Lombok and The Gili Islands

Our Villa in Lombok

I liked the villa that we stayed in in Lombok. It was in an area called Senggigi. It had three swimming pools and lots of levels! I liked the swimming pool on the bottom level the best because it had a big blow up whale in it. It was dangerous to sit on the toy on the path. It was also dangerous running on the slippery floor so I had to walk carefully. 

We saw many geckos around our villa and we could hear the big ones at night as they made really loud sounds. You can hear it by clicking on this link. 

The staff at the villa was very friendly and they cooked us delicious meals. My favorite meal was the chicken satay. I did not like the peanut sauce though because it was kind of spicy but my parents and their friends loved it. I really liked to drink from the big young coconuts!

One day we took a boat to the Gili Islands. We went snorkeling to look for fish. I saw lots of fish. My favorite fish was dory fish. 

We saw an underwater sculpture called Nest off of Gili Meno by an underwater sculptor names Jason de Caires Taylor. He has other sculptures in the Caribbean, the Canary Island and in the Thames. It was fun to swim around and see it but there were many tourists and we had to be careful of swimming with so many people. 

The view from our horse cart

During our boat ride day around the Gili Islands we stopped for lunch on an island called Gili Air. While on the island we rode in a horse cart. It was bumpy and I almost fell off. I held on tight and I liked to honk the horn. 

The beach down the hill from our Villa

During our other days on Lombok we drove from our villa to nearby beaches and I swam in the water with my friends. I saw two fish. My friends and I rode the waves. I like to body surf and dive under the water to look for treasure. Some of my friends liked to take collections of seashells. 

Julia and I were buried liked treasure in the sand by our friends. It was so much fun.

There were many people on the beach during our last day on Lombok as they were celebrating before the start of Ramadan. Families and friends cooked meals and played in the ocean. They came to talk with us and some asked to take our picture. 

In a number of places we would see people burning the trash. Our friends from Jakarta said it is not good to do this and they told us about how often they see it where they live and how it is bad for us. My Mom and Dad started to look into charities that help with the environment such as Gili Eco Trust. Seeing the trash and especially the plastic bottles on the beach made my parents think about the choices we make and we talked about what we could do better as a family. It is important to take care of our earth.

Here are some Things I Learned about Lombok and the Gili Islands:

The language that they speak in Lombok is called Bahasa Sasak.

Three words I learned:

1. Hello is Helo

2. Thank you is Tampiasih (Tampi Asih)

3. Please is Tolong

Three interesting facts:

1. The Capital is Mataram

2. The Gili Islands are popular for diving and snorkeling and there are three of them: Gili Air, Gili Meno, Gili Trawangan

3. The majority of the people are Muslim.