Nele (Monday, 18 August 2025 13:02)

Anne-Mieke bracht ons in contact met Donatus voor onze tiendaagse overlandroute van Labuan Bajo naar Ende. En we hadden ons geen betere chauffeur kunnen wensen. Hartelijk dank aan Anne-Mieke en vooral aan Donatus voor de tips, de begeleiding en het goede gezelschap!

Heinrich (Thursday, 14 August 2025 16:16)

We were late with our planning and had left only four days for a tour from Labuan Bajo to Kelimutu Montain and Ende. Six and more would have been better. But then we were lucky enough to find travel2flores and Anne reacted immediately to our message, gave us very good advice for accommodation (Sunrice near Ruteng and Rago's near Moni are good places with a wonderful vibe) and set us up with Herry Wengge.

We (family with two children) are extremely lucky and happy to have met him. Herry is a very nice person and a calm and professional driver. He gave us good advice on what we could realistically do and see along the way, and also for restaurants, some more for tourists and others more local, but always very good. He discussed his and our ideas and we agreed easily on a programme for the day, very much inspired by the itinerary on Anne's website (a particular mention for the Wolopaku coffee farm near Moni, if you are into coffee but have not seen yet how it's made). Herry clearly knows Flores very well and can explain quite a lot about the local culture.
We are very grateful to Anne and especially to Herry. Keep it going!

Maaike Derksen (Monday, 04 August 2025 12:50)

We spent 12 days traveling through Flores with Hery as our driver, and we couldn’t have asked for a better travel companion. Calm, careful, and always kind, Hery made the entire tour feel relaxed and smooth. He paid close attention to the kids (which we really appreciated), drove safely, and stopped whenever we asked.
We had created our own itinerary and booked all our accommodations ourselves, but we couldn’t have done that without the inspiration and knowledge we found on the Travel 2 Flores website by Anne-Mieke.


Accommodation wise, Rago’s in Moni, Nuna Bungalows in Riung, Mama’s Homestay in Ruteng, and the Eco Lodge were all outstanding.
For the tour and sights, Hery checked in with us every day, thinking along with us about what was feasible, and what to see. He also prepared us what to expect (entree fees and local guides) regarding the tourist attractions. That kind of flexibility, combined with his local knowledge, made the trip feel smooth and never rushed.
Hery took us to stunning natural places. Coca Beach became the kids favourite, and the waterfalls (to swim) were beautiful. What stood out for me were the Catholic heritage sites. The diocese recently began promoting Catholic tourism across Flores, and beautifully designed PDFs now map out the key sites. We mainly visited the historical catholic highlights: the Sika Church ( the first Jesuit church, founded by Le Cocq d’Armandville, who later mysteriously died in West-Papua) was architecturally impressive. People in Sikka were very welcoming, and in hindsight I wished I’d brought a piece of Sikka ikat as an souvenir as they have the most beautiful design)
We also visited the retreat house near Bajawa, its serenity took my breath. We also visited Hery’s own parish church (the cathedral in ede
0which added a personal dimension. In Bena, we were surprised to find a new beautiful church with carved elements that matched the motifs we later saw in traditional village houses of Bena. A special highlight was also the SVD museum near Maumere. While modest in layout, it held truly fascinating artifacts, including the excavated remains of missionary-paleontologists (like Verhoeven), and an Indo-Chinese kris that caught my eye. These objects reflect deep historical ties between Flores, Melanesia and wider Asia, dating back long before Christianity arrived. Browsing the guestbooks of the museum going back to the 1970s was fun too, I even spotted the name of a colleague.
Hery also knew exactly where to find great food. He took us to small warungs and new local restaurants ( like Kartini in Bajawa en Cucina in Ruteng) where we ate really well. The kids enjoyed every meal. At Ella Nella’s Corner (hery's wife's restaurant), they even tried the octopus caught by Herry’s father-in-law (delicious, though a bit too chewy for them), and the chicken which was enak sekali.

For those with a historical interest: I found it enriching to look up some of the places we visited on delpher.nl, the Dutch newspaper archive. Typing in locations like Sikka or ende or kelimoetoe (old spelling) brings up fascinating Catholic mission reports, articles about the opening of the Trans-Flores road, or local adat stories. It’s a great way to add context. And for botany lovers, I recommend the iSeek app: helpful when you want to identify trees or plants Hery or the locals haven't yet named for you. Another practical tip for future travelers: most places accept QRIS (Indonesia’s QR-based payment system), which meant we didn’t need to carry much cash.

None of this trip would have been possible for us ( doing it our own way and organising it independently ) without Anne-Mieke and her Travel 2 Flores website. Anne-Mieke seems to carry the same spirit we experienced in the people here: generosity, kindness, helpfulness, and a sincere wish to share something meaningful. Whether that’s just who she is, or something Flores gave her (wink wink), we can’t say, but it shows.
Her site became a constant reference point from: full of insight, suggestions, and honest, practical advice that helped us shape our route, pick our stays, and understand what was possible. She also connects travelers to local drivers. Not randomly, but by truly considering which driver fits which kind of traveller. We feel incredibly lucky she matched us with Hery. She even checked in with us during the trip, especially when the volcano erupted and our travel plans became uncertain. While we’re still waiting to see if we can fly home tomorrow, we’re very aware that the real impact of the eruption is felt by the local communities. It disrupts daily life, livelihoods, and how Flores is perceived from the outside.

Francesco (Wednesday, 30 July 2025 14:08)

I just finished a 5-day tour of Flores, and it was a wonderful experience. The island is truly beautiful, I loved everything about it. The nature, the people, and the food were all amazing. If I have the chance to come back, I would love to spend more time exploring even more of Flores.

I want to thank Anne Mieke, who helped me organize the trip. Everything went very well, and I really appreciated her support. She introduced me to Orfin, my driver during the tour, and I couldn’t have asked for a better person to travel with.

From the beginning, Orfin and I got along very well. It felt like travelling with an old friend. He was always kind, helpful, and shared a lot of interesting information about Flores. One special moment was when he invited me to a wedding in Moni, which was a truly unforgettable experience! In Moni, we also met another girl who joined our group until Labuan Bajo, which was also very nice.

I only have good things to say about both Anne Mieke and Orfin. If you are planning to visit Flores, I really recommend contacting her. She made my trip something very special.

Charlotte (Wednesday, 30 July 2025 01:42)

Thank you Anne Mieke for bringing us in contact with Mr. Ahmad! We planned a 7-day journey in East Flores and got a lot of information from Anne Mieke. She also connected us with Mr. Ahmad, our driver for that journey. From the very beginning, Mr. Ahmad made sure we reached every destination safely and comfortably.
Our journey through this beautiful part of Indonesia was unforgettable, and much of that is thanks to Mr. Ahmad’s thoughtful guidance. He arranged for us to meet with local guides at various points during the trip, which added a rich, authentic layer to our experience.
Mr. Ahmad is a calm, respectful, and incredibly reliable person. He is not only an excellent driver, but also someone who takes great care of both his vehicle and his passengers. You always feel safe with him at the wheel.
He knows the best places to stop for lunch or to take a break—clean, scenic, and often away from the usual tourist trails. His local knowledge, professionalism, and kind nature ensured that our road trip through Flores was smooth, enjoyable, and deeply memorable.
With Mr. Ahmad as your driver, you can be 100% certain that your journey across Flores will be a succes. Details of Mr. Ahmad +62 821-4689-4584
Many thanks! Charlotte, Gorik en Egon

Elias and Carla (Sunday, 27 July 2025 10:44)

We decided last minute to get a Driver from Maumere to Labuan Bajo (5 Days). Anne organized Driver Bram for us. We were extremely happy with the service! Bram is a really nice guy and drives safely. We can only recommend this service. Thank you!

Marcel (Saturday, 26 July 2025 14:59)

I had been hesitating for a while about where exactly I wanted to go in Indonesia, until I came across Anne Mieke’s brilliant website, which led me to Flores. But it wasn’t just the website, it was especially Anne Mieke’s quick responses and her incredibly helpful and thoughtful advice via email that made me decide to visit Flores. Her site is packed with useful information about the island and the many travel options.

Even though I made the decision to visit Flores at the very last minute, Anne Mieke still managed to help me with organizing my trip. She suggested a great five-day route and arranged a guide for the Mount Inerie hike (the absolute highlight of my trip! Definitely go for it if you're into mountain trekking and challenging hikes!). She truly thinks along with you to help plan your trip on Flores. She was also able to arrange a driver for me on very short notice.

My driver was Bram, a very friendly, patient and respectful man. He knows his way around the island and always seems to know someone, whether it’s a local contact or a good place to eat. He drives carefully and professionally, and I felt completely safe in his car. Every day, he arrived well before the agreed time at my homestay to pick me up. His English could use some improvement, it made communication sometimes a bit difficult, but we managed just fine with Google Translate. He told me he's planning to study English a bit more, which is great to hear :-) As mentioned before in other comments: a driver is not a guide. His job is to get you safely from A to B, and that’s exactly what he does. Although Bram also helps you when you arrive at a sight or activity. If you’re lucky enough to be paired with Bram as your driver, consider yourself blessed. I can highly recommend him.

What stood out to me is how genuinely Anne Mieke cares about the island and its people. And also about us as travelers. She has a true passion for what she does, and the fact that she offers all this help without asking anything in return is rare these days. I feel like I’ve discovered a truly special corner of Indonesia, far from the typical crowded tourist spots. So please go beyond just Komodo; explore more of Flores! It’s a stunning island where the people always greet you with a warm smile.

A huge thank you to Anne Mieke for all your help!

Harold (Friday, 25 July 2025 21:53)

Flores is a wonderful island and Anne Mieke is for sure the expert. Thanks Anne Mieke!! For your great help and advice!! All the best!

Suzanne Cave (Saturday, 19 July 2025 18:31)

Anne has been a lifeline in my planning of a Flores trip with my family (myself, husband and two mid teenage children). As a result of her generosity, patience and time, I have ended up using one of her suggested routes for our trip. She also suggested Hery Wangge to be our driver for five days. For any person reading this, if you are lucky enough to book him then you are in very safe hands. He speaks English fluently although it's advisable to slow down a little if it's your first language. He knows the Island like the back of his hand, with a wide network of contacts across the island. His knowledge of the landscape and various places of interest is considerable. Hery adapted our schedule to visit places as we went along to give us the best experience. As the weather can be changeable and time is often short for those visiting this makes him a huge asset. We wanted to stay with the people of the Tolelela Village and Hery was able to arrange a specific guide who knew the village and could take us through the jungle. This was a beautiful experience which I'd highly recommend. Finally, and definitely worth a mention is his safe driving. Some of the roads are really tricky and the Indonesian people drive wild. Hery never faulted. A massive thanks to Anne and to Hery for making our trip so memorable.

Jonas (Thursday, 03 July 2025 13:06)

Thank you so much, Anne, for sharing such helpful and detailed information on your website!
While traveling through Indonesia by motorbike, your tips and insights made a real difference – especially when it's hard to find up-to-date info locally.

We truly appreciate the time and care you put into helping fellow travelers. Keep up the great work!

Warm greetings from the road,
Jonas & Viki

Janice (Friday, 27 June 2025 10:25)

Thanks so much to Anne Meike that we had such a wonderful time in Flores. It was a very last minute trip and Anne was able to put us in touch with a reco.mended driver Yonas. Yonas is simply wonderful, so kind and thoughtful and his 4wd car was most comfortable for the bumpy roads. He drove with care and showed us the most amazing sites given our limited time. We will definitely come back again for another visit. Most grateful to Anne and the wealth of information provided on her website.

Sandra K (Sunday, 15 June 2025 09:12)

We spend 15 days on Flores and it was great. Thanks Anne for all the information and bringing us in contact with Mr. Donatus! He is a very friendly, helpfull, carefull (drove véry safe) English speaking driver.
We also learnt a lot about the culture of Flores from him. Ánd we had fun together.
Great trip��

Leny de R. (Friday, 13 June 2025 15:24)

I can only agree with all the positive comments that people have put in their reviews here. Anne has been absolutely fantastic in helping us putting our plans together for this trip. She has given us great advice re the itinerary, amount of time to spend in each place, type of accommodation etc. Her website is also very informative. We started our trip in Moni/Kelimutu and took 14 days to travel to Labuan Bajo.

Anne also put us in contact with our driver Mr Hery Wangge. We highly recommend Hery as your driver. He is kind, a very safe driver, knowledgeable and willing to adapt. His English is of a decent level. He managed well to deal with our different interests. My husband spent most of the time birdwatching whilst Hery and I went to see the sites.

Although I visited many interesting places, one of the highlights for me was the visit to the cave near Ruteng where the Flores Man (Homo Floresiensis) was found. There is a small museum on site, but I was lucky enough to meet the lead archaeologist who was happy to spent some time with me explaining their finds and the significance thereof.

All in all we had a fabulous trip. Flores is simply beautiful and the people are super friendly.

A big thank you to Anne and Hery.
Brian and Leny

Hannah M (Wednesday, 11 June 2025 11:18)

Anne is a treasure trove of information about Flores, more than anywhere else we could find. She helped us locate a driver and answered many questions and tried to help me on WhatsApp when our flight was changed and we had to make last minute schedule adjustments. We are SO appreciative of her.

Mr. Mesakh is a very careful driver and kind man. He was very willing to follow our itinerary and was always on time and helpful. He knows many good lunch spots ! The roads on Flores are hard, and he patiently drives through all weather and challenge. We worked with him for 7 days, going from Maumere to Bajawa. He speaks enough English to help with most things, but not enough to answer detailed questions about Flores. We struggled a bit with communication. I had asked him for suggestions about our itinerary and he had none and he was reticent to help us communicate when we took us to Nggela and Watublapi which was challenging. Anne was very clear that this is a driver, not guide, so we understand.

Some things I would note for others: if you really want to learn about a village or area, you need to hire a local guide. The driver is not a guide. Not all guides are the same. We had a pretty bad guide in Bajawa (Edwin), third choice because the first two were away and sick. Make sure the guide actually can communicate with you before agreeing otherwise your money is not well spent.

Flores is a very special place, and we really enjoyed our time there. Happy Divers snorkeling is great!

We would also recommend Good Moni restaurant, get a drink only at Mopi’s (skip the food), skip Maibeth in Bajawa (Milonari is better). Lekosoro Coffee also great.

Thank you again, Anne for such a thoughtful website.

Chris from Canada (Sunday, 25 May 2025 00:37)

Hi Anne,

Just wanted to follow up with your recommendation of Yonas, he really worked out for us.

He had a family event for the first few days that we arranged, so he set us up with his friend Peter. Day one Peter picked us up at 5 AM from the ferry from Sumba, after we rested, he took us to some Hot Springs. Day two Peter drove us to Inerie where we used Yonas’s Inerie Guide Ignacio, it was fantastic, my son and I made it to the peak for the sunrise. Day three they recommended another guide, Aavin, to tour the local villages, went to Manlanu viewpoint restaurant, and the Hot Springs. Day four we finally met with Yonas and he took us to Ruteng and we went to a village near Aimere plus the Arak distillery, a beach and some other sites along the way. On the last day, we continued en route to Labuan Bajo and he showed us some Rice fields and a few other sites along the way plus Todo village.

In conclusion, we were very happy with Yonas and his network of alternate driver and guides, we absolutely loved Bajawa and the Bajawa Roo hotel, I could stay there for a month easily.

Also, not sure if you get people asking about Sumba Island but our guide Daniel Bonat was absolutely fantastic, and I would recommend him in the future to other people, he picked us up at the airport in Tambolaka, toured us around for the next six days, and ensured that we took the ADSP ferry from Waingapu to Aimere, as that was essential to my itinerary.

Thanks again for your help, my children and I had a fantastic time on Flores, we will return again I’m sure.

Best wishes, Chris

Ben Coles (Monday, 12 May 2025 06:31)

Anne Mieke’s website is an invaluable resource for discovering the magnificent and magical island of Flores.

Not only that, but Anne hooked us up with an excellent driver who was not only very safe but spoke reasonable English and gave us excellent advice about what to visit and where to stay. With the help of Mr Donatus and Anne, our 9-day trip around Flores was an unforgettable experience and we hope to come back.

A big thanks to both of them.

Ben

Andy & Angela (Friday, 25 April 2025 04:42)

A big thank you to Anne who was extremely helpful organising our trip and providing tips and information that helped us so much.

Our driver was Sipri Muda and he was fantastic. Safe, caring, respectful and quiet but friendly.
He spoke great English and over 8 days got to know the things we liked doing and how long we needed, so he catered for us perfectly. We were sad to part at the end of the trip because we enjoyed it so much.
Cheers from Ange & Andy

Ron Staines (Monday, 21 April 2025 10:44)

Ann helped us out with a referral when no accommodation was available in Larantuka.
Only someone with extensive local contacts and knowledge could have done that.
Thanks Ann

Anke and Paul (Thursday, 20 March 2025 10:41)

We just travelled the mainland of Flores with Mance, a guide and driver who we got in touch with via Anne Mieke. Mance is a really nice, friendly, helpful and safe driver. He always felt when we wanted to stop for a picture. He explained and showed us everything. We had a really nice time traveling with him. We also loved Flores very much and wanted to spend more time here. Thank you Mance for showing us Flores. Thanks Anne Mieke for the assistance and information!

Cyndi (Monday, 24 February 2025 00:50)

Anne Marie was super helpful in planning my overland trip to Flores! She assisted with a friendly reliable careful driver and gave me advice on the route! I am so appreciative of her!

Chris (Wednesday, 19 February 2025 13:01)

Just got back from Flores. Incredibly wonderful trip, and all of Anne's advice and recommendations were spot on. Pak Donatus as driver was wonderful. knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and utterly trustworthy, and the car was great quality. We stayed at Hobbit Hill (Ruteng), Sabrina Rest & Living(Bajawa - only spoke bahasa so careful if you dont), Kelimutu Paradiso Resort and Pondok Kul Kul (Labuan Bajo). I would recommend all of them, and happily stay at them again.

We organised a Komodo Island Day trip with florescharmtours. The boat was comfortable and seemed safe, and the crew and snacks were great. The dragons are unique to see, and the national park itself is incredibly beautiful, and snorkeling with manta rays is something to behold (maybe the highlight). This was the only place where tourist numbers bothered me, and it is hard to imagine it during peak. treking through komodo island looking for dragons loses a bit of the wilderness feel when your are one of 6 large groups of noisy tourists parading one after the other making noise. All trips seem to get to komodo island at luchtime in peak heat when the dragons are doing what lizards do and lazing in the sun, removing any chance of seeing them be active. it would have been nice to be able to customise trip a bit better, snorkel with mantas longer, and maybe have shorter stops at other places (pink beach and Taka Makasar are incredibly pretty but only really worth a 10 minute stop with nothing to see snorkel wise, and we didnt get to Siaba/Bidadari islands). Apart from the Mantas, I have seen much better snorkeling in Riung (17 islands national park and Bali sites (Menjangan, Gilis, Penida). Im sure this is all that can fit into the one day packed trip, and it is definitely a must do when in flores, but i would say the rest of flores is the highlight and komodo national park is a nice bonus for the region (labuan bajo and its tourism is a bit of a shock to the system after a week in the rest of Flores)

Kelimutu is a highlight and a must see, and the traditional villages were all incredibly interesting and friendly. they are all different, so see as many as you can. the landscape is just incredible too, so even just sitting in a car driving through you always have something amazing to see. every day it seemed we were going from mountains to beach and to mountains again along the most beautiful windy green roads you can imagine.

We were there in February, wet season. It was all incredibly green and lush, and tourist numbers were almost zero giving us incredible solo experiences and cheap hotels everywhere. some sites we couldnt get the views of the dry season, and the humidity makes walking harder (and if we were a week earlier would have missed komodo national park because of rain), but I would highly recommend giving Flores a go at this time of year. the risk was definitely worth it for us.

Thanks again Anne. your advice made the trip so easy, and knowing people and things were recommended by you gave me a nice sense of safety and comfort.

António Robalo (Monday, 06 January 2025 13:51)

Family trip in Flores last June. Thank you Anne for your precious advice and help with our trip. Also, Donatus proved to be a very reliable and friendly driver. I wish we had stayed longer than the 10 days we spent in Flores - maybe next time!
Antonio Robalo, Portugal

Jess (Saturday, 28 December 2024 07:53)

I echo many of the comments on this site - Anne Mieke is extraordinary. She generously shares her wealth of knowledge on the island of Flores, and goes above and beyond to support local people and tourism initiatives on this beautiful island.
Fortuitous indeed, I stumbled onto Anne's website just a week before our family of four travelled from Australia to Flores (Sept 2024). Our flights to Maumere were cancelled without explanation from LionAir, and her site was the only source of current information I could find on airport closures due to the eruption of Lewotobi volcano. We re-booked to Ende, but these flights were also cancelled just days before we were due to travel.
With our travel plans in disarray, Anne was a truly invaluable resource. Via WhatsApp (often responding to my queries almost immediately), she put us in contact with the wonderful Pak Ahmad, and suggested a reverse itinerary starting in Labuan Bajo.
As it turned out, Ende airport re-opened, and we were able to change flights at short notice. Pak Ahmad travelled through the night from Bajo to meet us at Ende airport the following morning.
And so began the most memorable journey over 8 days (Ende > Moni > Riung > Bajawa > Ruteng > Labuan Bajo), in the very capable hands of Pak Ahmad (and his comfortable Toyota Avanza). On the switch-backing roads snaking through the island, Pak Ahmad drove with great care, always responsive to the needs of our often queasy kids!
Having cancelled all our accommodation bookings due to flight/date changes, we relied on Pak Ahmad's extensive local knowledge. His recommendations on what to see, and where to stay and eat were excellent.
Flores (beyond Komodo) is magnificent - rich in culture, wild and untrammeled by mass-tourism, and our time there was immeasurably enriched by our chance contact with Anne Mieke. As a driver and friend, we cannot recommend Pak Ahmad highly enough, WhatsApp +62 821 4689 4584.
If you are considering travel to Flores - don't hesitate!

Jon (Saturday, 07 December 2024 16:08)

Anne kindly recommended a driver for our trip to Flores. Sipri was great, very courteous on the road, good English, good value, nothing was too much trouble and generally easy to get on with.
We were with him for 6 nights 7 days visiting Ruteng, Bajawa, Moni (for Kelimutu) and Riung. A round trip from Labuan Bajo. Lots of driving but saw a lot of Flores.

Bob Dyego (Thursday, 05 December 2024 13:13)

We finished the 7-day route with this young man, Mr. “Lost in Flores” Din.

We can only say positive reports about him. We specially liked his safe driving, a responsible and respectful guy with good sense of humor.

The itinerary was awesome despite the fog that didn’t let us enjoy some extraordinary views which we already knew it could happen in rainy season.

We definitely recommend Din for future visitors to this enjoyable island.

Thanks for your support and help, Anne.

Gloria (Sunday, 01 December 2024 15:05)

Anne and her website Travel2Flores are a real treasure!
Anne helped me arrange my trip from Ende to Labuan Bajo in August and connected me to mr. Ahmad, an outstanding driver, always kind, and punctual, who ensured our journey was smooth and enjoyable.
Thank you so much, Anne!
Your expertise and commitment truly make a difference.

Angelo (Friday, 22 November 2024 03:57)

Thanks so much for Anne Mieke for finding Yonas from Bajawa as our driver. We travelled as a group of 4 with Yonas from Ende to Labuan Bajo over a period of 9 days. We chose that route because at the time we knew that the airport at Ende was open and might not be later due to volcanic activity. It proved to be the right decision. As it turned out the airport at Labuan Bajo cancelled flights for a while as well during the time we were on Flores but we were fortunate enough to make all our flights.
Yonas proved to be an excellent driver. He was very attentive to our needs, stopping the car when he saw one of us reaching for a camera to take photos of the views or in my case seeing a bird that I might want to take a closer look at. We weren't sure at the start about how the accommodation bookings would work so we had booked the first 2 nights of the trip in Moni ourselves. This turned out to be a mistake as the place we chose was not very nice and we checked out after a day and stayed in a much nicer place suggested by Yonas. From then on we trusted all his recommendations for accommodation and restaurants and weren't disappointed. It was great not having to worry about finding places to stay or eat. He even invited us to a friend's wedding reception in Bajawa where all our group had a great time and Yonas looked a bit bleary-eyed the following morning :-) Our homestay in Ruteng where we had a wonderful dinner with the host family was another highlight.
Yonas speaks basic English and is not fluent but it was adequate and we were very happy with being able to take every available opportunity to practise our rudimentary bahasa Indonesia. It was actually a plus for us.
My only criticism was that the journey was hot and Yonas seemed to be very reluctant to use the air-con in his car. A few times we asked him to turn it on and he did so but would turn it off again after a short while. I think he was concerned about the effect of the air-con on fuel efficiency and engine power and we didn't press him too hard on it.
At the end of the trip we weren't sure about the tipping practice but decided that about 100,000Rp /day seemed reasonable and that's what we went with.

Roos (Monday, 23 September 2024 12:10)

I had the most wonderful time in Flores! I was traveling alone across the island, and Anne Mieke’s help made it worthwhile. She connected me with the best local guides, ensuring an authentic, unique, and unforgettable experience :)

Geoff Bond (Friday, 20 September 2024 06:47)

Anne, thank you so much for arranging Mr Wangge as our driver.
Once he heard that we were more interested in culture than sites, he excelled himself. The second day was spent at a Congoko Lokap traditional ceremony, where we were invited to stay by the chiefs. What an excellent day that was. Next day we returned to the same village for Caci fighting dances, where we were welcomed by many of the Manggarai villagers we had met the previous day. Another colourful exhilarating experience.
Day four started as planned, but Mr Wangge heard of a roof raising ceremony nearby in Nua Olo. We ventured in and it turned out Mr Wangge knew the Bajawa chief, so we spent hours there as guests, including being asked to stay for lunch.
Surely that was it for our tribal experiences, but no, Mr Wangge took us to Wologai viilage a day earlier than planned, to see the final day of the Lio tribes harvest festival, where dancing continued throughout the day. Again Mr Wangge’s friends brother was there and he invited us to eat with his family in a traditional hut. You couldn’t buy an experience like that.
Needless to say we would highly recommend Anne and Mr Wangge to make your Flores road trip so memorable.
Thank you both.

Anne Mieke (webmaster) (Sunday, 15 September 2024 07:11)

To all guests, thank you for all the comments on my website.
It is a pleasure to see that you have discovered Flores as a relatively undiscovered island (apart from Labuan Bajo and Komodo NP ofcourse).
I will continue to find "new" attractions allover the island however due to the lack of infrastructure some are for the adventurous only ;-)
My activities are often quite challenging since tourism on Flores is still in the development phase and often far from perfect.
Although I have traveled the island dozens of times the beauty of Flores still touches me.
Thank you for trusting me and I am able to help the people of Flores for a slightly better life.
Terima kasih.
��
Anne

Moses Mango (Sunday, 15 September 2024 01:49)

Sunday, 15 September 2024: "Good morning and best wishes to Mrs. Anne, thank God that we can meet on Friday, 13 September 2024, at the house of the head of Nida Village Berno Nober and I received the information through my brother Herry Wangge ( Drivers) and Brother Robert, it was a pleasure to meet Mrs. Anne in a conversation or discussion where many gave very positive input, criticism and suggestions for us in an area that is rich in culture, beautiful nature (LASU GOLO,SOMBU LOU), forest tourism, Marilonga historical tourism (Fort Marilonga,Dutch Fort, and other natural beauties that can be enjoyed by tourists, of course some of these inputs will become home workers for us and we will coordinate with the local government and regional government, such as transportation issues (entry access) to tourist attractions and other facilities.I sincerely ask you to promote the tourist attractions that I mentioned earlier in the Detukeli sub-district area. respectfully I am Mr.Moses Mango��

Marina Espin (Sunday, 08 September 2024 06:48)

We’re two Spanish girls who traveled with Herry Wangge on a 4-day Flores tour from Ende to Labuan Bajo. Wangge was super flexible, adapting to our plans and pace, making sure we saw and did exactly what we wanted. We’d absolutely recommend him to anyone planning a trip to Flores. His English is great, he drives safely, and the car was clean and comfortable. Plus, he knows local guides for specific hikes, like Mount Inerie, and other tours. He was really friendly but also gave us space when we needed it.
Contact him through WhatsApp: +62 822-9888-9474

Berta (Sunday, 08 September 2024 06:39)

We booked a driver in Flores through Ane. His name is Herry Wangger.

We are very satisfied with him. He was very flexible with our interests and giving lots of local advice for restaurants, tours, and insights.

Wangge was waiting for us in Ende airport with a welcoming sign and all through the trip he was always on time. His driving felt very safe and was always concerned about our comfort.

As for the car we can say it was very comfortable and clean!

We highly recommend him for a roadtrip through Flores. If you would like to contact him here is his whatsapp: +62 822-9888-9474

Lars (Tuesday, 03 September 2024 05:39)

We stumbled over Anne’s Internet site. First we were a bit suspicious why someone does recommend tours and driver without charge. But we immediately recognised Anne and her website is trustworthy. The driver she recommended was excellent. With Herry Wangge you definitely have a very experienced and friendly driver who knows all the sports. We enjoyed every spot, tour or restaurant he proposed. In addition he is very flexible to adjust plans according the individual requirements during the day. He has a good sense for required time to manage driving distances or to enjoy spots. We definitely will ask for Herry Wangge when we visit Flores again.

Pierre (Monday, 02 September 2024 17:29)

I wanted to thank Anne for putting us in touch with Wangge, who is a very friendly and careful driver. He speaks good English, is flexible and helpful. I do recommend him - You can WhatsApp Wangge on +62 822 9888 9474

Alexandra Alves Gaspar (Wednesday, 28 August 2024 12:21)

My journey with Travel2Flores began with a delicate touch: I stumbled upon this website by chance, but the connection I formed with Anne was anything but coincidental. Despite the short notice, Anne was there, eager to assist and quickly put me in touch with Mr Ete.
Everything went beautifully. The driver was extremely kind, careful, and entertaining, despite the occasional "lost in translation" moments during the trip. I chose the accommodations, but Anne went above and beyond to craft an itinerary with tips on what to see and do in each location.
Anne's generous spirit stands out most: her genuine desire to help the local community. Flores is an island of unparalleled beauty, with people who are as warm as they are sincere. I sincerely hope Anne continues assisting more travellers, fostering sustainable tourism at fair prices for visitors and locals, and contributing to a brighter future for this incredible island.
I am deeply and sincerely grateful for Anne's help. Her assistance made my trip to Flores Island memorable, and I will always seek her guidance for my future adventures.

Hester (Tuesday, 20 August 2024 19:52)

Dankzij de geweldige hulp en het advies van Anne Mieke hebben we met het gezin een prachtige tocht van 8 dagen op Flores gemaakt. Oorspronkelijk zouden we van Surabaya naar Maumere vliegen, maar vanwege vulkanische activiteit werd onze vlucht geannuleerd. Gelukkig waren we hierop voorbereid door Anne Mieke en konden we drie dagen later naar Ende vliegen. Zo konden we de geplande tocht alsnog maken. We hadden ons geen betere chauffeur en gids kunnen wensen dan Ivan. Het was echt een uitstekende match: Ivan is rustig en geduldig, maar heeft een goed gevoel voor humor. Hij is een ervaren gids en goede chauffeur, die goed Engels spreekt en heeft ons veel interessante dingen geleerd over Flores (geschiedenis, cultuur, flora, fauna). Daarnaast hebben we genoten van bijzondere ontmoetingen met de lokale bevolking, waarbij hij tolkte.

FedUpFormerDE (Saturday, 03 August 2024 15:23)

Anne put us in touch with Ahmad of Ende who was super in every way over our 4 days travelling with him and has become a friend. I cannot reccomend Ahmad strongly enough. His whatsapp is +6282146894584 and he is very responsive to messages. Ahmad, and Anne, have made it possible for us to fully enjoy the East of Flores which is still very raw and untouristy, UNlike Komodo and Labuan Bajo which are WAY overcrowded like all spots close to Bali (eg Gilis, Nusa Penida, Lembongan etc).

Maureen en Berend (Wednesday, 31 July 2024 17:42)

Voorafgaand aan onze reis naar Flores zijn we in contact gekomen met Anne Mieke. Ze heeft ons in de voorbereiding goed kunnen helpen met de planning en het in contact brengen met de lokale gidsen/driver. We zijn nog steeds zo aan het nagenieten van hoe deze reis daardoor is uitgepakt! Door onze driver Sonny en de aanbevolen gidsen Uni en Melki hebben we de bijzondere plekken nog unieker ervaren! Wij raden het zeker aan contact op te nemen met Anne Mieke en haar netwerk!

Wendy Beckx-Moen (Wednesday, 31 July 2024 13:25)

We just spent 10 days with driver and guide Mr. Mesakh with our two girls ( 16 and 22)We are so happy Anne Mieke connected us with him. Such a nice man, who knows all the nice spots and good places to eat in Flores! He’s quiet and very modest and will do anything to make sure you’ll have a great experience.
He also take a good care of the local people and makes sure they get their fair share.
He seems to know everyone on Flores!!

FedUpFormerDE (Monday, 22 July 2024 03:54)

Anne is an AMAZING resource motivated by altrusim not profit, a real rarity in this age of overtourism and instragram influencers (read: untermenschen!) living like leeches by exposing places for profit or ego. She contributes her time to help both travellers and locals. Good karma abounding.

Birgit (Thursday, 18 July 2024 10:51)

Via Anne zijn we in contact gekomen met onze chauffeur Mr Ivan. We zouden in Maumere onze reis over Flores met hem starten. Omdat de vlucht van Labuan Bajo gecanceld werd konden we Maumere niet bereiken en waren we een dag eerder dan gepland in Ende. Gelukkig bleek hij ons ook die dag al te kunnen ophalen. We hebben een fantastische tijd op Flores gehad dankzij hem. Hij is een goede chauffeur, spreekt goed Engels, een man met humor, hij bracht ons veel gezelligheid en we zijn op plekken gekomen die we zonder hem niet hadden kunnen bezoeken. Ook wist hij heel veel over de natuur en geschiedenis van Flores en Indonesië. Hij heeft onze reis nog specialer en onvergetelijker gemaakt. Heel veel dank aan Ibu Anne!!

Andrii Derypasko (Friday, 05 July 2024 15:00)

Anne quickly responsed to my question about transport in Flores and gave me several options to get from Maumere to Labuan Bajo. Thank you so much! I really did not believe that I find something online. 10 million thanks!

Nathalie and Lucas (Monday, 01 July 2024 15:04)

We spent a beautiful week in Flores in May thanks to Anne. She gave us the number of a driver to organize our trip and it was wonderfull. Well organised, a lot of communication and a perfect way to visit the Island.
Anne is very professionnal and so nice. She helped us a lot. Thank you again for your help and support. Nathalie and Lucas

Adeline Tan (Friday, 28 June 2024 15:07)

Thank you Anne, for a most informative website - which helped me to plan the 4-day classic tour of Flores from Maumere to Labuan Bajo!

Unfortunately, I was unable to visit Maumere as my flight was cancelled due to ash from the Mt Lewotobi eruption.

Nonetheless, my driver whom Anne recommended - Rino - was very efficient in getting me on a drive from Bajawa (where my flight had been rerouted) to Ende (where he drove to himself). It made the experience a lot more bearable! And I suppose I now have an excuse to visit again! �

Rino himself was a great driver, guide, and friend. He was always early (not just punctual �), patient, answered all my dumb and not-so-dumb questions, and made many stops along the way so I could take a gazillion photos. I feel genuinely thankful for the opportunity to have seen this part of Indonesia, which not many people know about and, more importantly, for all the wonderful people in Flores who have allowed me to be a part of your lives - even if only for a short while.

Once again, thank you for doing what you do, Anne! I’ll definitely be back and hopefully, we’ll be able to meet in-person too. ��

coolsuly (Saturday, 22 June 2024 17:36)

Dear Ms Anne, We would like to express our heartly appreciation of what you have been doing to the people of Flores-Indonesia.

In this material world, when all is measured by money, you have proven that it's not always the case. You dedicated your precious time and also your own financial means to support and increase the life of people in Flores by making such a complete, updated/current and honest information about this beautiful island.

Based on your honest and fair information about the associated cost incurred and very well explained about the driver, road situation and the itinerary, we finally made the decision to visit this island. If we do not come across your webpage, we would not visit this island.

Before we come across this webpage, we had contacted a different driver and his tariff for car rental and his service was 2 Million rupiah/122 USD/114 euro just for one day. I found that the price is ridiculous but as we did not know any other information, we were not able to gauge this-just the feeling. Fortunately, we came across this page and you have helped us to find a very good driver (Mr/Pa Donatus) and rent his car with a fair cost. We enjoyed our road trip with Pa Donatus. He was an experienced driver and knows Flores very well. We had a nice memorable journey in Flores.

Once again, we thank you for your time and sacrifice to entertain us with our endless questions even though you do not have any financial gain by doing this. Please continue your very good work to support people in Flores.

Note : our road trip was from 18 April 2024 to 22 April 2024.

Sebastiaan (Friday, 07 June 2024 12:06)

Thank you, Anne Mieke, for helping us with planning our trip around Flores and getting us in touch with Donatus as our driver and Uni as our guide around Bajawa.

We had the most wonderful 14 days roundtrip around the island. I can highly recommend Donatus as driver. His English is good, he’s calm and he drives safe. He also was good with our children (age 2&4).

I can also recommend Uni to anyone for your days in the Bajawa area. He guided us for three days. He’s also calm, has lots of knowledge about the area and can arrange a wonderful sleepover in Tololela traditional village. He included our children with every activity we did and really took time for them. They loves him and Donatus as well.

What a wonderful trip we had!

Scott (Tuesday, 07 May 2024 12:51)

Anne was extremely helpful in arranging a driver from Maumere to Ende for us (Mr Sonny).
During the trip we visiting Kelimatu for sunrise and stopped for photos at many other scenic spots along the way. Everything was very smooth, and Mr Sonny was professional and only too happy to recommend spots of interest along the way.
For us there was an added bonus as we had the good fortune to meet Anne on our arrival at the airport at Maumere as she was in town updating information for the website.
A fantastic experience .

Erik en Danielle (Friday, 12 April 2024 00:36)

We willen even ons ervaringen terugkoppelen van onze guide/ driver Pak Sipri
Het is alleen maar lof! Wat een aardige behulpzame professionele top kerel!
Hij was ze geld dubbel en dwars waard. Wilde ons echt een goede tijd bezorgen en dat is gelukt!
Flores was überhaupt super! Wat een aardige mensen, lekker eten en mooie natuur!
Nu weer veilig in b&b world wat ook een aanrader is met fijn zwembad,.
Veel dank voor je tips! We hebben er een super mooie herinnering bij.

Alex & Wulan (Friday, 05 April 2024 17:55)

Hi, we just want to express our sheer gratitude both to our excellent driver Donatus but also to Bu Anne who supported us with great advice both through this website but also over e-mail. We had a very nice trip to Flores and without the two of you, we are sure our trip would not be as memorable and succesful.

We set out on a relatively ambitious week long overland trip (we went to Kelimutu and back) and our driver Donatus really showed proffesionalism, local knowledge and flexibillity. We had a very memorable trip with lots of good fruits (sorry for the durian fiesta), village visits, beautiful scenery (despite shifting weather) and the friendly people of Flores. The small cozy homestays along the route was also an experience in itself.

We can highly recommend both Anne as a resource on Flores and Donatus as a driver and resource on Mainland Flores.

Mbana Rewo :)

Lena Granqvist (Thursday, 28 March 2024 03:01)

We can not express enough how pleased and satisfied we were with our excellent driver, Donatus. He took care of us as we would have been his family and with extra thoughtfulness for my mother 80 years. Always in time, prepared with a clean car. Never stopping to give answers to our millions of questions about the interesting life on the island.

He had a positive and professional approach. Driving always with safety as a goal.

We got memories for life!

Wendy and Curt (Thursday, 15 February 2024 11:29)

Thanks to discovering this website and wonderful suggestions from Anne Mieke, our 11-day trip through Flores went extremely well. The driver recommended, Mesakh, was safe, knowledgeable and good company along the way. He picked us up at the airport in Maumere, drove us from Larantuka to Labuan Bajo, where he dropped us off at the airport. He was much more than a driver, advising us on places to see, eat and shop.

The site has suggested activities with plenty of choices that suited us well. There was so much to explore, from churches to caves to craters as well as historical sites, traditional villages and agriculture. We will need another trip to see more!

Anne Mieke has developed a wonderful resource to support local tourism in Flores and she spent valuable time responding to our questions and making thoughtful recommendations based on our needs. And in every place we stayed the owners knew her!
Bravo and many thanks!

Felix (Monday, 30 October 2023 07:25)

Hi Anne
In September, the four of us did our 3 week trip through Indonesia, including Flores. The arrangement with our driver Sipri worked out perfectly. He was everything we could ask for, reliable, safe driver, friendly, knowledgeable and his English was at a good level. We really can recommend Sipri. So thank you very much for bringing us in contact, your knowledgeable services are highly appreciated.
Best, Felix and family

Jan & Mike (Saturday, 21 October 2023 08:28)

We have just returned from our six week adventure in Indonesia, the first part being an overland car journey to Maumere.

Thank you so much for referring Donatus to us as our driver in Flores. Mike and I were very happy with the service that Donatus provided from the time he met us at Labuan Bajo airport to when he dropped us in Maumere six days later.

Donatus was a safe and steady driver with a reliable and comfortable car. He listened to what we wanted, or did not want to do, and made suggestions which improved our experience. He was always on time to
pick us up in the morning after he had stayed somewhere in town, rather than our accommodation which was usually out of town.

After Donatus had dropped us at our final hotel, 10km out of Maumere, he re-appeared an hour later with Mike's shoulder bag that had been left under a seat in the car. That really saved us a lot of angst because Mike's prescription sunglasses were in the bag.

We would thoroughly recommend Donatus as a driver to anyone thinking of tripping in Flores.

And, most importantly, we would like to thank Anne Mieke for her help and her wonderful, informative website.

Raymond en Shirley Schmitz (Wednesday, 04 October 2023 13:41)

In de maand augustus 2023 hebben wij een 8 daagse rondreis gemaakt door Flores. Via Anne miek hebben wij onze driver Robbie gevonden. Een zeer bescheiden, aardige man die ons naar alle hotspots heeft gereden. Onderweg heeft hij ook hier en daar een gids geregeld en een boottour bij 17 Islands. Niks was hem teveel! Anne miek bedankt voor alle informatie en reisschema! Een onvergetelijke reis!!

Barbara (Thursday, 31 August 2023 13:51)

I was searching for information about Flores and casually found Anne’s website. It was so well done that I thought it was from a travel agency :)
I first wrote Anne for information about the driver but then she helped me not only with the driver but also with the organisation of my whole tour (9 days from Maumere to Labuan Bajo). I wrote Anne so many times and every time she was patient and gave me precious suggestions (about things to see, planes, arrangements, etc).
Last but not least the driver she found for us (Mr. Mesakh) was perfect: always on time, reliable, gave us a lot of information about the island, drove carefully, stopped whenever and wherever we needed.
Our tour was perfect and Anne played a great part in this success. Thank you!

Ronald Westdorp (Sunday, 20 August 2023 10:45)

Searching for info about flores found Anne mieke her website with so much info made with passion , so she aranged for us driver Rino and with him we had an amazing 8 days Roadtrip from maumere to Labuan Bajo . Rino was perfect for us we had so much fun and every day we so different beautiful things . Thanks a lot Anne Mieke and Rino .

Lilly & Eduard (Wednesday, 16 August 2023 07:33)

Enthousiast gemaakt door de website van Anne Mieke zijn we met onze drie kinderen in een week van Labuan Bajo via Ruteng, Bajawa, Riung en Moni naar Maumere gereisd.

De chauffeur Donatus, die we via Anne Mieke kregen, was geweldig. Vriendelijk, zorgzaam, een goede chauffeur op de vele kronkelwegen en met veel ideeën wat we onderweg konden doen.

Hoogtepunten waren de boottocht naar de 17 eilanden, de Hot Springs, de beklimming van de vulkaan en de verschillende zonsopkomsten en ondergangen.

Bedankt Anne Mieke en Donatus!

Karel & company (Saturday, 01 April 2023 21:08)

We send a big thank you once again to Anne Mieke for preparing our program via Flores from Maumere to Labuan Bajo. The program was full of interesting places and experiences and we managed almost all of it. Fun from sunrise to sunset.
Guide Mr. Mesakh was amazing and we thank him for his perfect ride around Flores, which given the state of the roads was often an admirable feat. He took care of us carefully - banana time, water and lunch time ;-) and helped us solve all the problems that suddenly appeared - undelivered luggage from Kupang, insufficient hotel booking and express laundry.
Thank you both so much for the Flores trip.

Jeroen and claire (Wednesday, 01 March 2023 00:40)

We just finished a 8 day inlandtour, with a lot of help from Anne Mieke. She Made a whole plan for us, including tips for overnightstay,
recommandad driver/guide Mr. Mesakh and gave information About Entrance fees. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge about Flores and show us the best places. It Made it so much easier.
Mr. Mesakh was A very good driver, the roads are Not easy but he knows them well. He Provided us with bananas and water and information about Flores, indonesian food, Words.
We really had a great 8 days Thanks to Anne Mieke (the guesthouse she recommanded) and Mr. Mesakh.

Mark & family (Monday, 28 November 2022 21:17)

Every country/island/region should be so lucky as to have someone like Anne Mieke, putting travelers in touch with local guides and drivers, answering questions and giving information.

We're so grateful for Anne Mieke's help organizing a driver for our trip to Wae Rebo with the limited time we had, and answering any question that arose, both before and after the trip. We were so happy we were able to see a small part of the island, and can't wait to return some day to see more.

Thank you, Anne Mieke!

Salina (Friday, 02 September 2022 17:00)

Wij hebben zojuist onze reis door Flores afgerond. Ik had werkelijk geen idee hoe we dat allemaal moesten regelen maar gelukkig kwam ik op deze site terecht. Anne Mieke heeft ons er regelmatig doorheen 'gereden' als een gids op afstand, of het voor haar nu dag of nacht was. Wel met een fysiek aanwezige chauffeur natuurlijk die zij geregeld had. Een geweldige, lieve en geduldige chauffeur. Gelukkig had ik de tickets nog niet allemaal geboekt want dan had ik waarschijnlijk nog geen 10% gezien van wat ik nu heb gezien. Anne Mieke heeft een perfecte trip voor ons uitgestippeld, naar onze wensen geluisterd, en we vielen van het ene adembenemende stuk van Flores in het andere. Dit had ik zonder hulp echt niet voor elkaar gekregen. Alles was compleet en perfect. En we hebben uiteindelijk veel minder betaald dan ik had verwacht dankzij de tussenkomst van Anne Mieke. Zij regelt dit allemaal gratis overigens. Alles gaat direct naar de lokale bevolking omdat ik heb begrepen dat haar hart op dit eiland ligt. Nu ik Flores heb gezien snap ik het nog ook. Wij hebben veel gereisd maar dit is het meest mooie, bijzondere, adembenemende eiland dat ik ooit heb gezien. Dank je Anne Mieke, zonder jou hadden wij nooit zo'n mooie, complete reis mogen beleven en zeker niet op zo'n soepele manier.
Tip voor reizigers: boek de vluchten naar/op/van Flores niet voordat je trip is uitgestippeld want dan mis je meer dan de helft.

Lucas (Friday, 02 September 2022 14:23)

Very comprehensive and up to date info of the island. We did a two weeks trip by scooter around the island (very recommended) and this blog was incredibly useful (the best source by far). Also, we asked Anne a question and she was very kind. Great job Anne, thanks for your hard work :)

Donno (Wednesday, 15 June 2022 20:34)

do you know or even you have been to Pulau Komba ? Thanks... great website, I'm Indonesian but i can"t build the website as you do . Salute

Christian, Vienna (Sunday, 24 January 2021 14:17)

Die Homepage ist eine Wucht! Würde mir mehr solche Informationsseiten wünschen. Auch hilft Anne Mieke persönlich gerne weiter und ist offen für alle Fragen. Vielen Dank und alles Gute!

Gabriel (Tuesday, 29 September 2020 18:51)

Nice

Mery (Tuesday, 28 January 2020 10:45)

Anne was amazing and SUPER helpful! She helped us to find a local drive, Jack who is super reliable, friendly, polite and very helpful! Jack was so flexible and drives very carefully. We went to 10 days trip from Maumere- Labuanbajo with Jack. Anne designed several itineraries for us as option( due to rainy season ). We followed Anne's itinerary and consulting this everyday with Jack if it is possible due to the current weather. The trip was AMAZING! Thank you so much Anne for helping us and more important Anne helps the local Flores people. She doesn't get any cents from the trip she designed for us. Such a warm heart!! Tips for traveller, pls bring some clothes or toys (if possible no plastic) if you have some places in your luggage. the local people was so happy to receive this small gifts. Also for such long trips, ask the driver in advance to buy a water in a gallon as well as the water pump for the gallon. We brought our own bottles and refill this. With this, you helped Flores to avoid the plastic bottles and reduce rubbish. We hope that Flores will become rubbish free island one day. Flores is just BEAUTIFUL and amazing!!! Thank you again ANNE and JACK for your help. We had such an amazing trip thanks to your help!

Richard (Friday, 24 January 2020 21:41)

Anne was a wonderful source of information for our recent trip to Flores - found us a driver directly and gave us suggestions for where to see and stay that we would not have found by ourselves. There is a lot more to Flores than what you can see in the guidebooks. Thank you!

Driss Amri (Tuesday, 14 January 2020 11:05)

Last year in October we decided last minute to go to Flores. After finding this site Anne Mieke was SUPER helpful and we jumped on a quick call to make a basic itinerary and got us in contact with driver Jack.

We only had 5 days to spend to get from Maumere to Labuan Bajo before our diving trip started. Jack was fabulous! He is a kind, sweet man and also are careful driver. The roads can be long and lots of turns but we didn’t get car sick at all and he was very safe.

We got to see quite a few highlights and amazing scenery along the way. For us 5 days in the end was a bit too short, since the you need to cover quite a bit it distance, so we’ll definitely go back and take a slower pace somewhere in the future.

We can’t thank Anne Mieke and Jack enough for helping us explore Flores beauty! Definitely contact them if you are looking to go to Flores.

Niels (Thursday, 24 October 2019 10:53)

Anne Mieke heeft ons fantastisch geholpen met de 5daagse trip van maumere naar labuanbajo. Door omstandigheden hebben wij onze voorziene trip naar Borneo moeten wijzigen en besloten last minute naar Bali, Lombok, Flores te gaan. Op Flores hadden wij totaal een week waarvan 5 dagen van oost naar west, maar wij hadden ons door de plotse wijziging geen tijd gehad om ons te verdiepen in het eiland Flores.

Anne Mieke heeft voor ons een compleet reisschema verzorgd inclusief chauffeur (Inno, die ook geweldig was). Hoewel wij graag op eigen gelegenheid reizen waren wij achteraf erg blij met onze chauffeur. De reistijden zijn vrij lang en in 5 dagen langs alle highlights kost behoorlijk wat tijd en energie. Het was mij nooit gelukt als ik dat elke dag zelf zou moeten uitvogelen tegen redelijke prijzen. Bovendien heeft Anne Mieke op ons plekken gewezen die wij op eigen gelegenheid nooit hadden gevonden. Ze heeft werkelijk onze trip onovertroffen gemaakt!

William (Tuesday, 22 October 2019 02:33)

Anne Mieke, we willen je graag bedanken voor de trip die je voor ons hebt uitgestippeld

Voor de lezers: Ik was geen voorstander om te reizen met chauffeur, graag doen we alles op eigen gelegenheid. Maar in dit geval heb ik er geen spijt van gehad, dat ik gebruik heb gemaakt van Anne Mieke haar kennis. We hebben een zesdaagse reis gemaakt van Labuhanbajo naar Maumere, via Ruteng, Bajawa, Riung naar Moni, het laatste stukje hebben we op eigen gelegenheid gedaan. De chauffeur Roby heeft ons veilig alle hoogtepunten laten zien. Tijdens deze reis hebben we ook de 17 islands bezocht wat zeker de moeite waard is als je van snorkelen houd. Ook de traditionele dorpen en de Liang Bua cave waren zeker de moeite waard. Het voordeel van de chauffeur is, dat hij hij je rechtstreeks naar alle hoogtepunten brengt, anders was het wel een zoektocht voor ons geweest en had de reis een stuk langer geduurd. Anne Mieke nogmaals bedankt voor alles. Top geregeld in een hele korte tijd..
.

Amy (Wednesday, 09 October 2019 11:05)

Anne Mieke helped us plan our 5 day overland Flores tour (Maumere to Labuan Bajo). We knew we did not have a much time to spend, but Anne Mieke made sure that we got the maximum fun out of it. We got driver Mesak, who was very kind and his English was fine as well. He drove very safely and made sure we were happy every day. He even showed us an extra tour through the rice fields of Ruteng, which was one of the best experiences during our stay on Flores. Besides, he helped us arrange a 2D1N boat tour from Labuan Bajo to Komodo national park. Many thanks again Anne Mieke! Could not have planned our short stay on Flores any better. Keep up the good work!

Jenneke (Tuesday, 08 October 2019 12:03)

We would like to know that we had a great time on Flores Island, with help of Anne Mieke. The island is amazing. We did an overland tour with driver Jack for 7 days. Jack was a great driver (i was a little bit afraid getting carsick because of the roads, but it never happen :-)). Our first day was there a little problem, but Anne Mieke resolved that problem for us in the middle of the night (she was in “Blanda”)! Didn’t expect so much service on the way, but she arranged it for us. Also here tips for restaurants, guesthouse and guides are really great! Thank you very much Anne Mieke!

Aurélien & Norah (Saturday, 05 October 2019 09:05)

We spent 10 days in Flores and Anne was extremely helpful! She helped us plan the overland part of our trip, suggesting how many nights to spend in each town, hotel and restaurant suggestions, as well as activities suggestions based on our interests! She helped us find a driver who sadly had conflicting schedules a few days before, but then she helped us and called to make sure that we would have another serious English-speaking driver, and we did!
The website also has tons of useful information, such as laundry places, Komodo tour tips, etc.
Our trip to Flores was wonderful. Thank you so much, Anne, for doing this for free just to help tourists and locals in Flores!
Aurélien & Norah

Chantal en Wesley (Thursday, 26 September 2019 15:21)

2 years ago we traveled trough Sulawesi with the help of a local guide who (just like Anne Mieke) helps tourists that like to visit beautiful indonesia. This year, we seeked out for guidance for traveling through Flores. We came into contact with Anne Mieke, whom helped us so much! We had some ideas about what we wanted to visit, but Annemieke knew all the ins and outs. She connected us with a local driver (Yamin) who is one of the nicest drivers we have ever met. His English and knowhow about secret places (where hardly any tourist come) gave us such an authentic Indonesian experience of Flores... A driver is also a very important thing to arrange on Flores (missing unique spots and absurt high prices for taxis if not arranged). Yamin was a very reliable driver, which is also very important due to Floris its curvy and bad roads. Except for Labuan bajo, the rest of Flores is still authentic without many tourist and should not be missed /skipped when traveling to Indonesia. We would like to thank Anne Mieke again for all the information and sharing her love to Flores with us. Chantal & Wesley

Anne-Louise fitzpatrick (Sunday, 15 September 2019 23:24)

We found this wonderful website so useful in planning our12 day trip to Flores. Anne’s guidance and information was reliable in every aspect. Using this website gave us a unique window into Flores. Her responses before and during our trip were quick and helpful. She connected us with a great driver, Stef who was professional, safe and friendly. His communication skills were great and he was able to add lots of local knowledge for us. Highly recommended.

Roger & family (Saturday, 24 August 2019 21:46)

Annemiek helped us out planning a wonderfull trip through the inlands of Flores. We (a family with 2 young daughters of 10 and 12 y/o) have been so lucky to discover and experience significant parts of the real authentic Flores Island and life of its inhabitants. This all thanks to great advice and recommendations by Annemiek who always will be able to identify new rare spots throughout your routing. Only had email contact with her but she always responded very fast and extensively. She really takes care of the authentic life within Flores and does her utmost to disseminate this to other people interested to experience this beautiful Indonesian island as well. The driver she connected us with - Jack Meo - is a great driver! Reliable and a very safe driver on the curvy roads of Flores! He speaks English quite well and was always able to explain further when any question during our 6 days trip rose. We will never forget the great smile of him! So, thanks for all this! Unless we're already well travelled over the world, Flores was thanks to Annemiek and Jack an unforgettable experience for us!

Marian and Leo (Thursday, 22 August 2019 21:35)

We were lucky to find this website. O, what a lot info over Flores.
We contacted Anne Mieke, and we got a quick respons from her.
Together we made a program for an 8 days tour in Flores, from Maumere to Labuan Bajo. She gave us advice and helped us with the hotels, the route, the sightseeings and she found us a good local driver . Jack our driver was a friendly man. He drove very safe. That is important because the roads are many times bad and winding.
We had an unforgettable time on Flores, thanks to Anne Mieke. We wish you all the luck. And thanks again for all your help.

Marian and Leo

Lucas (Wednesday, 31 July 2019 12:13)

We found Anne Mieke’s website while we were searching for a reasonably priced driver. Within 5 minutes after sending our initial itinerary, she replied extensively. She helped us to plan the perfect trip and arranged a driver named Inno for us. Additionally, she arranged some good guesthouses and places for dinner. Inno was a wonderful driver. He was funny, always laughing and with a smile on his face. Most importantly, he drove very safe and always knew what to do, or where to go. Inno and Anne Mieke made our trip unforgettable. Thanks a lot.

Ton & Anne-Marie (Monday, 13 May 2019 19:49)

Wat hebben wij genoten van onze rondreis door Flores. Een prachtig eiland, waanzinnig mooie natuur en hele vriendelijke mensen.
Anne Mieke, wij willen jou graag bedanken voor het meedenken en uiteindelijk het maken van onze reisroute. Ook dank voor het in contact brengen met onze chauffeur Yance. Waren superblij met hem! Iemand met een enorme kennis, warme persoonlijkheid en een zeer betrouwbare chauffeur.
Wij wensen je verder veel succes toe met je prachtige site en nogmaals bedankt voor al je hulp.
Flores was fantastisch!

Tilly & Johan (Wednesday, 01 May 2019 11:59)

Toen we op familiebezoek naar Bali gingen, beslisten we, 10 dagen voor ons vertrek, ook een bezoek te brengen aan Flores, een tot dan toe voor ons onbekend eiland. We probeerden wat info te verzamelen op het internet en stootten op de website van Anne-Mieke.
De passie waarmee ze over Flores vertelde en de enthousiaste reacties van reizigers maakten ons nieuwsgierig.
We stuurden een bericht naar Anne-Mieke en nog diezelfde dag kregen we antwoord, meer zelfs, we hebben ’s avonds een uur met elkaar getelefoneerd en info uitgewisseld.
A.M. stelde voor een programma op te stellen voor een vijfdaagse trip. Ze deed suggesties voor overnachtingen (vrijblijvend) en maakte de reservatie voor een chauffeur. Achteraf bleek hoe belangrijk dit laatste was. Chauffeur Jack was heel attent, gereserveerd, drong zich nooit op, paste zijn muziekvolume in de auto aan, had aandacht voor onze wensen en …. sprak Engels. Hij beantwoordde onze vragen en respecteerde verder de stilte. Maar het voornaamste : hij was een veilige chauffeur. Hij reed met aangepaste snelheid door de kronkelwegen en anticipeerde op gevaarlijke toestanden langs de weg. Pas na onze trip beseften we hoe belangrijk dit laatste was toen we in Labuan Bajo van andere hotelgasten verhalen hoorden van drivers die zich als cowboys gedroegen (oververmoeide knikkebollende drivers, zelfs 2 passagiers die in het ziekenhuis belandden omdat de driver van de weg afreed). De suggestie van Anne-Mieke was echt wel goud waard : Jack was (is) een topdriver.
Anne-Mieke bleef zelfs tijdens de reis in contact met ons en i.v.m. een boottocht naar omliggende eilanden reikte zij ons waardevolle info aan.
Kortom onze trip door Flores was super geslaagd, met dank aan Anne-Mieke.

Daniela & Fabio (Thursday, 28 February 2019 11:05)

We were lucky to have found your website. We received so much help from you. Driver guide Stef picked us up in Maumere for a 5 days trip over Flores to Labuan Bajo. Everything from planning at short notice to taylored to our needs stopps on the way worked so smooth and easy. Usual travel agencies want to sell a fixed program. Anne Mieke is able to listen and to make recommendations of what she heard. Thank you for sharing your knowledge about Flores.

Vishnu (Monday, 28 January 2019 08:36)

We had a great visit to Flores in mid January. It was only possible because of your help. Your recommendation of Mateo was very helpful and made it possible to visit Kelimutu and Moni. In Labuan Bajo we stayed in Puri Sari Beach Hotel which is a bit away from the centre but was good for relaxing before and after our Komodo trip. We took the slow boat (negotiated at the harbor as you suggested) to Padar/Komodo/Pink Beach/Manta point which is a bit loud but pricing was reasonable (500k per person).

Thanks again Anne for your generous help with our trip.

Vishnu

Aldyn (group of 4) (Thursday, 10 January 2019 05:13)

How glad I am to have stumbled across Anne's website. She was absolutely instrumental in our epic Flores trip, helping create an itinerary and connect us with Jack, an expert driver who knows the island like the back of his hand. Our only regret is that we did not have a few more days to spend along the way (we did 4d, 3n - Maumere to LBJ). That made for a lot more time in the car than out of it, but we didn't have any more time to spare, so the only alternative would have been to not do it at all. I am SO glad we went for it. An incredible island. We will be back, for a few more days, and hopefully with drier weather. Thank you, Anne!

Tara (Wednesday, 19 December 2018 11:06)

Thank you Anne Mieke. What a kind and generous person to give so much help to strangers! Your advice and suggestions have really helped in planning our trip to Flores and you responded straight away. You provide everything we need to know and nothing we don't! I wish there was an Anne Mieke for every country! Tara

Laurie Britten (Wednesday, 14 November 2018 20:25)

Anne Mieke was a huge help in our travel plans for Flores Island. She designed a custom itinerary for us and located a good, safe driver with a comfortable vehicle who was much more reasonable than any one else I had found.
Anne is very responsive in her communications and recently returned from visiting the island herself, so she is completely up to date.
I highly recommend her.

Harold & Anita (Thursday, 18 October 2018 08:46)

Via a facebook group we found Anne Mieke's website and contacted her; now we're back home already after a really great 5-day trip from Maumere to Labuan Bajo: Flores is a wonderful island with a lot to see and do, we absolutely enjoyed it!

Anna (Saturday, 22 September 2018 12:51)

I found Anne's website by coincidence and contacted her via what's app. She responded immedietely and provided a lot of helpful information. In a very short time Anne aranged for us a very good driver Paul. He was very comunicative and funny guy. We had a wonderful 3 day tour arround Flores. Thank you Anne

Larissa van Geijlswijk (Thursday, 06 September 2018 12:38)

Anne Mieke has been an enormous help in planning our trip from Labuan Bajo to Maumere. I contacted her only shortly before our trip and wished I had done it earlier, it would have saved me a lot of effort and time. Despite the time constraint she found us a wonderful driver, Yance, who was reliable and funny and made our week unforgettable. Flores is amazing and so is Anne Mieke, who knows the island thoroughly and helps travelers for the benefit of the island, its inhabitants and visitors. Thanks Anne Mieke!

Patrice Nijman (Friday, 24 August 2018 10:36)

Anne Mieke helped us lot with planning our 9 day trip to Flores. She has so much knowledge about this beautiful Island.

We really, really enjoyed our overland trip on Flores from Maumere to Labuan Bajo. It is such a green, authentic and unspoiled Island.

Our driver/guide Vincent was recommended by Anne Mieke and he is such a nice guy and very safe driver. Also our kids loved him!

I can highly recommend a trip to Flores!

Natan (Sunday, 12 August 2018 13:44)

A really beautiful website, and a very kind and helpful person.
Thanks a lot Anne!

Gaye (Monday, 06 August 2018 09:47)

What a fantastic sight this is -so much advice and knowledge about Flores.
Due to an oversight by us -we desperately needed help sorting car hire and flights in a quick time frame...Anne was so quick in responding and offering really good solid advice to us.
I really can't thank Anne enough -we are now so looking forward to our holiday in Flores.
And if I can offer any advice to travellers -it is check check and double check your itineraries!

Rod (Thursday, 02 August 2018 03:52)

Thank you for all your assistance Anne.
I had a wonderful 8 day trip though Flores.
Wanted to tell you about the driver/guide you organised for me (Rolin)...
A wonderful guide with great local knowledge.
A very safe and considerate driver.
He has excellent english skills.
He is an all-round nice guy!

Cheers,
Rod

Rien van Loon (Wednesday, 18 July 2018 17:24)

Prima website! Duidelijk en informatief.
Dank voor al die moeite

Lous (Monday, 30 April 2018 14:32)

Prachtige website met boordevol duidelijke en interessante informatie, vergezeld van hele mooie foto's.
Wie wordt hier nou niet enthousiast van !
Heel veel succes !

Bert Pril (Sunday, 11 December 2016 08:16)

Wat heb je een prachtige website opgezet Anne mieke. Uit al je reisverhalen heb ik al begrepen dat je een zwak hebt voor Flores en de mensen die daar wonen. Nu heb je je voorliefde en kennis van Flores gebruikt om een website op te zetten, en daarmee tegelijkertijd het toerisme naar Flores te promoten, dat is een super initiatief Anne mieke.

Luo Ni (Wednesday, 30 November 2016 10:39)

Anna Mieke ,
Bagus sekali , fei chang hao , with compliments , il semble très bon avec les compliments .
Ziet er erg goed uit, wij genieten er van .
Permisi , zaijian , take care
Luo Ni / Dashiqiao / China ( Ron )

Anne Mieke (webmaster) (Monday, 28 November 2016 19:06)

Allereerst dank voor de vele mooie complimenten.
Thanks for all the nice comments.
Terima kasih untuk pujian2 yang bagus.

@Paola
Het gebruik van Engels is een bewuste keuze: het is internationaal. De website is niet alleen bedoeld voor Nederland of Belgie maar juist wereldwijd inclusief Indonesie zelf. Vandaar dat ik ook voor .info heb gekozen ipv .nl in het webadres.
Echter opmerkingen en/of vragen kunnen in zowel Engels, Nederlands als Indonesisch.
De meeste toeristen die Flores bezoeken zullen communiceren in het Engels (als men geen Indonesisch spreekt). Gidsen zijn bijna altijd Engelstalig op een enkele uitzondering na die daarnaast ook Italiaans, Frans of Duits spreken.

Paola (Monday, 28 November 2016 16:32)

Anne Mieke, het ziet er gelikt uit. Prachtige website. Je hebt jezelf overtroffen. Zeer overzichtelijk ook. Helaas is niet iedereen het Engels machtig (of een beetje). Dit zou weleens mensen uit Nederland/België af kunnen schrikken. Kan er een keuze mogelijkheid komen Engels/Nederlands?

Shirley (Friday, 18 November 2016 12:36)

Top gedaan dame! Ziet er goed uit, mooie foto's! Je hebt mij wel nieuwsgierig gemaakt! Zal je site zeker promoten onder de familie- en vriendenkring.
Banjak rejeki!! Hormaté, Shirley X

Peter (Friday, 18 November 2016 05:19)

Prachtige website Anne Mieke, als straks ons huis klaar is gaan we zeker naar Flores en zullen je website dan zeer zeker gebruiken.
Groetjes, Peter.

Joke (Thursday, 17 November 2016 22:08)

Hoi Anne Mieke,
Je hebt er iets moois van gemaakt.
Hoop dat er veel gebruik van zal worden gemaakt, zal het zonodig onder de aandacht brengen van toekomstige reizigers.
Groetjes Joke

Irene (Thursday, 17 November 2016)

Een prachtige website en de foto's subliem. Ik heb maar een woord voor: Toppie Anne Mieke!

meggie (Thursday, 17 November 2016 02:55)

Wat een geweldig mooie website. Overzichtelijk en prachtige foto's. Hier zullen veel mensen iets aan hebben. Echt top!