Indonesia Immersion Text by CIndy Abgarian After an enjoyable time in Ambon diving with Maluku Divers, the time had come for me to slowly make my way out of Indonesia and head back home to the States. As Wendy has mentioned, the staff at Maluku went out of their way to make every aspect of my stay the best it could be. This extended from Jon waking me up at midnight, as requested, for an update on attempts made to video a very special frogfish's egg hatching, to Jonkie, my driver, providing me with casual conversation during my hour plus haul to the airport. The day started very early on Sunday morning. The staff said their goodbyes while loading my overweight luggage into Jonkie's vehicle in preparation for our commute to the airport. As we proceeded on the dark winding road to Ambon's airport, Jonkie made a point of asking me if I had noticed how nice and smooth the new road was. Apparently it had been a recent government project - providing easier road conditions for travelers. What was especially nice that on this early Sunday morning there was a lack of traffic to hamper our sometimes harrowing speedy drive into the city. Under the cover of darkness, the Third World conditions didn't appear to be quite so dismal in this foreigner's eyes. All was going well and on schedule when, all of a sudden, Jonkie started to moan and pointed to stopped vehicles on the road ahead. The cars were not only stopped, but pulled off this way and that, with drivers and passengers alike abandoning their rides. Oh cripe, now what, I thought, as Jonkie stopped his car, got out ,and cautioned me to stay put as he headed off on foot. I had several anxious moments, sitting as a lone female, in a car, in the dark, on a road, somewhere in Ambon Indonesia, not knowing the language other than good morning, and thank-you, and with disturbing thoughts of missed flights, connections etc. And then Jonkie returned, on a mission. At his urging, I exited the vehicle, and with the two of us dragging my bags, he guided me through the maze of abandoned cars and explained what had happened. Sometime around 4 am that morning, a huge tree had fallen, blocking the new road. It was now nearly 7 am and there was not a chain saw in sight. At that point, I wasn't sure what lay ahead on the agenda, only that I felt a bit out of place and the object of many stares. As we approached the fallen tree, there were men on either side helping others straddle the tree with their belongings. Thinking that this was just another part of a great adventure, I was reminded of the days in my youth, when I climbed trees just for the fun of it, and clambered up and over. True to his "I'll take care of it nature", Jonkie had arranged for a car and driver to meet us on the other side of the bigass downed tree, to transport the two of us, and my wealth of luggage, for the remainder of the journey to the airport. I have always been impressed with the willingness of those in Indonesia to be kind and helpful, and this was simply just another gesture of the same. Back to Trip Report
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