenever I need to lift my spirit. I realised after that encounter, that many of life's treasures are there for us to behold and enjoy but if we are not careful, man will destroy them all !!
I arrived back in Bali re-charged, determined to do my bit to further the cause of the marine protection program that the Nature Conservancy has started in the area. I realise it is not just a question of guarding our natural treasures but helping to introduce sustainable development so that we do not become our own worst enemy by destroying our greatest gifts.
I have some wonderful pictures that capture this Komodo experience but nothing can compare with just BEING THERE !!

Speedsters
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