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I will start by saying that the beach hotel we were staying out had a fine collection of large yellow garden spiders (native to Indonesia). Argiope appensa is you want to get picky about it. These are obviously females because the females are much larger than the males. They are not poisonous or dangerous. The zigzag web element (a stabilimentum) is thought to help keep birds from running into the web and accidentally destroying it.

Today was another transport day. Moving us from the hotel in Labuan Bajo down to the pier by bus, from the pier to the ship in small 8-10 person zodiacs (again, I feel that the crumpling, water slick steps down to the zodiacs would have benefited from a handrail, but Indonesia does not believe in handrails), getting us settled in our staterooms, running the abandon ship / lifeboat drill that they always do first thing. There were meals, there were welcome drinks, there were crew introductions. We headed out across the Flores Sea, not expecting to make land until tomorrow.

This was the maiden voyage of this ship for this company and my friends and I looked at each other and said, wait, wait, didn’t we promise ourselves that we wouldn’t do another maiden voyage after the disaster that was Sri Lanka? But maybe we’d already punched that ticket so we’re good?

The ship holds about a 100 passengers. I’m not sure how full this trip was. It never felt full and between meals while we were at sea, everyone seemed to disappear. I would curl in a sunny spot in the bar on the 5th deck with a book and not see another human for hours at a time. When we left the ship, we always seemed to take about 7-8 zodiacs, 8 passengers per zodiac, a staff member, the zodiac driver. So, that would be 80 people, most or less. I had sprung for a cabin to myself because I need to remember how to travel with people again.

My traveling companions spent the afternoon amusing themselves trying to get photos of the flying fish in the water and the brown footed boobies in the air while I hung over the rail and watched. I enjoyed watching their frustration trying to capture sharp closeup pictures of small fast creatures moving randomly. I celebrate their rare successes more than I enjoy the challenge of trying to achieve this myself. Sometimes as a photographer it’s important to put down your camera and be in the moment, that you’re traveling through this place and time right now. (Fun fact, the record for the glide of a flying fish is 45 seconds.)

And what is finer than a bright sunset from the deck of a ship far from land and all your normal cares?