By some very fortuitous timing, my first week as an intern at 24Slides ended with a Play Saturday retreat to the tropical island of Gili Ketapang. Being from Canberra, Australia, where the climate is currently below zero most mornings, a beach trip to go snorkeling was very welcomed. This outing was masterminded by Bryan, one of our talented designers.
We gathered very early in the morning (5am) at the office, before all climbing into the group bus to our destination, Probolinggo, a 2 hour drive from the Malang Office. The bus ride involved singing karaoke (in Indonesian, of course), snacks and a provided breakfast. By the time we arrived we eagerly stretched our legs!
Our leg stretching didn’t last long, as we were soon piling onto our boat from Probolinggo to Gili Ketapang.
Sailing to Gili Ketapang
Halfway, we stopped to enjoy coffee and snacks from one of the many street food vendors on the sand. Of course, we also took an obligatory group photo.
A photo from the beach near Gili Ketapang
We arrived to Gili Ketapang where we had some water, a quick rest and something light to eat before we put on our snorkeling gear, and set off to see the reef. We took one of many boats to take people from the beach to various reefs around Gili Ketapang.
Us all geared up to snorkle
After our short boat ride we finally got to explore the reefs, and snap a few underwater pictures.
We found Nemo!
After finding Nemo
After returning from snorkeling, exhausted and hungry, we sat down for some traditional Indonesian food, featuring fresh fish, rice (of course), tofu, mie goreng and various sambals and other types of sauce. A little more swimming later, we piled back onto the boat to return to Malang. Unfortunately, because the tide was so low, we ferried out to the boat on a little polystyrene boat.
The tide was too low for the ship to get all the way to shore
Back to Malang
After the long, hot and active day at Gili Ketapang, we were all ready to return to Malang. Back there, the temperature is a little cooler. We all returned to the bus, where we did our best to sleep through the long drive back to Malang. When we got back to the office, we enjoyed a delivered team dinner from Bu Kris, before we all made our way home (or stayed in the office for a few games of badminton or to test out our brand new nap pods).