Kepa and Alor

Our flight to Alor took a short stop at Kupang on the way. Kupang had a small one-gate-airport thing going on, so everyone waiting for different flights was waiting in the same gate. They decided to kick it old school and scrap the PA system for calling our flight. Instead it was just a whistle, just a simple whistle and everyone going to Alor knew it was time to board. We slightly heard the whistle and saw everyone rushing around so we assumed something was up, so we walked over to the door. Sure enough that was the 'get-on-the-plane-we-are-leaving-now' whistle. I won't ever forget that comical whistle of a boarding call.

We arrived at the teeny tiny Alor airport. I really didn't realize how remote we were until I saw the size of the airport and the next-to-nothingness around the airport. On our way out we stumbled across a Canadian couple going to Kepa Island as well. We were both looking for a ride so we shared a minivan to the boat crossing. The car ride was a about an hour long so we got well acquainted and exchanged numerous travel stories...and of course talked hockey! We all hopped in a boat afterwards and headed over to Kepa to check in.

The resort is called La P'tite Kepa and is located on a small island right off the coast of Alor Island. Alor is a remote island in the eastern Indonesian archipelago. Our bungalow was quite nice and spacious with a gorgeous balcony over-looking the sea. I'm glad we had the nice balcony because we all spent a lot if time reading out there. It seemed reading was the second most popular activity here, the first being diving. I'm not joking, everyone would come to lunch and dinner anouncing that they had flown through another book.

The meals at Kepa were very tasty although they got repetitive over time. They were served family-style, so everyone staying at La P'tite Kepa ate together, which I found very nice to sit and talk with everyone. Lunch and dinner always consisted of fish, rice and a couple veggie dishes (like I said, it gets a bit repetitive!). While breakfast was usually some odd sweet bread of some sort and bananas. Nonetheless the meals were pretty good and tended to be better when there was more guests.

Oh the diving was great! We did 4 dives over the course of our 6 days at Kepa. The first dive was called Harilolong. It was full of beautiful bubblish looking anemones, there were fields of them almost. These bubbly anemones came in many hues of pink and purple adding a touch of zest and flamboyance to the dive. We also saw a couple big lionfish and some very small white crabs. We spotted (and kept clear of) a titan triggerfish (they are known to be very violent and territorial). Some nudibranchs, moray eels, box fishes and nemos were just some more of our sights that dive. Our second dive at Kepa was called Limarahing and was mainly a wall dive with a slope for part. I was very excited that I got to see two mandarin fish, they are so beautiful and it was my first time seeing them! I got to see some well camouflaged scorpionfish and leaf scorpionfish. Seeing the black and white sea snake slither through the ocean was also neat. Motolang was our third dive, I even got to go inside a cave on this one! In the cave I saw 2 sleeping nurse sharks (the first sharks of this trip!). I think I saw 4 moray eels on this dive too. Along with the amazing orang utan crab (the first picture below), (it really looks like an oran utan!) and the beautiful clown triggerfish. On our final dive we went to Wolang. My favourite part was the pygmy seahorse (I have always wanted to see a seahorse-even it's only the eighth of the size of my fingernail!). The dive guide spotted it out but it must have been near impossible because it was clinging onto a fan coral of the exact same colour as itself and I have already told you of the size. We saw another clown triggerfish and another boxfish. The only downside to the dives here was the current, at all the dive sites we went to there was at least a little bit of current or swell. On one of the dives there was so much current the dive guide let me use his tank-tapper-poker-stick, I was pretty stoked about the poker stick! I felt like I had so much added authority and like I was instantly a better diver! I want to buy one but they are $20...and I ain't paying $20 for a tent peg and a piece of string! But to finish it off on a good note we got to eat beng-beng chocolate and drink coffee after the dives.

I met a nice French girl by the name of Lila who lives at Kepa with her parents (the owners). She is 9 years old now and can speak, French and Indonesian fluently and is also pretty good at English. I played a few card games with her and one day we went and made a pile of yummy cookies. I got a good chance to practice bits of French and Indonesian with Lila and the kitchen staff.

After six days we bid our farewells to Christina and Tye- the Canadians and the remaining Kepa guests. I had a great time at Kepa and it was definitely worth the trip out. Next we are heading to Labuan Bajo to do some more diving and snorkelling.