Steps of Faith: Belitung: Part 2

Day 3 of our island trip was spent doing one of our most favourite things: country driving. Paul definitely didn't want to have a driver on this trip as there were not a lot of roads to get lost on, and he wanted to feel the freedom of driving down whatever side road he desired. We loved seeing green trees, no people, and only us on the roads.

The following four pictures show what they have been doing to the land in order to grow palm trees for Palm Oil. This is a growing industry here, but unfortunately, is taking up much of the natural growth needed for the wildlife on this island.

I personally loved the homes here. They were small homes that looked well maintained and were brightly painted. Some included fine detail, gates, and heavy wooden doors.

Vince had his head out the window for the majority of our car rides, feeling the

wind on his face and breathing fresh air.

We stopped at this beach where there was literally no one in sight. That won't stay like this forever. Paul found out, when we got home, that they plan to build a resort on this site.

After driving around we made our way to Tanjung Tinggi Beach where a popular Indonesian movie was filmed. Just a beautiful beach!

Rain coming in!

Calm after the storm.

I feel like our kids are adapting to the Indonesian culture as they just sat on the side of the road watching traffic for no apparent reason, other than to just sit and watch traffic.

Our evening visit to the park was fun for the kids, other than the many, many people who wanted to take their pictures. They were not very thrilled by this, so they resorted to running away from people who held up their camera. Can't say I blame them.

Day 4: We went on a drive to visit a conservation for Tarsiers, small primates that are endangered in Belitung. We also feed some birds, a Kijang and held a luwak. After visiting the animals, we hiked for a short time along a river (our first hike since we've been here). We found a great spot for swimming, but the kids were a little unsure of what might be in the water. The water was so refreshing; cold water like we are used to in Ontario.

picture courtesy of Vincent

We continued our drive to the other side of the island. We discovered a clean town (but not so clean beach) with friendly people.

Building a boat.

We turned him over and freed him back into the ocean.

Paul was asked by two different men to help pull their boats up onto shore.

The kids love practising their English!

Day 5: Easter Day. Again, we enjoyed some driving, since it was raining anyway, and ended up at Tanjung Tinggi Beach again. We ended the day by staying at a new hotel with an amazing view.

Hindu Village