BALI nuance

Bali is a small island in the eastern center of the Indonesian Archipelago. It is about 86 miles from west to east and 51 miles from north to south. On the west it is bordered by Java and the Java Sea. To the north can be found the Bali Sea and to east the Bali Sea, which joins the Lombok Strait between Bali and the island Lombok. To the south the Indian Ocean stretches to Australia. Bali is a province of Indonesia. An important difference in animal and plant life was noted by a naturalist Alfred Russell between the life on Bali and the life on Lombok, an island to the west. This difference is called the Wallace Line. Between these two islands lies a significant biological difference in both flora and fauna. Bali is south of the equator as it enjoys two seasons, rainy and dry. At all times the weather is hot and humid changing very little during the year of average monthly temperatures of 82f to 86f all year. Rainfall is heavy during the months from the middle of October through the middle of April. The rains are strong for very short periods usually in the afternoon and the sun comes emerges from the fast moving clouds. Bali is a tropical island cooled by prevailing trade winds from the ocean and seas. The island was created by volcanic eruptions from that very well known ring of fire where tectonic plate movement is very active in the eastern part of the world. The major volcanic activity has been from Gunung Agung with an eruption in 1963, though the steam and lava flow continues daily from Gunung Batur, which has had many eruptions over 200 years. Gunung Agung is the highest peak of Bali reaching 10,350 feet. The other two other major volcanos, Gunung Batur and Gunung Lesong, have high mountain lakes, Lake Batur and Lake Bratan being the main ones, from which the water irrigation for crops comes from. The high volcanic peaks halt the fast moving rain clouds, driven by tradewinds, which provides rainfall for the mountains and southeastern side of Bali There are many other smaller volcanos on the island as a ridge that bisects the island from east to west separating the north from the south. In the western part of Bali lies an immense National Park combined with an impenetrable series of volcanic peaks. It is very undeveloped dense jungle entered only by foot. Here the rare Bali starling (leucopsar rothschildi) is on the brink of extinction with only an estimated 14 remaining in the wild. The island consists of limestone from old coral reefs and lava flows. The beaches are both white and black sand. Mangrove swamps protect much of the island where beaches or cliffs are not. There are two islands which belong to Bali in the south called Nusa Penida and Nusa Lembongan which are visited by ferry and for the most part are visited in the day by snorkelers and divers. The clear water around these islands is legendary for divers.