Tag: Outdoors

Kalimantan Indonesia

One of the wildest places we’ve visited in our 7+ years living on a sailboat is Kalimantan Indonesia. With jungles and rivers and lots of wild animals, Indonesian Borneo is an incredible part of the world! We spent a few days anchored, and a few days on a riverboat tour to the Tanjung Puting National Park, one of the few places to see orangutans in the wild.

About Kalimantan Indonesia

Indonesia shares the island of Borneo with Brunei and Malaysia, and Indonesia’s portion, 73% of the area, is called Kalimantan. We visited Central Kalimantan, sailing up the Kumai River 25nm from the Java Sea to the town of Kumai. We anchored there for its proximity to the Tanjung Puting National Park, one of the best places to see Indonesian orangutans.

Male Bornean Orangutan
A male Bornean orangutan

Getting to Kalimantan

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Best of Banyuwangi

The more we travel, the more I prefer the places I had never heard of before visiting. For example, our stay after Bali was this coastal town in east Java. Compared to the overtourism of Bali, Banyuwangi was fresh and inviting. We spent several nights berthed at Boom Marina and enjoyed the best of Banyuwangi.

About Banyuwangi

Banyuwangi is a town on the east coast of Java which serves as the gateway from Bali, with regular ferries traversing the channel. The ferry from Gilimanuk, Bali to Banyuwangi takes under an hour and runs frequently. The town has a population of over 120,000, small for Java, the most populous island in the world with the most populous city, Jakarta. While close to Bali, it took us a day and a half motoring on Go since we came from the southeast of the island and there was no wind in our favor.

boats, Boom Marina Banyuwangi
Go and other boats at Boom Marina
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Impressions of Bali

Since we arrived in Indonesia in November, we’ve fallen in love with this country. From the friendly islands of eastern Indonesia we moved on to the center. In between visa runs, we visited Bali a few times, staying on land and on our boat. Although our short stays are not enough to provide a definitive guide to the island, we developed impressions of Bali.

About Bali

Bali is one of the world’s most renowned vacation spots and has been called “Heaven on Earth.” We respectfully disagree. We found this paradise spoiled by overcrowding, traffic, and pollution. When we were there, it wasn’t even busy with tourists, as tourism has been down lately.

Much like Moorea versus Tahiti in French Polynesia, we prefer Lombok over Bali. Lombok is quieter and more relaxed. I know we’ve been spoiled, and after years of traveling we prefer uncrowded places. But our impressions of Bali also include some lovely places and experiences.

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