Day 582: May 5, 2026 – Surabaya, Java, Indonesia

At our previous visit to Bali, I wrote about how disappointed I was that all the Dunkins had turned into D2 Donuts. On our last day in the port, driving back to the ship from our last birding tour, I finally spotted a real Dunkin’. Our driver immediately braked and asked if he should stop. But the traffic was horrendous and I didn’t want to risk getting back to the ship late for sail-away, so I reluctantly (that is, bitterly!) said no, let’s not stop.

Several days later in our next port of Surabaya, we were heading out to another birding tour with a different guide and driver, when in the middle of nowhere he suddenly pulls over and says Dunkin Donuts! I said, ha ha, thinking he was making a pit stop at some local donut shop. But lo and behold, there was an actual Dunkin’ Donuts in front of us.

It turns out that the birding guide in our previous port (300 miles away on a different island) had somehow alerted the guide in this port (they all seem to know each other) about my DD obsession and he surprised us by taking us there. You should have heard me squeal. Then, the 5 of us (my birding buddies John & Danette, the driver and the guide) all had a mini-Dunkin’ party in this little shop out in the middle of nowhere.

Oh yeah, and we spotted a couple dozen new birds that day too, bringing my life list to 1,595. A perfect day.