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    Robinson Crusoe with Banana Pancakes

    July 6th, 2007 by steve

    We arrived on the island of Flores a week before our dive boat was due to leave for a tour of the islands around Komodo. Without sufficient motivation to trek around Flores, we faced being stranded in the port town of Labuanbajo. The only option that suited us was to run out to the nearby island of Seraya for a few days of deserted isle bliss. We shared this tiny island with just a handful of other guests, a few staff, a small fishing village at the far end of the sand and a family of squeaking deer who truly own the beach.Our beachfront bamboo huts may not have had air conditioning or indoor plumbing, but we did get electricity and running water for four hours a day. Freshwater for showering is brought in from the mainland, so we’d run out to the ocean with buckets to get saltwater to flush the toilet with.
    The first day, we heard some odd high pitch barking while we were napping on the beach. After a while we found we were sharing the beach with a family of short and stout deer. Barking deer. One took a keen interest in us and I ended up wrestling with his horns and making a friend for life.There is a small restaurant that is intent on teaching guests how to say “no” in Indonesian. At breakfast, “no toast”. For lunch, “no curry”, “no oil”. The best was the third day when we learned there was no more fish to be had. Really. Fish. We’re on an island! There’s a fishing village just over the hill! Alas, we were forced to move on to squid, which turned out just fine.
    A Finn learned to climb the palm trees one day and a Frenchman had found a machete, so we learned how to crack coconuts one night. There was even an attempt at making steamed coconut milk by leaving the nut in the fire for a bit before hacking it open. Too bad we didn’t have a cappuccino machine to go with it.
    Six days later, we’d done not much more than sleep, eat, snorkel, float in the water and read. In other words, it was a great week and prepared us for the rough days ahead on our dive boat.

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