Surabaya, Indonesia - Feb 27, 2013

Surabaya is the main seaport and commercial center in the eastern region of Indonesia. East Indies Companies took the city over in November 1743. Surabaya became a major trading center under the Dutch colonial government and hosted a large naval base in the colony. Locally the name “Surabaya” is believed to be derived from the words “sura” or “suro” meaning shark and “baya” or “boyo” meaning crocodile. Two creatures which in a local myth, fought each other in order to gain the title of “the strongest and most powerful animal”. These two animals are now used as the city’s logo, depicted in a statue appropriately located near the entrance of the city zoo. So give our short day here in Surabaya (6:00am-12:30pm) Jan and I along with friends Jeff and Joy grabbed a taxi and headed for the zoo to spend a few hours with many of the incredible animals that they have in residence. We were back on the ship by all aboard time of 12:30 and enjoyed a nice scenic sail away up or down a river for three hours until we were in the open sea. Another great day... I still find the pricing here amazing, we jumped into the taxi around 8:30, had him wait for us while we visited the Zoo and then a stop for some retail therapy and then dropping us back at the ship by noon, total cost including a generous tip $20.00 or $200,000 Indonesian Rupeious (yes that is with the meter running while we were at our stops), just amazing. Our short day in pictures...