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DCS, cockroack bites, dengue and malaria |
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Thursday, 24 August 2006 |
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Some insist that cockroaches don't bite, that I must be dreaming.
Well at 2 am I could feel a rather large creature taking a bite out of
my scalp and I whacked it with a slap to my head and turned on the
light. There on the sheet was a filthy quivering fat disgusting roach.
Of
all the things to worry about while diving in Asia. Bugs! Mosquitoes
are another thing that can be most annoying. It is not common, but in
some remote areas dengue and malaria are real possibilities.
Mosquitoe
nets can help out. The malaria carrying mosquito is reported to be most
active at dusk. Some people use insect repellent. There are pills you
can take to prevent malarai but I choose not to. I spend quite a bit of
time in remote areas and the chemicals are said to build up in your
liver over the long term.
For some people there can be
halucenagenic reactions to the drugs as well. That might not be a good
thing if you already have a tad bit of narcosis going on at depth.
Which brings up the topic of DCS which would be an absolute nightmare
to have in some of these places.
You would probably have to be
flown into Australia from a lot of these places. Maybe several days
away. Dive conservatively and make sure your DAN ins is paid up, just
in case.
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Wednesday, 16 August 2006 |
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There is a trickle of tourists starting to come to East Timor to get their Indonesian visas again.
The
Backpackers Guesthouse in Dili is the best place to stay while you are
waiting for your visa. You can take the Timor Travel shuttle from
Kupang to Dili for less than 20.00 USD - 170,000 rupiah) and they will
drop you at the guesthouse. It takes all day and you will arrive at
night.
Be
sure to get the 30 day visa for East Timor at the
border. Even if you only plan to stay a few days because there
are fines for overstaying your ET visa and you might want to
stick
around for a while.
When applying for your Indonesia visa you
will need a photo. The visa costs 35.00 USD and usually takes 5 working days
except under special circumstances it can be done in less time. It
usually requires writting a letter in Bahasa Indonesian.
Dili is
a good place to make your visa run if you are in Eastern Indonesia. 60
day visas can be had if you do the paperwork properly and have a sponsor in
Indonesia.
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Wednesday, 16 August 2006 |
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In California it has been said you are what you drive. In Asia you are your cell phone. It is everything. You need the camera and all the gadgets or you don't count. I really hate cell phones.
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Sunday, 06 August 2006 |
When diving east of Dili off the beach the other day we were joined by 11
bumphead parrotfish. They were in 6 meters of water and came very close.
They have a powerful set of choppers that they munch up coral
with.
These are some big fish! Even though they are not particularly rare
it was pretty cool to see them up close. Two of them looked to be over a
meter in length. I am told that they sometimes head butt the coral to break
off chunks to chew up and then spit out in a cloud of dust.
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Sunday, 06 August 2006 |
We took a dive off of Dili rock west of Dili near the Malaysian checkpoint.
these guys came over in their APC's to have a look.
They get pretty
bored over there just sitting alongside the road in the hot sun checking
incomming trucks and buses for weapons. There were 3 women diving with us so
that required a closer inspection. These guys are happy go lucky and can say
"I Love You" in English.
Their wheeled vehicles move over the sand easier
than the Australian tracked APC's.
On the reef there were heaps of
crown of thorn starfish chewing away at the coral. There are a few different
schools of thought on this menace. Some people feel it is good to go in
there and remove as many as possible and stack them up in the hot sun on the
beach to die. Others feel that is is best to just let nature takes it's
course. Crown of thorn population explosions are a natural cycle that will
come and go.
I have no clue what is best, but you don't want to get
spiked by the thorns because there is some kind of toxin in there that will
cause you to be in a bit of pain. There were lion fish as well that can
cause a painful jab and always keep an eye out for scorpion fish and stone
fish lying on the bottom. Their camoflouge is excellent and they don't move
so you can easily brush up against one, especially if you are rusty on your
bouyancy.
Some divers prefer the dives east of Dili.
The Dili rock
dive site is a great training dive area because of the gradually sloping
sandy bottom alongside the reef.
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