Dive trip April 29 to May 4, 2005It is more than ...
Dive trip April 29 to May 4, 2005
It is more than a year ago since we left for Manado and I just never found the time to write this report. Haunted by my bad conscience, I finally sat down to do so.
Jacques, my partner has found Froggies in the internet and after having bombarded poor Christiane with my millions of questions (which she always answered in a kind way with lot’s of patience), we reserved two weeks at Froggies in the Morish Idol bungalow.
Pick-up at Manado airport was perfect and the transfer from Manado harbour to Bunaken Island was already quite an experience. Christine and her crew took over and our holidays started.
Out bungalow was simple but comfortable and we had a super balcony with view over the trees and the sea. No need for air-con – the ventilator was quite sufficient. Our open-air bathroom with the traditional Indonesian bathtub was a good reason to splash around and behave like kids.
Lunch and dinner buffets have enough choice, simple, traditional and very tasty food, always freshly prepared. Christine made us taste many types of fruit we did not know.
And the diving !? Well, just extra! Hence was our dive guide and we shared a boat with another very nice German couple, Kirstin and Torsten with their guide, Vitro. A fantastic team with fantastic dives in a still unspoiled underwater world. We had long, slow dives, just how we like it. No stress at all ! We even saw the tiny, white ‘Pontoh’ hippo! Very exciting!
After every dive, the two guides sat down with us to discuss what we had seen. We never felt that we bothered them with all our questions. Both of them are very experienced, patient and trustworthy guides.
Nevertheless, we decided (or better myself – Jacques just agreed after a while!) to only stay one week as I was missing one thing – a comfortable sun chair where I can just relax, read a book or sleep. There are two or three sun beds placed just before you enter the main lounge at Froggies but you feel a bit ‘exposed’ and at the beach all the boats are parked. Would be nice to have one sun bed on the balcony or why not a hammock ?
Anyway, Christiane was so kind to accept our changes and perfectly organised a 3-day ‘adventure’ tour through North Sulawesi for us with our own guide. We stayed one night at the Gardenia Country Inn, Tomohon – a beautiful garden with wooden bungalows – a must if you head towards the mountains. I never regret having spent 3 days travelling through North Sulawesi. There is so much to see: climb to the rim of a steaming volcano, experience the rainforest at dawn to search for the tiny tarsier (Tangkoko Nature reserve), see how clove, cocoa, rice, peanuts etc. are growing, experience a ‘real’ weekly market in a small town (fish, meat, fruit, vegetables)… on a rainy day ! All in all , an unforgettable experience !
We continued to spend another week at Gangga Island Resort but this is another story. I can only say that we did regret Froggies after all !
I will close this report now as I could go on for another few pages. Myself and Jacques would like to thank Christiane for the fabulous stay we had at Froggies. You can be proud of your team, be it dive guides, kitchen or service staff. Staying at Froggies made us forget our daily worries, let go and enjoy every day, … and realise how little one needs to be happy! We will return one day – please keep it the way it is !
It is more than a year ago since we left for Manado and I just never found the time to write this report. Haunted by my bad conscience, I finally sat down to do so.
Jacques, my partner has found Froggies in the internet and after having bombarded poor Christiane with my millions of questions (which she always answered in a kind way with lot’s of patience), we reserved two weeks at Froggies in the Morish Idol bungalow.
Pick-up at Manado airport was perfect and the transfer from Manado harbour to Bunaken Island was already quite an experience. Christine and her crew took over and our holidays started.
Out bungalow was simple but comfortable and we had a super balcony with view over the trees and the sea. No need for air-con – the ventilator was quite sufficient. Our open-air bathroom with the traditional Indonesian bathtub was a good reason to splash around and behave like kids.
Lunch and dinner buffets have enough choice, simple, traditional and very tasty food, always freshly prepared. Christine made us taste many types of fruit we did not know.
And the diving !? Well, just extra! Hence was our dive guide and we shared a boat with another very nice German couple, Kirstin and Torsten with their guide, Vitro. A fantastic team with fantastic dives in a still unspoiled underwater world. We had long, slow dives, just how we like it. No stress at all ! We even saw the tiny, white ‘Pontoh’ hippo! Very exciting!
After every dive, the two guides sat down with us to discuss what we had seen. We never felt that we bothered them with all our questions. Both of them are very experienced, patient and trustworthy guides.
Nevertheless, we decided (or better myself – Jacques just agreed after a while!) to only stay one week as I was missing one thing – a comfortable sun chair where I can just relax, read a book or sleep. There are two or three sun beds placed just before you enter the main lounge at Froggies but you feel a bit ‘exposed’ and at the beach all the boats are parked. Would be nice to have one sun bed on the balcony or why not a hammock ?
Anyway, Christiane was so kind to accept our changes and perfectly organised a 3-day ‘adventure’ tour through North Sulawesi for us with our own guide. We stayed one night at the Gardenia Country Inn, Tomohon – a beautiful garden with wooden bungalows – a must if you head towards the mountains. I never regret having spent 3 days travelling through North Sulawesi. There is so much to see: climb to the rim of a steaming volcano, experience the rainforest at dawn to search for the tiny tarsier (Tangkoko Nature reserve), see how clove, cocoa, rice, peanuts etc. are growing, experience a ‘real’ weekly market in a small town (fish, meat, fruit, vegetables)… on a rainy day ! All in all , an unforgettable experience !
We continued to spend another week at Gangga Island Resort but this is another story. I can only say that we did regret Froggies after all !
I will close this report now as I could go on for another few pages. Myself and Jacques would like to thank Christiane for the fabulous stay we had at Froggies. You can be proud of your team, be it dive guides, kitchen or service staff. Staying at Froggies made us forget our daily worries, let go and enjoy every day, … and realise how little one needs to be happy! We will return one day – please keep it the way it is !