‘RING OF FIRE’ - INDONESIA PHOTO WORKSHOP

Day 1 Meeting in Jakarta, Journey to Borneo

We will assemble for dinner at an airport hotel in Jakarta, where we will have a meet-and-greet and an early dinner, where we will discuss the days ahead.  

Days 2-4 Tanjung Puting National Park

Very early in the morning we will take a flight to Iskandar Airport, a small airport in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of Borneo Island), and from there drive straight to our first destination: Tanjung Puting National Park. We will setlle in a beautiful eco-lodge and head to the park for shooting.
The next 3 days will be devoted to shooting wildlife. We will devote most of our attention to one of the most beautiful and interesting primates on Earth: the orangutan. After breakfasts at the lodge, we will take a boat ride to orangutan spotting sites and spend the day shooting these magnificaet creatures. Orangutans are natural born comedians, and they seem to also be natural models.

 

Tanjung Puting is also home to other beautiful and interesting species, such as the proboscis monkey. The males of the species boast a huge proboscis, and the females love it!

Days 5-7 Journey to Java Island, Bromo and Kawah Ijen Volcanoes

After breakfast on day 5, we will leave Kalimantan and fly to Surabaya, the second largest city in Indonesia, and take long drive to our hotel next to Bromo Volcano. We will eat and go to sleep early, since the day after we have to rise at 3 a.m. to catch sunrise in Bromo. 

Mount Bromo is an active volcano, part of the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. At 2,329 meters (7,641 feet) it is not the highest peak of the massif, but it is by far the most famous. Our vantage point will include, other than Bromo, Mount Batok (closest to the viewer) and Mount Semeru (also an active volcano, at the back of the image). The complex is incredibly beautiful and it's often foggy, which elevates the photographic appeal. Bromo can be shot from the viewpoint of Mount Penanjakan, but can also be shot by drone. Drone aerials are especially good when the volcano is erupting, 

After finishing our sunrise shoot, we will hop on our vehicles once again and drive for several hours, all the way to the very east of Java Island. We will have an early dinner and a rest, since that night a new challenge awaits: climbing Kawah Ijen volcano.

Part of a larger group of composite volcanoes located in the far east of the island of Java, it is one of the main attractions of the island and draws much tourism. Ijen is extremely photogenic and tells several stories worth exploring. It's also the site of intensive sulfur mining, wherein miners extract elemental sulfur solidified from gases bursting out of an active vent in the crater. The miners then carry the sulfur by hand in baskets that can weigh up to 90kg (about 200lb), up to the crater rim and 3km / 1.9mi down the mountain up to a weighing station, where they get paid for the load.

Ijen is well known for the colors of the ignited sulfuric gasses in the mined vent, and also for the turquoise color of its crater lake - the largest highly acidic crater lake in the world.

While not very difficult, hiking Ijen is quite physical. To get to the crater in time and maximize your photography, we need to start the journey at about midnight. This gives us time to drive to the entrance, locate porters, drink a hot cup of coffee and be ready for the opening of the gate at 1am. the hike up take between 1.5 and 2 hours, depends on your level of fitness, and once we are on top, we'll do our best to get down to the crater as soon as possible. That's because the sulfulric gas vents will be our first photo subject in Ijen. 

 

After shooting the purple fire, we will hike back to the top of the crater and take some shots of the crater lake and the surrounding volcanoes. I highly recommend using a drone for this shoot.

After finishing the Ijen shoot, we'll head down for a short rest at the hotel, and drive all the way to Bali. We will then settle in an airport hotel and have a hearty meal, follow by some well-deserved rest. 

Days 8-9 Flores Island

We will hop on a plane and fly to the 3rd island on the trip: Flores. After landing in Ende airport, we will drive to the small town of Moni, at the foot of our next photo subject: Kelimutu Volcano.

Kelimutu boasts no less than 3 crater lakes, and the amazing thing is that they are all in different colors. The colors change over the year depepnding on the mineral ejections of the volcano, and always present wonderful photographic opportunities, from the ground and especially from the air.

 

We will shoot Kelimutu at sunset and then at sunrise the next day. The rest of the day will be spent in a traditional village in the area, or just resting and doing image critique. Kelimutu shots kindly provided by TheWorldTravelGuy.

Days 10-12 Komodo National Park

We will depart early in the morning to fly to the other side of the Island: Komodo Airport, which despite its name is still on Flores. From there, we will board a boat which will take us on a 3-day sail to Komodo National Park and its surrounding islands.

Our vessel of choice would be the KLM Maipa Deapati, a Phinisi Buginese Schooner with a maximum capacity of 16 guests (while we are only 9 max). The boat offers all the comforts we need for this sail: all rooms are equipped with A/C, private bathrooms and everything else to guarantee a wonderful experience.

Our main interest in Komodo will, naturally, be the Komodo Dragon - the largest lizard on Earth, growing to a maximum length of 3 metres (10 ft), and weighing up to approximately 70 kilograms (150 lb). As a result of their size, Komodo dragons are apex predators, and dominate the ecosystems in which they live. Komodo dragons hunt and ambush prey including invertebrates, birds, and mammals. They are most active in the day, although the species exhibits some nocturnal activity. Komodo dragons are solitary, coming together only to breed and eat. They are capable of running rapidly in brief sprints up to 20 km/h (12 mph), diving up to 4.5 m (15 ft), and climbing trees proficiently when young through use of their strong claws.

 

Other than dragons, we'll spend some time and effort shooting the iconic landscapes of the archipelago and its beautiful seascapes.

Day 12 Back to Bali, Departure

After concluding our sail in Labuan Bajo, we will drive back to Komodo Airport, where we will take a short flight to Bali international airport, where we will depart.