Bali: Activity Paradise

About Bali

Bali is one of the islands in the country of Indonesia, known for being a tropical and activity paradise and interesting cultural tradition. Bali shows off spectacular and picturesque scenery with its flourishing verdant tropical forest; home to striking and exotic species of wildlife, abounding rice terraces, and lovely sandy beaches. Not to be missed out is the chance to experience witnessing some of the greatest sunsets globally.

Activities to Enjoy in Bali

Surfing in Bali

The lovely island of Bali has the most important element that surfers are always in the look out for – its giant world-class waves. For those who are interesting to try and learn surfing Bali, there are surfing camps and schools available to help you out with surfing lessons and needs. Magnificent surfing waves and the possibility to enjoy surfing everyday are some of the reasons why many surfers around the world tagged Bali as a “Surfing Paradise.”

Diving in Bali

Diving is one of the most popular activities that are enjoyed by many Bali travelers. The most ideal time to dive in Bali is during the dry season because warm water temperature allows better view of marine creatures like tropical fishes and coral reefs under the waters of Bali. Bali has a lot to offer that would really satisfy every traveler’s diving needs. An example of a very popular diving site in Bali is the Menjangan Island in the western part of Bali.

Adventure Sports in Bali

Bungy Jumping and Slingshot are some of the well-known adventure sports for those who love engaging in thrilling adventure sports while they are in Bali. Bungy jumping are for those who love to experience the stimulating plunge while the slingshot is for those who want to experience being shooted up toward the skyward just like a bullet. For both of these activities, there are many sites ideal for these activities.

Water Activities in Bali

Indeed, Bali presents many entertaining opportunities that will surely satisfy every traveler. For the thrill seekers, it is very important to see Bali because of the many adventure parks in the area. Because of the rising number of adventurers visiting Bali, more exhilarating and stimulating attractions are established in order to make them all happy and contented in visiting Bali. Offshore rafting is now getting popular in Bali, where tourists enjoy meeting up with giant waves while riding on a boat running at a very fast speed.

Though many travelers take pleasure from the adventurous sports in Bali, there are still many other water related activities for the less adventurous traveler. White water rafting is another refreshing water activity wherein travelers can get the chance of watching fantastic scenery as they go along the route.

Indeed, Bali is a Vacation Paradise with all the activities that any traveler can enjoy. Visit Bali, Indonesia and be a witness of how lovely Bali is.

Source: http://www.iho-ohi.org/index.php/category/indonesia/

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Sikuai Island

Location: West Sumatera, Indonesia

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Mentawai Islands

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mentawai Islands are a chain of about seventy islands and islets off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Siberut (4,030 km²) is the largest of the islands. The other major islands are Sipura, North Pagai (Pagai Utara) and South Pagai (Pagai Selatan). The islands lie approximately 150 km off the Sumatran coast, across the Mentawai Strait. The indigenous inhabitants of the islands are known as the Mentawai people. The Mentawai Islands have become a noted destination for surfing.

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Bali - Coffee on Island of the Gods

By Alun Evans

Bali is known by many names to those who have visited the island. Many Indonesians refer to this slice of paradise as “Pulau Dewa” or “Island of the gods”. Since October 2002 the island has seen a marked downturn in the number of foreign tourists arriving to enjoy the scenic, cultural and religious diversity found here. Hopefully with a peaceful election campaign behind us, Bali will again see tourists returning in numbers.

Our visit to Bali in March was not a holiday, but rather a visit to look at the cooperative growing system for Arabica found in the highland areas of central Bali. Traditionally Balinese coffee was of the robusta variety. This is the coffee that many tourists visiting the island experience and love. The origins of Robusta here can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century or earlier. Commercial Colonial plantations never made an impact in Bali because the Dutch did not get any degree of control over the island until the 1900’s. By this time the big plantations in Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi were already well established. The Robusta in Bali most likely came via traders from Ampenan in Lombok. The growing conditions in Bali are ideal for coffee trees, and small-scale production quickly spread in the cooler, higher altitude areas of the Island.

In recent times, with Robusta prices falling, Arabica has been planted in several areas of the Island. Some of these plantings are in commercial plantations, however the bulk are beans grown by small-holders in a number of villages saddling the volcanic peaks. Our visit was to examine the drying and processing facilities for this mountain grown Bali Arabica.

As in the rest of the coffee world, the small-holders make up the bulk of the growers, but receive little real financial reward for their efforts. Our concern is always to look for a way in which to help these small growers to improve their picking, drying and sorting processes in order for them to be able to market their coffee to the specialty coffee market outside of Indonesia. In most cases the growers are more than happy to listen to ideas on how to improve the finished quality of their product. In Bali the yields from the trees in raw cherries is very good. Most coop growers are uncertified organic- the costs of pesticides against the price for the finished bean do not make sense. The small holders almost universally follow the dry method of processing the beans. This involves laying the fruit out under the sun in large, flat concrete drying pens. The coffee is raked regularly to ensure the drying proceeds at a constant pace. Prior to drying the cooperative removes poor quality cherries- usually berries that are not ripe, have evidence of surface fungal diseases or berries that have been damaged by birds or other pests. After drying and removal of the remaining mucilage, the beans are again sorted. This time beans are sorted based on whether there is evidence of damage by borer, discoloration, black beans or split and broken beans. This is the extent of sorting- there is no screen sizing done by the cooperatives at origin, as normally the beans are on-sold to big producers who then sort further.

We like the early season greens that we saw in the highlands of Bali. The colours and firmness of the bean are good, as was the general quality. Test roasting resulted in us deciding that the dry-processed bean had some characteristics reminiscent of the lower altitude Java Arabica beans. A very mellow, slightly honey-dew taste…..We are looking forward to later in the year when we will be in Bali for the harvest of the bulk of the 2004 crop.

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Bali

By Eddie Tobey

Bali is an Indonesian island that is known for its rich culture and scenic nature. Located at the east of Java and south of the equator, Bali has a surface area of only 5,632 square kilometers and measures fifty-five miles along the north-south axis and less than ninety miles from east to west. Because of this, anyone can explore the island for a day, visit many beautiful places, and be able to return to the hotel in the evening.

Bali has now come a long way since the first settlers immigrated to this place from China in 2500 BC. Nowadays, it has a total population of over 3 million people, of which the majority of these are Hindus, while there are a few people who are Muslims. Most of these people live in the coastal areas in the South and others live in Despansar, which is Bali’s capital, with a current population of over 370,000.

Textiles, handicrafts, and garments are the backbone of the economy of Bali; they provide thousands of jobs and, when exported, these contribute about 45% to Bali’s economy. The hotel and tourist industry in Bali also continues to boom as more and more people find Bali a totally relaxing tourist destination. Over the years, many people come and visit beautiful tourist locations in Bali such as the town of Kuta, Sanur, Seminyak, Jimbaran, and Nusa Dua. There are several available activities in these places, including diving, snorkeling, paragliding, cruising, rafting, and even mountain climbing.

However, due to the terrorist attacks in October 2002 and October 2005, not only properties were lost but many lives as well. The devastation that was caused to the island affected not only the people of Bali but also those who planned to travel to this place. Many people changed their minds because of their fear that terrorists might attack once again.

Indeed, Bali has come a long way. And although terrorists’ attacks happened in the past, the determination of the Balinese people never fades, thus, they continue to look forward to a much brighter tomorrow.

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