Moonlit Beach

The beach view from our accomocations for the night, a bale-bale*

I write this sitting on a secluded beach, under a full moon and a cloudless sky, listening to the lapping waves of the Flores sea. The sound of the waves is commingled with nearby crickets and the dull hum of a distant generator.  The air is warm -- perfect, in fact. A light breeze keeps the bugs at bay, and I am perfectly content in my tank top and shorts.

The evening is absolutely perfect, yet I am alone on the beach. I am surprised, yet happy. When I camp, my favorite times are early morning and late night because It feels like I have the world to myself. I love the quiet solitude with nature. We are staying at a beach "resort" (Kanawa Island Resort) which I will call our "secluded island getaway". We are off the grid: no cell phones, no internet and (generator) electricity for only four hours a night. I'm surprised that more people aren't out enjoying the perfect evening, but I guess they're just here to snorkel and scuba dive. I can't complain.

The moon is so bright that it illuminates the hills behind me and all the nearby islands (there are at least ten). The islands remind me a lot of the hills east of Hwy 880 near Hayward and Milpitas. Staring across the sea, contemplating what to write about, I realized that the moon is so bright that it's reflecting on the sand below the water. The light so bright that I could still tell how clear the water is. I walked over to test the temperature, and the water is surprisingly warm. It was a little cooler that earlier in the day, but it felt refreshing. I walked up to my knees and could still see my toes. It was then that I decided it was time for a swim. But at 9:30 p.m., who wants to go put on a suit?

So for the first time in my life, I went skinny dipping. It was amazing. There's a coral reef about ten feet off shore, so I stayed in the shallow water. The moon was so bright and the water was so clear that my body was casting a shadow onto the sand below, and i was occasionally startled by my own shadow, thinking it was a fish.

I don't know how long I swam for, except that I stayed in until I started getting cold, about 20 minutes. I retreated to the beach, got dressed, and realized that I now have a blog topic.

So here I am by myself, with a beautiful moonlit beach to myself, letting the warm air dry me off.

I love the full moon in the wilderness, and I find it really hard to go to sleep because I want to enjoy every minute of it. But sleep I must. At least we have a bale-bale* right behind me, on the beach, so I will be lulled to sleep by the sound of the waves. I will sleep well.

*A bale-bale is a wood platform (in our case, bamboo), covered with a thatched roof, used for resting or sleeping. Ours has a mattress and a mosquito net, with enough room for our bags, and walking around. All four sides have adjustable bamboo curtains for privacy. Normally sleeping on the floor is uncimfortable, but the bamboo floor was great! Sadly, I have no photo. 

The full moon rising over Flores.