MOYO ISLAND & SATONDA ISLAND

We anchored off the lovely island of Moyo, 3km off the north coast of Sumbawa and visited the Labujan Haji Village. Moyo is a pristine environment with rugged coastlines and a grassy savannah home to all sorts of wildlife - wild oxen, deer, wild boars, feral cattle and a variety of bird species -  great billed herons, spotted brahminy kites to white bellied sea eagles. Two thirds of the island is a game reserve. Moyo is surrounded by beautiful untouched coral reefs inhabited by countless brightly coloured fish. Moyo island has become more famous with the visit or Princess Diana of England who sought refuge on this island from the paparazzi. We sailed 21 miles during lunch to Satonda Island, the tip of an ancient volcano. Not many people have heard of Satonda. Satonda island was formed by volcanic eruption on the sea floor at a depth of 1000 meters, and thrust upwards some millions of years ago. Two European scientists, Stephan Kempe and Josef Kazmierczak, were researching Satonda Lake in 1984, 1989 and 1996. The result of their studies showed that Satonda Lake is a rare phenomenon because of the salty water with alkaline levels much higher than regular sea water. It was their combined opinion that Satonda basin coincided with the formation of craters which aged back more than 10,000 years. Alongside the mystical crater lake the trees are decorated with ‘wishing’ stones, shells and pieces of coral. We snorkelled from ‘Pink beach’ in the clear waters of the reefs.