Wicked Expedition – Day 1

Singapore To Komodo – Pulau Pejantan

While the staff and guests of the Jaya are off experiencing one of the greatest adventures…ever, here at Wicked headquarters we are running support for them. This involves monitoring their location, checking weather conditions for their upcoming destinations. And doing research on the places they are about to visit.

Dolphins under the Bow – Wicked Expedition 2011

We contact each other a few times a day to give basics information and updates. This morning, while en route to their first destination – they said they have already had several pods of dolphins playing with the wake of the boat. 

And their first destination is really, really amazing. I mean REALLY amazing.

In planning the trip, it seems like just a nice stop over on the way from Singapore to Kalimantan (The Indonesian part of Borneo).

While sitting here staring (with jealousy) at flashing GPS markers and the map – we thought we would drop some information on you….we did a very brief visit last year, but now we can put a lot more on here…

Amanda | Pulau Pejantan 2011 Expedition

Palau Pejantan (Penjanatan)

“Virtually undiscovered till June 2005, the island boosts a treasure trove of unique species that is found no where else in the world such as the bizarre sand worms which moves about like packs of snakes around the island’s dune to the Lantern Fish which greets you in the sea before you reach the island.”
Okay. With an opening like that – we are all flattened with the possibilities.
There is more:
350 new species discovered on this single island! In addition it is estimated to have fog cover 360+ days of the year! It sounds like some vision out of the movies….

Island, shrouded in fog…unexplored until 2005, hundreds of new species already discovered and many more to be examined. Black water geysers, glow worms and flashlight fish greet the visitor….Pulau Pejantan. Enter schooner…sailing gently in…

map of the trip to Pulau Pejantan 2011 expedition

(okay – we are just green with envy right now! )

Well, that’s enough to make us all burst with anticipation of the coming days and weeks. Expected arrival time is just a few hours from now and we simply can not wait for the feedback from the boat about this year’s visit to this incredible  place. And the worst part of this…there is so much more to visit before we reach Komodo! There are a few thousand more kilometers of travel to do! So I am sure this visit will be far too brief. (we are already planning the return journey in October…and I know who will be on that trip!)

Here is some video we took of the area and some interviews with guests and staff from last year when we visited Pulau Penjantan

For more on the research that happened on Pulau Pejantan…please check here.

If you would like to read some of the entries from the expedition last year….http://www.slideshare.net/wickeddiving/wicked-expedition-singapore-to-komodo

Remember to follow their progress, real-time here…http://ow.ly/aIZh6 

-Wicked Diving