November 5, 2023
We took a little overnight round-trip a few days ago. The highlight was this waterfall.
Here’s an interactive Google map that shows where we went…
The hike (aka death march) to the waterfall was a little more than advertised. While it was up and down hills for almost a kilometer to get to the falls, it seemed like it was all uphill on the way back. I’m pretty proud of myself—I only stopped to rest 63 times!
The waterfall was part of a larger plan. We went to a mountain town called Tomohon where we spent the night. We stopped at a couple of pretty lakes to soak in the views and try some local specialties.
The local specialties? Snail satay, freshwater lobster (or crayfish), a specialty pork satay, and something like a cookie called cucur. All amazing.
Supplemental reading: More about drones…
I will say that flying the drone at the waterfall very much detracted from the “waterfall experience.” While I was writing the above, I asked myself how the waterfall made me feel. The answer was that the majesty I experienced was more after-the-fact, when editing the video.
We’ve seen quite a few waterfalls while cruising. Some of them were in-your-face, water spraying, thundering monsters. Some were delicate and gentle. This one was probably all of those things in one. There was a very high, very light flowing cascade on our left. Next was a water mist falls-very delicate and also very beautiful. The two falls on the right angled towards each other and were very powerful. I’m sure if we’d had the strength to hike to the bottom, we would have been pleasantly soaked from the spray.
But those observations came after the fact for me. At the time and in the moment, I was busy flying the drone (it was a very exciting flight). I’m glad I did it and I’m so happy with the video, but I think that in the future, I need to do things differently. I think I’ll look first and fly later. I’ll try to take the time to experience the moment for myself, record it in my mind, then record it on the SD card!
Supplemental reading: Even cruisers get sick…
This might seem like a silly statement. Of course they do! But perhaps it’s not that obvious when so many share only the Pollyanna aspects and not the realities. I wasn’t feeling all that well when we left on the trip. I had a headache and stomach issues. It got worse as the day went on. (I’m sure if I had felt better, I would have only needed 53 rest breaks on the next day’s waterfall hike!)
By late afternoon, at the hotel, I was burning up with a fever. I didn’t take my temperature but it was as bad as I’d ever experienced. I was under two heavy blankets, in the tropics, and still shaking almost to the point of convulsing. I took some ibuprofen and managed to fall asleep. What a relief that was.
The next morning, I was a lot better. We decided to just visit Tekaan Telu Falls and then head home, abandoning some of our planned sites as well as a grocery shopping trip in Manado.
It’s five days later as I write this and I’m about 80% better but now Cyndi is succumbing to the same bug. I hope she fights it off better than I did. Getting sick is just part of the cruising life, as it is in normal life. It might even be a little worse out here. We’re eating foods that are strange to us, drinking questionable water, and often around people who are just getting off long flights on the germ tubes (airplanes).
Since we’ve been in Indonesia—seven months now—we’ve fallen ill three times. Covid in Tual, a very bad flu in Sorong and now this. Neither of us are the kind to get sick often. I guess that’s not been true lately.
The moral of the story? I suppose you have to take the bad with the good!
-Rich
Update: We turn to the age old cure!
“Put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up.”
If you find this information useful, or entertaining, perhaps…
