My name is Dino Lopez and I am the only independent, experienced and professional freelance driver and guide in Flores, one of the most beautiful islands in Indonesia. You will find my name in several travel guide books as a recommended choice to cater for your travels in Flores.
I have been working in Flores for the past ten years and consider myself to have extensive knowledge of Flores history, culture and places of interest to tourists such as your self. I am experienced in working with tourists from all over the world and I welcome you to see Flores with me!
In booking your tour with me you are making the right choice in supporting an independent, English speaking tour guide who has the best knowledge about this island of paradise, its culture, history, people and places.
I truly look forward to meeting you and sharing the passion and beauty of my island home. My aim is to do what I can to make your holiday in Flores even better than what you expected!
Please do not hesitate to contact me either by email or phone regarding any of your travel needs or queries in Flores or further east of Indonesia.
Kindest Regards,
Dino Lopez
(Independent, English speaking, licensed, freelance driver and guide)
Whatsapp and Mobile Phone :
+62 81-338-709-569
or
+62 81-339-054-278
Recently an authorized person has used my email account to send unsolicited emails and a number of spam messages were sent out to contacts without my knowledge.
I hope that it goes without saying that I would never purposely bother clients or business associates with inappropriate request.
Note: please kindly note that I have added new email ([email protected]) and whatsapp no. Thank you
29 responses to “Hello and Welcome to my website”
Hi,
I am interested in your trip.
Tell me more about the main highlights of Flores.
IE: the coloured lakes and the Komodo Islands.
Thanks,
Allison
Bonjour Nong Dino
Flores me manques beaucoup …
tu es vraiment un gars.Intelligent et super sympa
tu fais du bon boulot
Bon Chance et Merci beaucoup Dino
à très bientôt j’espère!!!
mary~eva~guy
Found you!
Everything ok there in the beautiful Flores?
It was a nice trip and Flores is really recommended for other travelers.
Add us at facebook.. See you
Groetjes Gemma en Myrtle
Hi Dino,
thank you for four amazing days on Flores. Back in Cologne we checked flights for 2010. 🙂
Hope we’ll see next year to see more of FBI!
Best regards,
Christian & Mandy
Lost paradise….that’s true! I spent 2 weeks there in Flores, did an overland trip together with nice people, Dino introduced to me while having BBQ together with his friends in his house.It was wonderful and very interesting to experience Flores like that. Even though Dino knows a lot about culture and all the places worth to see.
Thanks for an unforgetable vacation!
And say hello to everybody in your house!
Katharina from Austria
Hai Dino…
Apa kabar?
Pengalaman jalan2 ke Flores May 2009 lalu saya tulis di blog saya http://yeniunique.wordpress.com/ (di Travelling & Places, Judulnya: Sejuta Pesona Flores Part 1: Dari Maumere ke Moni, dan Sejuta Pesona Flores Part 2: Bajawa hingga Labuhan Bajo)
Guess what?? Udah beberapa orang minta nomor contact kamu ke saya. Mudah-mudahan mereka jadi ke Flores dan menghubungi kamu ya…
Cheers,
Unique
We travelled with Dino and you can read all about it on our blog [day by day] with photos! Dates for blog reference were mid January 2010.
Brilliant! Thanks Dino!
http://www.blogabond.com/TripView.aspx?TripID=11628
Hi travellers,
If you are looking for an authantic and original holiday destination get in touch with Dino from beautiful indonesian island Flores.
The island is full of unique traditional culture still being “lived” by local people,amazing natural scenery and friendly,smily flores people.
Dino is not only a competent driver and guide but also a person with lots of the local knowledge.
Thanks to Dino my time in Flores was fun, learning experience and adventure all in one!
I would highly recommend Dino to everybody, who travells around Flores and who wants to know more than what a guide book tells you.
Hey guys,
we travelled with Dino and we can’t tell you how amazing it is. You have to make your own experience!
German? Read our blog, if you like 😛
Apagangwa Dino and greetings from the 4!
Voilà nous terminons aujourd’hui notre séjour avec Dino (10 jours).
Nous l’avons trouvé grâce à son site web.Après échange de quelques mails son offre nous apparut attractive et avons franchi le pas. Je dis bien franchi le pas car c’est la première fois que nous partions avec un guide chauffeur indépendant.
Il est clair qu’envoyer comme cela de l’argent par western union à quelqu’un à l’autre bout du monde a quelque chose d’un peu angoissant.Bref nous l’avons fait.
A l’arrivée notre stupéfaction est totale , nous avons affaire avec un professionnel qui va jusqu’à s’excuser par sms de quelques minutes de retard sur l’horaire indiqué! Je peux vous dire qu’en Indonesie c’est du luxe!
Le voyage commence donc et on constate qu’on a au volant un excellent chauffeur qui conduit prudemment et efficacement.
L’arrivée à Moni et le Kalimutu sont un ravissement!Puis s’enchainent Riung avec le parc national des 17 iles à l’occasion duquel Dino s’occupe de nous organiser un barbecue sur une ile déserte, on rêve éveillé.Dino est au petits soins pour nous; il cherche tout le temps à optimiser notre plaisir et notre bien etre.Les autres sites defilent au fur et à mesure et à chaque fois la presence discrete et l’efficacité de Dino font que notre voyage se deroule dans de parfaites conditions;il n’essaie jamais d’imposer mais de suggerer et conseiller par rapport à nos desirs et centres d’interet.
Nous sommes un couple la soixantaine commençante c’est notre 6eme voyage en Asie et le 2eme en Indonesie.
Si vous avez envie de visiter Flores et de vous impregner de la culture locale alors n’hesitez pas et faites confiance à cet homme les yeux fermés.
Hi Dino it would be too long to translate what I have writen! To make a shortcut your the best driver and guide we never have.Hope we will see you again and become friends. Marco and Bernadette
Hey,
we travelled with Dino from Labuan Bajo to Maumere and had the most amazing time. Flores is a great island, lots to see and explore! We had heard that Trans-Flores highway can drive you crazy, but with Dino the trip never felt long or tiring. Thank you, Dino, for the interesting introduction to the culture, people and nature of Flores! Hope to be back and see more of the Eastern part of the island!
Eva & Susanne
Voilà nous terminons aujourd’hui notre séjour avec Dino (10 jours).Nous l’avons trouvé grâce à son site web.Après échange de quelques mails son offre nous apparut attractive et avons franchi le pas. Je dis bien franchi le pas car c’est la première fois que nous partions avec un guide chauffeur indépendant.Il est clair qu’envoyer comme cela de l’argent par western union à quelqu’un à l’autre bout du monde a quelque chose d’un peu angoissant.Bref nous l’avons fait.A l’arrivée notre stupéfaction est totale , nous avons affaire avec un professionnel qui va jusqu’à s’excuser par sms de quelques minutes de retard sur l’horaire indiqué! Je peux vous dire qu’en Indonesie c’est du luxe!Le voyage commence donc et on constate qu’on a au volant un excellent chauffeur qui conduit prudemment et efficacement.L’arrivée à Moni et le Kalimutu sont un ravissement!Puis s’enchainent Riung avec le parc national des 17 iles à l’occasion duquel Dino s’occupe de nous organiser un barbecue sur une ile déserte, on rêve éveillé.Dino est au petits soins pour nous; il cherche tout le temps à optimiser notre plaisir et notre bien etre.Les autres sites defilent au fur et à mesure et à chaque fois la presence discrete et l’efficacité de Dino font que notre voyage se deroule dans de parfaites conditions;il n’essaie jamais d’imposer mais de suggerer et conseiller par rapport à nos desirs et centres d’interet.Nous sommes un couple la soixantaine commençante c’est notre 6eme voyage en Asie et le 2eme en Indonesie.Si vous avez envie de visiter Flores et de vous impregner de la culture locale alors n’hesitez pas et faites confiance à cet homme les yeux fermés.Hi Dino it would be too long to translate what I have writen! To make a shortcut your the best driver and guide we never have.Hope we will see you again and become friends. Marco and Bernadette
+1
Thank you, Pak Dino for showing us the beauty of Flores. We have truly enjoy the 5 days trip of Flores from the start to the end. Although 5 days is definitely not enough, Flores is definitely a destination where we will come back again one day.
Dino is a very straight forward guide, none of those guides who works on commission. We truly feel that he has our best interest at heart. We never felt forced to do anything and the trip was very flexible according to our own pace. It’s as if we discovered Flores through a friend.
The boat trip from Labuan Bajo to Rinca and Komodo is definitely the highlight of the trip. THe Famasena boat crew and captain were in credibly kind and the captain actually cooked the best food I’ve eaten so far during that trip.
For those who would like to discover Flores, we highly recommends Dino to be your guide.
Merci beaucoup and see you next time!!
I was travelling around Indonesia by myself and had fallen ill in Sulawesi. Feeling a bit sorry for myself, I was considering cutting Flores off my itinerary and returning straight home to Jakarta – thank goodness I didn’t!
I first met Dino in the foyer of my hotel feeling sick and angry that my luggage had been left behind in Bali. Initially I ignored Dino off who was trying to be friendly and ran off to my room.
The next morning I went for breakfast with tissue box in hand, feeling like death warmed up and with no clean clothes. I got talking to Dino and realised we had two mutual friends who apparently had been on many trips with him! He offered to take me to the airport to pick up my luggage which was arriving later in the day. To my surprise he would not take any payment and said that it was a complimentary service! Later that night he invited me to a barbeque at his house where after a good feed, a local remedy, some local brew and great company, I started feeling better.
Originally, I was going to take public transport to Labuan Bajo and then fly out to Bali but after chatting to Dino and his friends, I realised that Dino was genuine and not one of those guides who just wants your money. In the end, we organised a trip to Moni, Riung, Bajawa, Ruteng, Labuan Bajo and Komodo/Rinca Islands. In Moni, we met a couple of French people who asked Dino for advice on their trip. Dino was only too happy to help them and they ended up taking another car and joining us.
I can’t really pinpoint a highlight of my trip as the whole trip was unforgettable. From hanging out with friends in Maumere eating great food, visiting traditional villages, seeing the sun rise over Mount Kintamani, snorkelling in crystal clear waters, relaxing in a hammock and having a barbeque on an island which we had to ourselves for the day, seeing how the local brew is made (and sampling some of it), swimming in hot springs, visiting Komodo and Rinca Islands and seeing the Komodo dragons, sleeping on a boat and waking up to a peaceful bay view – there is something for everyone.
At the end of my trip, I was feeling much better and very refreshed – we had seen a lot but I didn’t feel exhausted or that we were running to a schedule.
I have been recommending Dino to my friends and would definitely recommend him to you. I look forward to my next trip and exploring more of Flores and East Nusa Tenggara!
Takara
Hi Dino, thanks again for the great trip!
We are Canadians living in Jakarta and found out about Dino from an Indonesian friend who had recently had a very satisfying trip with Dino. We used the same itinerary and flew to Maumere on 27 Feb 11 for week-long drive to Labuan Bajo, where we departed on 06 Mar 11. In Maumere, Dino was ready to pick us up at the airport and take us to our first night’s stay at a nearby villa. Dino guided, drove and accompanied us throughout the week and on the way to Labuan Bajo we visited original Ikat weavers, Kelimutu Lakes, blue-stone beach, Bena Village, Bajawa hot springs, Ruteng and the spider rice paddies. From Labuan Bajo we sailed out to Rinca island to see Komodo Dragons, snorkelled at several sites, found a newly hatched sea turtle at Pink Beach aka “Pantai Merah” and swam with Manta Rays at Manta Point. Our boat was “Dua Satu” (meaning “Two One”). The crew prepared very tasty food nicely served with big smiles. Dino accompanied us on board and made sure everything ran smoothly. Throughout the trip he made all bookings, explained history, culture and the topography and overall was an excellent ambassador of Flores and Indonesia. We had great confidence in his driving, planning and organization. He lived in the Netherlands for several years and Australia, and is properly trained and accredited Indonesian guide. Through his experience, Dino showed great intuition in helping us choose schedules, accommodation standards, restaurants – in short, Dino understands what tourists want and will tailor your trip to suit your personal needs. Yes, he requires a deposit up front (we paid 1/3 of the total by bank transfer) in order to protect his time in case of cancellations. This is reasonable but it does require a level of trust on the tourist’s part. But Dino is a Flores guide for the long-haul. He knows that word-of-mouth referrals are his bread and butter, so once he accepts your deposit, he will dedicate himself to your trip, as he did to ours.
Dino, thanks once again for an excellent trip and yes, we hope to see you again in the future for another great Flores experience!
Cheers,
Keith, Carol, Camden and Kiana
Canadians living in Jakarta
Hi, Dino!
Do you remember guys from Russia? Elena wrote your some e-mails but she didn’t receive anything in reply yet. Do you check your e-mail?
We sent you present but don’t know did you receive it. Write us something!
My family and I (consisting of 3 teenagers, mum and dad) explored flores with deano while on holiday for six weeks in indonesia. Our time with deano was the highlight. thank you so much for your amazing knowledge, humor, experience, and care. It was such an amazing trip and i recommend using deano to anyone without a slight hesitation! every unforgetable moment was during our trip with deano!
joni, 18, NZ
– The kiwi family
Hey Dino,
We are really glad to have met you through a mutal friend Lucky! Thanks to my aunt Sylvia Kaitjily. Thanks for picking us up thr airport, and gettong medication for my stomach!
We are very excited to go on a 6 day trip with you! It looks very promising and adventures!
Hey Dino!
How is everything on Flores?I hope you are fine.
I am just looking at the Flores pictures and thought I could leave a comment.
For everyone who is reading this and still thinking if you should do a tour with Dino: stop thinking,do it!
He is a really great guy with a lot of experience and he can tell you everything about places and people in Flores.
Let him do the planning and relax, you will have an amazing time.
Thank you so much!!
Thanks Dino, we had a great adventure across Flores. Our highlights were your nieces party, the day out at 17 islands and the amazing snorkling, also the wild bamboo and the overnight boat to Komodo and Rinca. Well planned and executed, you are a pro.
Thanks a lot Dino, for the great trip we had with you this summer. We went on the 10 days/9 nights trip with you and saw so many amazing things. BBQing big tasty fish in 17 islands NP, visiting local markets to buy fresh food, the boat trip through Komodo NP… and many more things which we won’t tell here to leave surprises for the next visitors :).
This trip was part of our honeymoon and we really liked the way everything was organized by you. Always a clean place to sleep, good food, safe driving in a comfortable car, and plenty of stories to tell about the island. We’ll never forget Flores!
Ahoj posilame vsem pozdrav. Cestovaly jsme mesic po Indonesii z toho 8 dni po ostrove Flores. Asi jsme mely velke stesti, provazel nas pruvodce Dino z Maummere.Byly jsme naprosto spokojeny, uplne se vsim. Postupne, jak jsme projizdely ostrovem nas seznamoval s kazdou jeho casti a vse nam podrobne vysvetlil {kulturu,historii a nynejsi zivot na Flores}.Na co jsme se zeptaly na to nam odpovedel a co jsme chtely videt jsme videly i neco na vic.:-) Pokud se jednou vratime , tak Dina znova vyhledame. Vrele doporucujem vsem, kteri se chteji o Flores neco dozvedet a tem co se nechteji plahocit mistni dopravou, coz je velka pecka 😀 Jeste jednou moc, moc Dinovi dekujem za vsechno .-)Jana @ Lucka
Wow, wat was de reis op Flores mooi. Dino is een geniale gids met al z’n verhalen, grappen en lach! Als je een gids zoekt die echt het eiland zelf kent en je helemaal into alle geheimen van Flores kan leiden, moet je Dino hebben. Het openbaar vervoer zal je nooit op de plekken brengen waar hij langskomt. Op bijna alle andere plekken zou ik geen gids genomen hebben, maar op Flores heeft dat echt meerwaarde.
Geniet van Flores met Dino!
Nous revenons de notre séjour de 3 semaines en Indonésie dont 7 jours passés sur FLORES en compagnie de Dino. Nous avons passé avec ma femme et mes 2 filles Manon et Inès (7 et 11 ans) une superbe semaine en sa compagnie.
J’ai pris contact avec lui grâce à son site web et j’ai tout de suite senti quelqu’un à l’écoute, soucieux de rendre notre séjour inoubliable. J’ai payé par avance une partie du trip (via western union => pas de problème) et Dino a réservé tous les hôtels. Les hotels étaient de très bonne qualité (nous avons beaucoup apprécié BINTANG GUESTHOUSE à Moni et SANTA MARIA à Bajawa) et les restaurants où il nous a amenés très bien aussi. Dino est très exigeant sur l’hygiène et la qualité sanitaire ; il me l’avait clairement écrit mais j’ai pu m’en assurer après une semaine passé avec lui !!!
Dino nous a fait découvrir son ile d’est en ouest (de Maumere à Labuanbajo); malgré les routes parfois chaotiques, nous nous sommes toujours sentis en sécurité : conduite hyper prudente, voiture très confortable et spacieuse, arrêts dès qu’on le souhaitait, etc Il ne nous a jamais poussé à la consommation ni amené dans des pièges à touristes. Il nous a au contraire mis en garde à chaque fois que cela était nécessaire.
Dino est honnête, cultivé, discret, aidant et parle un excellent anglais. Il est également super avec les enfants : nos filles ont eu droit des tours de cartes et ont appris à compter en indonésien !
Nous ne pouvons que vivement recommander Dino qui fait pourtant partie des guides les mieux placés en prix au moment où j’ai fait mes recherches.
Thank a lot Dino for your nice trip in FLORES. Good luck and see you.
Nicolas, Geraldine, Inès and Manon
This is my travel story about Indonesia.
http://turistipercaso.it/indonesia/68116/indonesia-una-nessuna-ventimila-isole.html
And …grazie Dino per le bellissime giornate trascorse nella tua splendida Isola dei fiori!
Big thanks Dino for a great trip- Barry, Susie, Cassia & Mylesia.
For anyone checking out Dino’s website- we’d unreservedly recommend him as a guide-driver for Flores. We found Dino to be an excellent guide to the island- relaxed company in the car and on the boat, but also a good planner, flexible during the trip, a careful driver with a very good car, who consistently checked on what we wanted day by day. He is very passionate about Flores culture and people. The deal was very clear from the start. All the hotel bookings were done by Dino in advance with no hidden extras. Dino detailed exactly what was in the package and what we needed to cover ourselves (basically just lunch, dinner, alcohol and personal shopping). From the start of planning by email to the end of the trip we found Dino very straight-forward to deal with and felt he had our interests in mind to give us a stand out trip.
Dino was recommended by friends who also found their trip with him to be exceptional. We (middle aged Australian couple and teenage daughter and her friend) have traveled independently before so taking a guide like this was a bit of a bet for us. But we were very glad we did. Travel by public transport on Flores is slow and patchy on very long and winding mountain roads. And places of more interest to visitors tend to be off the single main trans Flores highway. We met an Australian couple who had started on public transport crossing the island and who seemed to have good Indonesian language skills. But they’d swapped to hiring drivers with private cars from town to town after just one day which was a costly way to do things, and wished they’d planned ahead and got a single driver-guide with car from the start.
My best friend and I have recently returned from an eight-day trip across Flores with Dino. Out of six trips to Indonesia it was undoubtedly the best one, and Dino’s passion and commitment really blew me away. He is meticulous and takes very good care of his guests, and although the Trans-Flores road twists and turns like nobody’s business we never once felt carsick or unsafe in his vehicle.
I’ve always believed the best form of travelling is done with locals and Dino provides just that… he went to great lengths to explain the cultures of Flores and we left with a lot of new knowledge and plenty of unforgettable experiences. Dino has built up lasting connections to people in each place and he will take you where most tour guides cannot – I could say more but that would be spoiling it for future travellers!
I should also mention that after dropping us off at the harbour in Labuan Bajo he drove all the way back to Maumere (a journey of 24 hours) to pick up the next batch of guests the following afternoon. If that isn’t commitment, I don’t know what is.
After a week on the road with Dino he has become a friend, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to anyone who would like to experience Flores at a deeper and more personal level.
Thanks so much for everything, Dino – Bengawan!
We had a great trip with Dino. With our two daughters, ages 18 and 21, we went 7 days over land from Maumere to Labuan Bajo.
Dino proved to be an experienced driver and a passionate Flores guide. He taught us a lot about the local people, we had a look inside the houses of small villages and we saw the production process of the local arak.(And we tasted a few Dino- made cocktails, which the girls appreciated a lot)
We would like to mention the barbecue on the beach near Riung, that was really an amazing experience.
Dino, thanks for an incredible trip without any worries.
Frank, Eveline, Dionne & Carlijn
From the Netherlands.
Hello guys, I usually never write reviews but my trip with Dino last september with two friends was amazing beyond expectations.
We planned a 6 days trip across Flores and Dino managed to organize the perfect itinerary accommodating to our preferences, including a beautiful cruise for us in the Komodo National Park.
Dino is very knowledgable about the history and culture of his home island and knows how to transmit it to you with humor and passion. We were really pleased that Dino showed us the local way of life and his BBQ’s are the best in town.
I can only highly recommend to contact Dino if you plan on visiting Flores simply Magnifique….
Thanks again Dino!