Carlotta Arona

Author: Carlotta

  • Paintings

    Paintings

    I would not call myself a painter, but I do enjoy playing around with brushes and colours.

    I find it a way to express my inner thoughts. During the course of few years I dedicated myself at playing around with oil colours and created a few paintings.

    Splashes of colours with images and shapes that were related to my life and experiences at the time. Most of the time I have no idea of the subject I want to paint. I normally stare at a blank canvas or board or whatever I use for painting for sometime and when I feel the inspiration is right I start painting and something comes out.

    I have not painted in a while but I am considering getting back on it. It’s another form of relaxation and a way to let my mind wonder.

    Here are some of the works I made. Maybe I am not a painter but a life artist.

     

     

  • Lembeh

    Lembeh

    Lembeh is a small Island in the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. The best way to get there is to fly to Manado and then reach the Island.

    I heard so much about diving in Lembeh from different sources and I was craving for diving there. I love small critters and taking photos. Apparently Lembeh is the world capital of muck diving and an underwater photographer’s paradise.

    I could not leave Indonesia without diving there, so I booked a 3 days diving holiday with Two Fish Diving Resort in Lembeh. I have to say they are absolutely fantastic!! The resort is located on its own private beach on the island of Lembeh and it is extremely well run.

    Guests are well looked after above and below water. They offer very good all inclusive packages and the food is simply delicious! It is definitely a bargain and I highly recommend it.

    I have to say that I had great expectations for diving in Lembeh. I was so excited and could not wait to see for myself what this place had to offer underwater. I did 3 days of diving, 2 dives a day.

    It was absolutely magnificent! It certainly exceeded my expectations. I saw the most incredible critters I have ever seen including the hairy frog fish. It was my diving paradise…

    The photos say everything. I should have booked more days but I was out of time. It means I will have to go back to Lembeh with Dom, it was actually a pity not to have my buddy with me. Nonetheless I absolutely loved it!!

    Then it was time to get back to Bali where I was going to catch the plane that would have taken me to New Zealand to join up with Dom. More exciting times ahead.

     

     

  • Komodo

    Komodo

    When Dom left, of course it was not the same! However, there was still a couple of places I wanted to visit before leaving in Indonesia so I ventured alone on the last leg of my trip.

    This last part of the journey was mainly for diving. I could not leave Indonesia without diving the amazing Komodo National Park and Lembeh.

    Since I had quite some time available, I decided to do the journey from Bali to Komodo overland and stop along the way.

    From Bali I caught the ferry to Gili Trawangan where I stopped a few days to catch up with a couple of friends. The second part of the journey was very long! I got from Gili Trawangan to Lombok by boat, then crossed Lombok by bus and caught another ferry to Sumbawa.

    I got back on the bus across Sumbawa and finally a last ferry to Labuan Bajo (longest ferry journey ever, 8 hours!). The whole trip took about 33 hours! I know it was a little crazy but at least I got to see the beautiful land.

    Labuan Bajo is the starting point for daily diving trips and liveaboards to Komodo National Park. I chose to dive with Dive Komodo, a dive operator that was recommended by friends.

    I decided not to do a liveaboard this time and just did 3 day trips, 3 dives each day.

    It was absolutely fantastic and I was lucky to get to dive three of the best dive sites in the National Park: Castle Rock, Crystal Rock and The Cauldron. I saw Manta Rays, White Tip Sharks, Turtles, fantastic soft and hard corals and much more!

     

  • Did We Find Mantas in Nusa Lembongan?

    Did We Find Mantas in Nusa Lembongan?

    Nusa Lembongan is a very small island in the south of Bali. It can be easily reached by ferry from Sanur in only 30 minutes.

    After Tulamben we drove back to Sanur and the next day we headed to Lembongan.

    Reason why I wanted to go there, besides having heard it is a beautiful island perfect to chill out, was because until then I had never ever seen a Manta Ray!!

    There is a dive site close to the island called Manta Point and it is almost guaranteed to see a Manta Ray every dive. I was craving for seeing a Manta. I had only seen it in pictures and videos or heard stories from other divers. I always seemed not to be in the right place when Mantas were seen.

    I remember last year in Pulau Weh coming back from a dive, a group of divers saw five mantas and we didn’t even see the shadow of them! (and we were in the same dive site!).

    Dom was lucky to see a few when he was working on one of the liveaboards in Koh Lipe, now I wanted to see them. Or at least one. It was also still Mola Mola season (Sun Fish) and there was good chances to spot them here.

    After a short ferry ride we arrived in Nusa Lembongan and headed straight to Drift Divers, a dive shop that was recommended to us by a couple of diving instructors we met in Pulau Weh, and booked the dives for the next day.

    It was October and low season so there was not many divers around, but the owner of the dive shop agreed to take us to Manta Point and Crystal Bay (this one is the dive site for Mola Mola). Awesome all sorted!

    Now we needed accommodation which wasn’t difficult to find since a friend of the shop owner sorted us out with a room at a very cute resort on the beach called Linda Bungalows and a motorbike. We had a room at the top of the building with awesome views over the surf brake.

    Massive waves could be seen every day with brave surfers riding them. We learned later that that particular surf spot is called “Laceration Point”, only for the very experienced surfers.

    The beaches of Nusa Lembongan are being used as seaweed farms. The locals work hard to grow and harvest seaweed which is then sent to the main cities or exported internationally to make beauty and health products.

    The locals, mainly the elderly population, work very hard in the seaweed farms, all day long. If they are not harvesting with their feet in the water, they are sorting out the crops sitting under the hot sun.

    The next morning we woke up nice and early to join the dive trip. I was very excited but I tried not to expect too much since I might have been out of luck again.

    After about a 30 minutes boat ride we got to the dive site, Manta Point. Our guide told us we were going to stay shallow, max 10 meters and look for Mantas.

    We hit the water and descended. The water was quite refreshing, about 22C. It was the coldest I have ever been diving! Dom and I were wearing two wetsuits and it still felt quite chilling. After about 15 minutes into the dive one Manta passed over our heads.

    That was it, I thought. Finally I saw a Manta and I wasn’t as excited as I thought I would be (maybe I was disappointed cause it was only one and it passed by rather quickly!). Then another… and nothing else. I was almost disappointed now but then… I couldn’t believe my eyes! Six of them (I mean S I X!) all together came towards us and just danced and played on top of our heads for about twenty minutes!!

    That was absolutely magical, awesome and almost unreal. I was there, at last, with these beautiful creatures. It was overwhelming and I was so happy I could experience it with Dom. There we were Dom, I, another diver, our guide and six Mantas. An exclusive treat, I’d say. I was happy.

    When we ended the dive and went back to the surface, we noticed at least another five boats but none of the divers saw the Mantas. That was a lucky dip!

    We headed to Crystal Bay and half hour into the dive we spotted a Mola Mola. Unfortunately it was quite far away, but at least we saw it. It was an amazing lucky day! We didn’t do any more dives afterwards. We were happy to have seen what we had come to see.

    We spent the following days chilling out, exploring and drinking cold Bintang. We stayed in Lembongan for a week and then headed back to Bali. Dom had to catch a plane to get back to New Zealand and I was going to travel Indonesia for another month and a half before joining him in his Country.

     

  • Tulamben and Amed

    Tulamben and Amed

    One of the reasons we chose Bali was because we wanted to dive the Liberty Wreck, an American cargo ship sank just off the shores of Tulamben on the east coast of Bali. It is one of the most famous wreck dives in the world.

    Tulamben

    After spending a few days in Sanur, Dom and I rented a motorbike and off we went on a road trip to Tulamben for few days.

    Bali is such a small island, but in compare to how big Indonesia is… well it is not that small. Looking at the map it seems like Tulamben and Sanur are only just a short ride away from each other.

     

    It was a three hours motorbike drive through hills, mountains and rice terraces under the hot Balinese sun. I wish someone would have taken a photo of us, two people, two dive equipment bags and one motorbike. Quite hilarious!

    Dom driving and me at the back with a heavy load on my shoulders holding on for dear life. Of course it was a fantastic adventure, I would do it again!

    Tulamben and the surrounding area are dominated by the impressive Mount Agung. The mountain is actually a stratovolcano and the highest point on the Island. It influences the climate of the surrounding area, the clouds come from the west and Agung takes their water so that the west is lush and green and the east dry and barren.

    We arrived in Tulamben with jelly legs and went straight to Baruna Dive Center where Charles, a friend of mine I hadn’t seen since Mexico, was running the shop. He was great, he put us up on one of the rooms at the back of the dive shop and sorted us with some dives for a very good price!

    So exciting! We couldn’t wait to go diving the wreck.

    We organized an early trip for the following morning and at 7am we were hitting the waters. It was good Charles suggested us an early dive because the dive site is so popular that during “rush hour” there might be more than fifty divers around the wreck which makes for a not very enjoyable experience.

    We had a sort of private dive, only Dom and I and Charles leading us. It was amazing, definitely up to my expectations. I love diving wrecks, it is one of my favourite dives.

    The story behind the wrecks makes this kind of diving even more fascinating. I normally try to imagine the ships in their good old days.

    The USAT Liberty was a United States transport ship torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in January 1942 and was beached on the shore of Tulamben so that the cargo and the fittings could be salvaged.

    The ship remained on the shore until 1963 when Mount Agung erupted and the tremors caused the vessel to slip off the beach and sink. She now lies on a sand slope in 9 to 30 mt of water.

    The wreck is covered in corals and it is home to some of the most diverse marine life including Frog Fish and schools of Bumphead Parrotfish. The experience was fantastic.

    The same afternoon we did another shore dive just off the same beach. Tulamben is also a good place for muck diving and the black sand makes it perfect for some good photo shots.

    The next day we ventured on a half a day trip for 3 dives off the coast of Amed beach. We were driven from Tulamben to a beach in Amed where some locals took care of our dive gear and tanks carrying everything from the van to the shores.

    After setting up our equipment we boarded a local fishing boat that took us to the dive sites. That was quite a different ride!

    We stayed in Tulamben another few days and explored the area around Amed. We got on our motorbike and drove around along the scenic road on the sea.

    The area here is very dry, such a difference from the lush green of the rice terrace only few kilometers away. This is due again to Mount Angung and its influence on the climate.

     

  • Bali

    Bali

    Bali is quite an incredible place! It looks almost straight out of a fairy tale or something along those lines. This is the first impression I had, coming from a long time spent in Pulau Weh and Sumatra.

    After finishing work at Rubiah Tirta Divers, Dom and I decided to explore a different part of Indonesia and head to Bali for some chilling out time and scuba diving. Same country but definitely a mission to travel from one place to the other.

    We traveled all day long. We got on the 8am ferry from Pulau Weh to Banda Aceh, then we flew from Banda Aceh to Jakarta and finally from Jakarta to Bali. We arrived in Bali at about 9pm. Luckily I had already booked us a guest house to avoid having to wonder looking for a late at night.

    We headed to Sanur, which is a short twenty minutes drive from the airport and it is not as crowded as Kuta. The owner of Bali Senia Hotel upgraded us to a superior room, so we got quite a treat.

     

    Comfy big bed, hot water and room service! Wow, coming from the basics of Pulau Weh this was proper luxury! The hotel would also be our base in Bali while we traveled around.

    Luckily we were able to leave most of our luggage there and travel just with the bare necessity: our diving gear, camera, toothbrush and a couple of changing clothes.

    The next day we went walking around Sanur checking out the area and the local beach. It was definitely a different world from Pulau Weh. Much more touristic, Hindu temples everywhere with offering to the Gods and a strong smell of incense filling the air all around (which of course I loved!).

    It was almost like a different country! Not to talk about their traditional local dish: Babi Guling, which is suckling pig stuffed and infused with a spicy concoction typically involving turmeric, coriander seeds, lemongrass, black pepper and garlic, and traditionally spit-roasted. Mouth watering!

    Unfortunately I didn’t have the pleasure of tasting it since the few warungs (local eateries) I checked were sold out or only made it to order for big groups! Well, I will have to go back to Bali to have a taste of this delicacy.

    We made a point of eating loads of pork dishes while we were there, to make up for the pork free time we had in Sumatra. Our hotel restaurant made very tasty pork chops!

    One thing that really impressed me about Bali was its traditional style dress. Bali is an island with strong traditions and religious ceremonies and their clothing is definitely one of the strongest traditions they have.

    On a normal daily basis men and women wear colourful sarongs with a shirt (men) or blouse (women) but when it comes to attend an important ceremony or go to the temple, the Balinese wear their finest traditional clothes with the drape normally made out of Batik which is a traditional cotton fabric painted with beautiful patterns.

    They even dress statues and buildings with their textiles!

    Balinese food is simply delicious. I fell in love with Sambal, the traditional Balinese sauce made of shallots, garlic, lemongrass, lime, chilly, fish sauce, coriander and coconut (or vegetable) oil. Simply delicious, especially with a freshly barbecued fish.

    The scenery in Bali is fantastic and ever so different. From green and lush rice terraces to volcanoes and mountains that during the dry season take a very dramatic arid look.

    Bali is a fantastic place but to truly appreciate it, one has to look beyond the huge number of tourists and Australian expats that nowadays populates the “Island of Gods”.