Pulau Timor

One of the big adventures of my life is about to start.  Part of my career change plan is to become a better writer and get some income or support from a bit of writing.  There are two parts to the plan right now:  1) I have a contract to write a book about the Coral Triangle with John Beaufoy Publishing and 2) a series of articles about marine conservation in the Coral Triangle for Action Asia magazine.  Both projects are with my co-author/photographer, Eric Madeja, of Treasure Images.

To start the process the first article in the series was submitted yesterday to Action Asia.  The anticipation of their response is killing me.  What if they hate it?  What if I’m a terrible writer?  Killing me!

Timor Island – Indonesia and Timor Leste

The second step is a research trip to two sites in the Coral Triangle.  Tomorrow I fly to Bali, Indonesia and then to Dili, Timor Leste the next day.  In Dili, I will visit the Conservation International staff and make contacts to visit the Nino Konis Santana National Park.  The park is 200 km east of Dili at the far eastern tip of Timor and getting there is described as a challenge.  Eric is on a sailboat on Ambon now.  We are scheduled to rendez-vous at the village of Com near the national park between 9 – 11 October.  There is a small beach resort there where we will leave messages for each other.  When (if?) I meet Eric, I’ll sail back to Dili with them and disembark.  You can follow Eric on the sailboat via http://www.winlink.org/userPositions with callsign PA2ALK.

Savu Sea area -(c) The Nature Conservancy

They will sail on to the other end of the island, 200 km west to the Indonesian town of Kupang.  I will need to go through immigration and will take a bus from Dili to Kupang.  In Kupang, we will meet with the Nature Conservancy staff and visit the Savu Sea Marine Park area for the next article in the series.

I’m looking forward to some ‘roughing it’ travel, some good fish, finding some reserves of patience, and a new adventure.  Wish me luck!