Yesterday was my first day of diving here in Raja Ampat. I woke up not feeling too great so I skipped the first dive. On the second dive, I got to use my new strobes for the first time. Over the years, I have only dabbled in taking wide-angle underwater photos, so I am learning how to use all of my equipment and figuring out all of the proper settings. I like a new challenge. On my second dive, I took this image, which is not exactly world-class, but I think that you can see where I am going with it. Unfortunately, I came up from the dive feeling even worse, and by the time I got back to my room, I crashed and had a fever. Last night was grim, but I seem to be getting over it. I must have caught whatever I have on the plane or maybe I brought it from home.

It is incredibly beautiful here. My room is straight out of an episode of Gilligan’s Island as it is a simple thatched roof bungalow built on stilts over the water backed by an idyllic palm covered beach. I am looking forward to getting back in the water again when I feel 100%.

This bird I did find in the guidebook. It is called a Byth’s Hornbill. Pretty wicked looking dinosaur of a bird. This one is the resident pest at Sorido Bay. When I first approached it, I was unaware that it was kinda tame. I took one look at that bill as it was coming at me and considering my past luck with getting bit by exotic critters, I backed off. Some of the locals then came over and showed me that they could actually touch it. I’m still not sold that I’m going anywhere near that beak, but I am quite pleased that I got to use my camera today and came away with some respectable images.

Update on 11/25-I figured out that this bird is a Kingfisher of Paradise.

Today started out very early. I am staying at the Waiwo Field Station of Conservation International. They are kindly putting me up for 2 nights before I start diving tomorrow with Papua Diving. I am trying to photograph the incredibly rare Wilson’s Bird of Paradise. I had to get up very early and hike a long way up hill through the jungle. I wore my sandals and was covered in mud by the time we got to where my guide had scouted the bird. I actually got a glimpse of it twice, but did not get off a single frame. I spent about 4 hours in my blind waiting with all manner of bugs crawling over me and biting the hell out of me. I am taking an anti-malarial drug, so I hope that it works because I’m gonna need it after that trek. Sitting on my knees in the mud in the jungle of Papua, what a treat! I am going to try again tomorrow. This bird is not a BOP, but rather something kinda cool that is not in the field guide that I have been looking through all evening. At least I took some pictures today that I can feel good about.

I left Seattle 24 hours ago and during that time, I went from my house all the way to Jakarta. Incredible! The 13 hour flight from Seattle to Taipei was a bit bumpy flying over the Aleutian Islands, but otherwise I got a little bit of sleep. It was also my first time flying on a Boeing 777. During my few hours in Taipei, I found the only Starbucks at the airport. After all my years of travel, I finally got to fly on a Boeing 747 to Jakarta. I got to sit in the nose area which looked like business class to me, but I did not pay any extra for the seat. I wish that I had that comfy seat coming across the Pacific. Anyways, I made it through customs here in Indo, cleaned myself up, and I am now using the internet. I thought that folks back home might like to see me, so I took this quick snapshot. The exotic fragrances here at the airport are bringing back many fond memories of when Daisy and I traveled to Bali 8 years ago. It has been a dream of mine to return, and now I have. I am trying to stay up for a few more hours and have dinner before crashing hard for the night. There is a 10 hour time change that I need to start getting use to, since I’ll be hitting the ground running tomorrow afternoon. I just found out that I might have limited access to the internet this next week, so if that is the case, I will try and post some images from my first few days of diving. Thanks for checking in with me and sharing in my adventures.

I am frantically running around today trying to get my last minute preparations done. I am leaving in a little under 12 hours for one of my most ambitious and fantastic trips, yet. I will be flying for the next 2 days to Jakarta, Indonesia. On Friday, I will continue flying to Sorong in Papua province. I should be met there by my guides who will take me by boat to a remote village where I will spend the weekend trying to photograph the rare Wilson’s Bird of Paradise before continuing on with 1 week of diving with Papua Diving followed by 11 days at the Misool Ecoresort. Round trip this adventure is going to be a little under 4 weeks! I should have many incredible new images from the trip to share after the New Year. Wish me luck!