Weekend Break Carita

I have just returned from a one night stay in Carita on the annual works outing which was fun and a change of scenery.
Basically all the staff and teachers and most of the administration staff based at Puri got a on a bus, went to the coastal resort town of Carita on the west coast of Java for the night. We sat and ate food, told stories, drank a few beers and enjoyed the evening.
Sunday morning was breakfast, group and team building games followed by 'throwing people into the sea time' and then time to chill before lunch, packing and going back to Jakarta.

It took us around 4 hours to get the Lippo Condominium place we were staying at. My review for this place can be found here.

The rooms were big and were allocated 3 or 4 people per room ( there was 40 of us). Luckily for me, I was sharing with one other teacher and we had our own private bathroom, however just one bed so I opted for the sofa and that was kind of comfy for the time I slept there.

Each room had a balcony and a view of trees and in front of them, the beach.

The view from the balcony

Getting there at night and in the driving rain did not dampen our spirits and as soon as we had eaten the catering food of chicken, rice and spicy satay sauce, we headed to the beach and sat on benches under a tree watching the storm and lightning, singing a few songs and chatting. It was rather warm despite the rain and the storm rumbled on for a good few hours, ending somewhere near midnight.

The place at night

Lightning over the sea

All lit up by the lightning

How the sea looks at night at Carita. The lights are from Ships

In the morning, by 6am the beach was already becoming full of people walking or swimming and with the sun burning the clouds away it was going to be a hot morning.

6am on a Sunday morning at the beach

Breakfast was rice, noodles, chicken and watermelon and then after that we headed down to the beach area for the team games. Once they were out of the way and prizes awarded, time really was our own and so swimming and using boogie boards seemed to be the order of the day, although I was more than content sat on the balcony enjoying the view and serenity of it all.
The best thing about the morning was the sight of Krakatoa Volcano which was very clear to see for a change, which was great.

With some sun

Thats the volcano

The worst thing had to be the constant procession of sellers trying to sell you their wares even though you don't want them, they would hang about until you became annoyed and then they would move on.

One guy was wandering around trying to sell me prawns, lobsters and squid which he carried about in his hands and looked terribly upset I did not want them.

Once lunch of more rice and chicken with, this time, very spicy prawns, sambal and sour soup was over it was a case of packing and waiting for the group photo before getting on the bus.

A motley lot.

The bus trip was as eventful as the trip there. We left around 2pm and got to EF Puri at 6.

All in all it was a great trip away and a chance to relax and enjoy some time at the beach and chill out with those I work with every day.