We Love Gili Air!

Green School is on a six-day break, so we took a ferry with about 15 other Green School families to Gili Air.  Gili Air is a speck of an island a few hundred meters off the coast of Lombok, the next sizable island east of Bali.  (Confusingly, "Air" means "water" in Indonesian.)

The pace of life is much slower on Gili Air.  It has a tiny "port" where you disembark directly on the beach.  It has only about 1500 residents, and is dotted with cottages and beach-side restaurants.  There are no paved roads, no cars, no scooters -- no motorized transportation of any kind.  Small horse-drawn carts are used for moving goods and transporting tourists.  Otherwise everyone rides bikes or walks. 

The joke among the Green School parents was that we came to Gili Air because we needed a break from the stress and bustle of Bali.  But there is truth in that joke; it is relaxing to have a break from the chaotic traffic, motorbike noise, and constant hum of activity on Bali.  The only noise here is the crowing of roosters and the occasional jangle of bells on the passing horse-drawn carts.  The beaches are gorgeous stretches of white sand, with views of the lovely green mountains of Lombok.

We spent a day snorkeling from a glass-bottom boat in coral reefs that teemed with colorful fish.  After a lot of messing around with their equipment, Alexa and Charlotte really enjoyed snorkeling.  The day included a stop on an even smaller island for a lunch and a visit to a locally-run turtle hatchery.  The kids had a chance to feed the baby turtles, which was a hit with everyone.

The rest of the days we spent hanging out on the beach or the pool and eating at the beach-side restaurants, with the most vigorous activity being a bike ride around the island.  The restaurants served surprisingly good meals from very basic kitchens.  Freshly caught fish barbequed over burning coconut husks were delicious.  The girls enjoyed pizzas made in a wood burning oven that was located right next to the main street.

Alexa said "It is nice to get out of a car and to ride around the island with the wind in my ears feeling free." 

The girls were both brave, riding bikes on bumpy, muddy streets with deep puddles, often in the dark and in the rain.  Alexa had an encounter with rambunctious tourists playfully blocking the road when she was trying to ride her bike home from a restaurant on a nearly pitch-black stretch of road.  Luckily she was able to avoid a collision.  Charlotte tried out a mountain bike that was too big for her; there were almost no kid-sized bikes available for rent.

Gili Air is just a couple of hours by fast ferry from Bali, but it has a different indigenous population (called Sasak) and different flora and fauna.  Like the rest of Indonesia, but unlike Bali, it is Muslim.  Most people greet you with hello (or "hey Rasta!" if you have dreadlocks), but the residents seem more wary and reserved than the Balinese.  The folks selling sarongs and jewelry on the beach are amiable but very persistent.

We had several sighting of five-foot long monitor lizards here, one crossing the path just in front of Charlotte while she was on her bike.  Cows lazed about small fields munching grass.  Hens, roosters, and cats scurried by our breakfast spot.

The kids in our group ran in packs.  Alexa and Charlotte spent hours playing with their school mates on the beach and in the pool, even in the rain.   We extended our stay for an extra day to have another day on the beach, but it then rained non-stop for 24 hours.

For us, it's been a good chance to get to know other Green School parents.  The Managing Director and Acting Principal are here with their families, along with other faculty members.  In our little cluster of bungalows we have the new Upper School Maths teacher from Australia with his young family, and a family of five from England.

Posted by Lynn & Nat

We left Bali on Galungan, a major holiday, where beautiful "penjors" lined the streets

Even the motors on our ferry received offerings for good luck

the harbor at Gili Air

another view of the harbor

fishing boat in the harbor

A horse drawn cart like the one that took all four of us and our luggage from the port to our bungalow

Behind our bungalow

Charlotte with buddy in the pool

Alexa in the hammock in the crow's nest atop our bungalow

The crow's nest of the adjacent bungalow

the scene on board the glass-bottom snorkeling boat

the turtle hatchery

a useful correction on a sign seeking donations at the turtle hatchery

A gorgeous day at the beach

Charlotte on the beach

A five-foot monitor lizard shortly after it crossed our path

waiting to pick us up for our trip back to the harbor

the English family who had the bungalow next to ours

view of Lombok from our cart

from the ferry, returning to Bali