One night in a rally anchorage makes you appreciate calm ones even more. The tranquil evening we spent at Kananga got me thinking about how unique each Island, anchorage, village and town we've encountered has been. At Kananga the landscape was lush green and the sounds emanating from the small seaside community gave us the impression that they led a comfortable agrarian lifestyle alongside a clean, protected bay for fishing. Pretty idyllic. The locals were very friendly but somewhat aloof compared their counterparts in the dusty village a mere 70 miles away. But when you consider how vast the Indonesian archipelago is, with 18,000 Isles spread across a whopping 2 million square kilometers, and the fact that there are 300 different tribal communities, and more than 700 different languages still spoken today, I suppose we shouldn't be surprised about how unique each place we visit seems.

From Kananga we sailed to Moyo Island (we actually had enough wind to sail for a change!) and anchored at the base of a steep hill that gave us excellent protection from the prevailing wind. We enjoyed a couple of days of snorkeling and socializing with friends, entertained by the occasional sea plane that circled the bay to give its passengers a birds eye view of the scenery before depositing them at Amanwana Resort, at the head of the bay. It was rumored that we could enjoy a nice dinner at the resort and swim and snorkel off their property. So we tidied ourselves up, slipped into resort wear, and tied up to their dock. We were politely informed by security staff that we were welcome to have lunch for $75 US per person (menu unseen), and a post-lunch swim/snorkel off their property at half the daily room rate - a mere $500 US. An impressive means to protect the exclusivity of the resort, wouldn't you say?

Our third comfortable anchorage (in a row!) was Gili Lawang, which was once again very different from anything we'd experienced so far. This low reef-fringed Island is covered in thick mangroves, which easily tames the big rolling swell on its lee side. This was another anchorage that we probably wouldn't have ventured into without a reliable cruising guide, as the passage between reefs is narrow and winding. The recommended anchor position is about 100 feet away from a large fishing platform (it seemed a bit close but made for interesting scenery!). Lombok locals came across the straight to fish off the reef but by dusk they had all returned to the mainland, so we found ourselves alone (with a couple of other cruising boats who obviously had the same cruising guide). It ended up being the perfect spot to to get a good nights' rest before heading to Lombok, where we expected to meet up with cruisers from both rallies.