Local Guides: Indonesia - Krakatau

Gimon and me on Anak Krakatau, Dec 2012.

"Local Guides" will be a recurring theme here at Global Goebel Travels, where I recommend local guides from the various locations that I visit around the world.

In December, I visited Anak Krakatau, or "Child of Krakatau", as a weekend getaway from Jakarta.  After contacting a few different companies, I eventually settled on a company called Ndeso Adventure.  After settling all the details, they hooked me up with a guide named Gimon.  Oddly enough, after working in Indonesia for seven years, he's the first person I've ever met named Gimon.


From Wikipedia:

Krakatoa, or Krakatau, is a volcanic island situated in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. The name is also used for the surrounding island group and the volcanoes as a whole. The Krakatoa volcanoes erupted and exploded in 1883, causing massive tsunamis and killing at least 36,417 people, while simultaneously destroying over two-thirds of Krakatoa island. The explosion is considered to be the loudest sound ever heard in modern history, with reports of it being heard up to 3,000 miles (4,800 km) from its point of origin. The shock waves from the explosion were recorded on barographs around the globe.

Currently, what had been the northern-most of the three pre-1883 Krakatoa volcanoes, Perboewatan, has re-emerged from the ocean, and is the principal force in the on-going formation of a new island, Anak Krakatau, or "Child of Krakatoa".

Gimon turned out to be an excellent guide.  In fact, I'd say that he was the best Indonesian guide that I've ever had anywhere in the archipelago.  He spoke good English, was very knowledgeable about the volcano, looked out for our safety, showed genuine excitement during our hikes and snorkeling, and was just an all-around nice guy.

Besides guiding trips to Krakatau, Gimon also guides trips to Ujung Kulon National Park and around Carita.  If you are interested in using him as your guide, you can ask for him at the Rakata Hotel in Carita or look for him hanging out on the nearby beach.  Or, if you leave a comment below, I can send you his Indonesian mobile number.

You can view my photos from our Krakatau trip here.