They will have been left with “a few days of worry”, in nevertheless pleasant conditions, “swimming in the ocean or the swimming pool. We are not unhappy…”, smiles Daniel Corre Terente. Far from the misfortune of the more than ten people who died and their loved ones, this early November 2024, following the eruptions of the Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano, in Indonesia.
“There are seven of us who knew each other at Saint-Louis middle school and high school in Châteaulin. We are 28 years old. Two of us, Louise and Jean-Baptiste, live in Bali and we joined them there for two short weeks,” says Daniel, who lives in Brest. Two other members of the small team also live in North Finistère, another in Lille and one in Toulouse.
Airports closed
After a short visit to Bali, the seven young people can embark on their three-day cruise between the Indonesian islands. Beautiful landscapes, Komodo monitor lizards… “But upon regaining some internet connection, Monday afternoon, we learned that the Labuan Bajo airport, on the island of Flores, is closed: the eruptions have continued and above all the winds have turned, bringing the ashes towards the west. At this time we are approximately 200 km from the volcano. Tuesday, airport closed. Wednesday, closed…”
We then had no information, no prospect of being able to return to Bali
The group of friends are enjoying the holidays but still wonder how to get home. “We then have no information, no prospect of being able to return to Bali”, then to France for five of them, explains Daniel Corre Terente. “On Wednesday, the organizer of our cruise told us that a ferry was going to leave for Bali, that we had an hour to decide.”
It is from the crowded ferry that he tells us, this Thursday, November 14, 2024, about the 32 hours of navigation, sleeping on the deck, admiring the waves, the islands and watching cockroaches pass by. “But it’s okay and we’re not cold: at night, it’s 28°C.” Needless to say, it's going to sting when you get home.
Already blocked by the Icelandic volcano!
The arrival should be in Bali this Friday morning. Some will take their return flight a few hours later, the others this Saturday, for Singapore then Paris then Brest for the North Finisterians. As expected. Bali airport, also blocked for a while, reopened this Thursday. So everything should go well. And too bad for the few days of visiting Bali planned for the last few days.
A little as a joke, a little because you never know, we asked if some of them had been blocked in 2010 by the cloud emanating from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjöll. European air traffic had been disrupted for several days. “I was with my parents in Djerba, Tunisia. We had to stay there a few more days. And Thibaud was stuck with his parents in Berlin! » Never two without three?
France
