Having checked out of the country didn't mean that we actually had to leave straight away. There was a beach that we wanted to anchor off not far away in Belitung, so we headed straight there. It has a long white beach and huge granite boulders. This is where the big farewell party will be held for the rally in a few weeks time, and it is going to be a very big thing. The president of Indonesia is supposed to be coming along with lots of other dignitaries. Already small cafes and restaurants are being built along the beach, paths and garden areas are being prepared, and a brand new tarmac road leading nowhere has been completed. Maybe the president is coming, but nevertheless we feel that the money could be better spent where it is more urgently needed.
Joni came across on his motor bike to visit us, and we took him in the dinghy to Pegasus for a visit. He said that he would arrange for the little restaurant on the beach to cook us the local speciality, a fish soup with pineapple. We went across in the evening, and got chatting to three young people who wanted to practise their English. One was an English teacher, one ran a small travel agency and is going to be one of the tour guides when the rally fleet arrives. The third was a musician. They were very keen to take us on a trip the next day and show us a bit of the island. The soup was spicy and delicious, with chunks of the head of a large fish in it. The fish pieces are eaten off the bone with the fingers, and there's a bowl of plain rice to go with it.
So the next day off we went. The plan was to visit a pepper plantation belonging to the brother of Anto, the teacher. It turned out to be right at the other side of the island so quite a long drive. Interesting though. We passed a lot of open cast tin mines (the first tin mine was started by a Dutch company who named themselves Billiton after the island, then Shell Billiton, now BHP Billiton.) Now the mines are all Indonesian owned, quite small operations, and there is no control over them so big patches of land are just red scars full of dips and peaks and with all the topsoil washed away so it will be many years before they grow over. Clouds of smoke hung over the road where jungle was being cleared by slash and burn to grow palm oil trees. One of the things we will remember about this country is the smell of smoke everywhere - if not burning off growth then burning rubbish or just cigarette smoke.
We bumped down dirt tracks to get to the pepper plantation. The brother wasn't there, but we met one of his 4 employees. Quite a plantation. The peppers grow up poles about 8ft high, and the poles are only about 4 ft apart. Each plant produces at least a kilo of pepper corns a year, so quite productive on the 30 hectares farmed. When the plants are a few years old they plant rubber trees between the rows. These take 8 yrs to mature to the stage where they can tap the latex, by which time the pepper plants are finished. All very efficient, and other plants like ginger, and hot pepper bushes grow along the edges. Now we know (and when I checked with Delia it is all written in her Complete Cookery Course!) that black pepper corns are the whole seed dried, white corns are minus the outer husk so hotter in taste. Here they soak the seeds to remove the husk.
There was a little wooden building up on high stilts, just a room with a covered verandah outside. It is used as a resting place for the workers, and being high catches the breeze. We were taken up for a drink of water and were assured the water was good. It had a smoky taste as it had been boiled on a wood fire. We just drank a little to be polite, but normally only drink water from sealed bottles or our own supply that we always take with us.
On the way back we stopped at the house where Anto was born and brought up, now belonging to his nephew and wife. A very simple though spacious wooden house with very little furniture. All of our companions disappeared to another room to pray as all are Muslim. We were given cordial (bottled water this time!) and mango, then set off to see the Regent who is the governor of the eastern part of the island. They were sure he would want to meet us being honored foreign guests! but he was away on another island as it transpired. Then lunch at a large smart restaurant, the sort of place that hosts weddings and functions. We would much rather have eaten at a little local place, the food wasn't even that good. However it was the sort of place that our young hosts would never normally come to, so we were happy to treat them.
I gave Siska, who had organised the whole trip (and had borrowed her father's car to do it) our old Lonely Planet guide to Indonesia. Belitung isn't even mentioned in it, but I thought she might like to practise her English by reading the general sections. She spent much of the time on the journey back reading bits out loud to us to check on her pronounciation, and it turned into a bit of an English lesson on how to pronounce th and t and f and make them sound different!
Bastian, the musician, was dropped off at his house, and we met his wife and two little children. A beautiful family who live in a tiny wooden house, and obviously have no money; he is dependent on what he earns from playing in a group in the evenings. His English was the best of the 3, and he was a quiet, relaxed and thoughtful person, happy with his life.
Siska would not let us give her any money for the day's outing, not even petrol money. She just wanted a promise that I would email her - which I promised to do if she writes to me first!
Early the next morning we set off again, for the long 2-night passage to an anchorage on an island just north of the equator. Lots of shipping around, and our AIS system took the opportunity to stop connecting with the computer. G managed to re-route it to the cockpit GPS, but it is not as user friendly there, partly because of the size of the screen. (It now seems to be working OK again, just had an off day. The humidity is very high now which is not good for electronics.) We knew that we were entering the zone for squalls, and had two vicious ones as an introduction. The first had torrential rain and winds gusting just over 40 knots, staying at 30 knots for more than an hour. The second was dry but stronger winds, hitting 45 at one stage. For both we just had a tiny bit of sail out, and the motor on to drive us through the increasing seas. Another boat, single hander, arrived in the anchorage today with a torn sail from a squall. Luckily both happened in daylight, as the nights were very dark with no moon. A fleet of small fishing boats were a bit of a worry at night, but we kept the radar on and weaved our way through them, just hoping that they all had lights and didn't have long nets behind them. With one thing and another (and the boat was rolling a lot with the wind behind much of the time), not much sleep. So when we crossed the equator G was asleep, and there didn't seem much point waking him up.
Anyway we are now at 1 degree north, having crossed the equator heading south near the Galapagos in March 08.
September 29, 2011
checking out
When we left Kalimantan we had less than a week left on our visas, so sailed to Belitung where we could check out. We were expecting it to be a long process so left a couple of days spare in case the offices were closed (it's a Muslim island, so is their rest day Friday, their holy day, or do they stick to a Sat and Sun weekend ?? It turned out that Sunday is really the only day when offices are closed.)
Being well ahead of the fleet now, we knew we wouldn't be guided through the process as we were when we checked in in Kupang. We tied our dinghy up to a helpful ferry boat who put down a ladder specially for us, and said they wouldn't be leaving that day. They were able to guide us to the nearbye customs and port captain's offices, which seemed good places to start. None of the five officers in the customs office knew what to do with us! They made a couple of phone calls, and another man arrived who spoke good English. He said he would take us to the Sail Indonesia rep in town, and borrowed a government car to do it. After stalling a couple of times and crashing the gears he said that he was 'just learning'. No driving test here, you learn on the job. We slowly made our way up the street, turning right a few times in front of oncoming traffic, and nearly wiping a couple of motor cyclists off their bikes on our side of the road. Luckily the traffic wasn't very fast moving. He stayed in 3rd gear, and we put our seat belts on. The Sail Indonesia rep wasn't there so that involved getting into reverse gear and turning round; only stalled twice, not bad. Next to a government office to look for him. Wrong office, so a uniformed lad led the way for us on his motor bike to another office. Here we had to parallel park next to other cars. He was having a triple dose of practise today.
Another phone call, and a bit of a wait, and Joni turned up. He is a local teacher who speaks good English, and who has been seconded by the government to help with the Sail Indonesia organisation in Belitung. He was our facilitator, and did a grand job. We had to go to 4 different offices, and had a government car and driver for our use. There is so much paperwork and stamping involved that when lunch time came at 11.30 we were only half way through. So we took Joni and our driver for lunch to a great local place where you helped yourself from bowls of food arranged around a room in a little wooden building. It was very basic, but clean and delicious. To our amusement the women who ran the place were busy taking photos of us on their mobile phones. There is no tourist industry on this island and the arrival of 80 or so rally boats in a few weeks time is a major event for them.
Finally, by 3pm, we had been to Immigration, Health, Customs, and Port Captain, and had given and received lots of papers at each, all duly stamped. We worked out that about 20 people and 2 cars had been involved with something that in other countries takes 5 minutes and one official! All very friendly, not at all officious, and they are obviously not overworked in their jobs. The final fling was when our Customs man said that he would now come to our boat to check it. We said that it was 30 mins each way in the dinghy (very slow because we need a new propellor, it is slipping so we go at walking speed) and he said OK, he was sure we were honest types!
In the dinghy we had 4 empty diesel jerry cans, but by this time the fuel station was closed, so Joni said he would meet us the next morning at 9am. We said that we could probably manage and maybe his class needed him. However the next morning there were about a hundred jerry cans around the pumps, and a young lad said that there would be no fuel until 11pm. Not good news as we had hoped to leave that morning. Phoned Joni who immediately said he would be there, and he drove up on his motor bike only a few minutes later. He pointed out another fuel station so G took the dinghy round while I hopped on the back of the bike. Difficult to get the dinghy anywhere near as the place was full of rotting hulks of fishing boats; he eventually tied up to a couple that looked as if they would float for a while, and clambered over to an equally decrepit jetty. We were told we could only have 40 litres, not the 80 we had hoped for. Fuel is difficult in this country. It is heavily subsidised, so in theory only available to nationals. We are not allowed to buy direct, and, to prevent resale at higher prices, jerry cans may not be transported in another vehicle. Also supply is poor and fuel stations often run out, hence the rationing. Don't know what Joni said, but they filled up all our containers, and for the first time we paid pump price. Normally about 75% is added on which is a nice little income for the boat boys who take our cans. Also the cans never contain quite the 20 litres that we pay for! It was a very slow journey back to Pegasus with our heavy load, but we were free to go.
Being well ahead of the fleet now, we knew we wouldn't be guided through the process as we were when we checked in in Kupang. We tied our dinghy up to a helpful ferry boat who put down a ladder specially for us, and said they wouldn't be leaving that day. They were able to guide us to the nearbye customs and port captain's offices, which seemed good places to start. None of the five officers in the customs office knew what to do with us! They made a couple of phone calls, and another man arrived who spoke good English. He said he would take us to the Sail Indonesia rep in town, and borrowed a government car to do it. After stalling a couple of times and crashing the gears he said that he was 'just learning'. No driving test here, you learn on the job. We slowly made our way up the street, turning right a few times in front of oncoming traffic, and nearly wiping a couple of motor cyclists off their bikes on our side of the road. Luckily the traffic wasn't very fast moving. He stayed in 3rd gear, and we put our seat belts on. The Sail Indonesia rep wasn't there so that involved getting into reverse gear and turning round; only stalled twice, not bad. Next to a government office to look for him. Wrong office, so a uniformed lad led the way for us on his motor bike to another office. Here we had to parallel park next to other cars. He was having a triple dose of practise today.
Another phone call, and a bit of a wait, and Joni turned up. He is a local teacher who speaks good English, and who has been seconded by the government to help with the Sail Indonesia organisation in Belitung. He was our facilitator, and did a grand job. We had to go to 4 different offices, and had a government car and driver for our use. There is so much paperwork and stamping involved that when lunch time came at 11.30 we were only half way through. So we took Joni and our driver for lunch to a great local place where you helped yourself from bowls of food arranged around a room in a little wooden building. It was very basic, but clean and delicious. To our amusement the women who ran the place were busy taking photos of us on their mobile phones. There is no tourist industry on this island and the arrival of 80 or so rally boats in a few weeks time is a major event for them.
Finally, by 3pm, we had been to Immigration, Health, Customs, and Port Captain, and had given and received lots of papers at each, all duly stamped. We worked out that about 20 people and 2 cars had been involved with something that in other countries takes 5 minutes and one official! All very friendly, not at all officious, and they are obviously not overworked in their jobs. The final fling was when our Customs man said that he would now come to our boat to check it. We said that it was 30 mins each way in the dinghy (very slow because we need a new propellor, it is slipping so we go at walking speed) and he said OK, he was sure we were honest types!
In the dinghy we had 4 empty diesel jerry cans, but by this time the fuel station was closed, so Joni said he would meet us the next morning at 9am. We said that we could probably manage and maybe his class needed him. However the next morning there were about a hundred jerry cans around the pumps, and a young lad said that there would be no fuel until 11pm. Not good news as we had hoped to leave that morning. Phoned Joni who immediately said he would be there, and he drove up on his motor bike only a few minutes later. He pointed out another fuel station so G took the dinghy round while I hopped on the back of the bike. Difficult to get the dinghy anywhere near as the place was full of rotting hulks of fishing boats; he eventually tied up to a couple that looked as if they would float for a while, and clambered over to an equally decrepit jetty. We were told we could only have 40 litres, not the 80 we had hoped for. Fuel is difficult in this country. It is heavily subsidised, so in theory only available to nationals. We are not allowed to buy direct, and, to prevent resale at higher prices, jerry cans may not be transported in another vehicle. Also supply is poor and fuel stations often run out, hence the rationing. Don't know what Joni said, but they filled up all our containers, and for the first time we paid pump price. Normally about 75% is added on which is a nice little income for the boat boys who take our cans. Also the cans never contain quite the 20 litres that we pay for! It was a very slow journey back to Pegasus with our heavy load, but we were free to go.
September 26, 2011
apes and monkeys
It is possible to do a 3-day trip up the river, African Queen style. Wooden boats with a couple of loungers on a high deck to watch the view pass slowly by, beds are mattresses on deck with a mosquito net, food is cooked on board. They can sleep 6, but we mostly saw just two passengers with a cook, driver and guide. Very cheap for what you get. We had decided to do a 1-day trip in a launch, partly because we were a bit short of time, but also we spend a lot of days on board just travelling very slowly. Not such a novelty for us. We were very happy with our choice. A boat boy sat on Pegasus for the day to look after it. And on our rather ropy little launch we had a driver and guide. Off we went down a narrow tributary of the main river. Quite a lot of floating branches and plants so every now and then the outboard would cough, and with a grinding of gears Anwar would reverse then raise and lower the engine to clear the debris. He enjoyed his driving, curving round obstacles, zooming up the straights, and slowly passing other boats. Our guide, Jenie, was great, he noticed all sorts of things, a fresh water crocodile, a large water snake, a monkey in a tree, various birds. He was brought up in the area on a small farm in a family that knew the jungle and its plants and animals from lifetimes of family experience.
A station was founded by Richard Leakey up this river to rehabilitate the many orangutans found in captivity. It has been such a success that 2 more stations have had to be opened to give the apes the area of territory they need. Baby animals are still caught by local people to keep as pets (illegally) but they are usually not wanted when they grow and need half their body weight in food per day. Also smugglers are caught trying to export orangutans. We stopped to take a walk to a feeding station. The apes are given bananas once a day and a plastic bowl of milk - not enough for their daily diet so they still have to find their own food. Being very intelligent animals (97% same genetic code as humans), they know when it is food time and gradually appear swinging through the trees. Some mothers with little babies hanging on. Some younger ones with attitude. And a dominant male who arrived last, and all the others disappeared from the table, a couple of submissive young females edging on the table ready for flight, grabbing a mouthfull of bananas to skin and eat later, and scampering away. We stayed and watched for a couple of hours with about 20 other people, mainly European, including several British.
Lunch was on our launch, tied up to a tree on the bank. A ready-prepared lunch box of rice, spicy veg. and chicken, then bags of little bananas and a small fruit like a lichee. Jenie asked if we would like a walk in the jungle, and if so how long. We said couple of hours and he was really pleased as he usually gets people who only want to sit at the feeding stations and on the boat, rather boring for him. He pointed out food plants, plants used to get water to drink, and medicinal plants. Also poisonous plants either to touch, or that could be used by the dayaks (who still live in remote areas) for their poisoned arrows and spears. He was a mine of information, only 29 yrs old, and rather worried that he wasn't married, very unusual in his community. He has a girlfriend, a photographer, but says they are too different to get married. Maybe social background we felt. They go trekking in the jungle and sleep out and both obviously love it. We saw and heard orangutans sucking termites out of lumps of nest which they have to dig out of the ground. Also a family of wild boar. At this point it started to rain, a real tropical downpour. We had macs with us, but just put them over our heads and shoulders, much too hot and humid to wear them. Soon we were paddling along streams rather than walking the paths, and soon we had little leaches attaching themselves to our ankles.
So we arrived back at a second feeding station rather wet and muddy, and orangutans weren't very forthcoming in the rain either so we headed back to our launch.
Late afternoon is the time that monkey congregate to feed in the trees beside the river. Jenie had promised that we would see plenty and he wasn't wrong. Probiscus monkeys are only found in Borneo. They are strange looking creatures with huge noses and bulging stomachs. The males have noses that hang over their mouths and they swell and turn red when angry which must be quite a sight! They only eat leaves and unripe fruit and have developed special stomachs which have cellulose digesting bacteria. They can swim quite well, and have partially webbed feet. Not surprisingly these monkeys and the orangutan are threatened with extinction because their habitat has disappeared due to clearance for the palm oil business and logging for timber. Only 6.500 probiscus left, 4,000 of those in Kalimantan.
We had expected the trip to be much more commercialised with stalls selling postcards and tat. Not at all, there was nothing, not even an information centre. A few buildings used by rangers, and boardwalks to the feeding stations. We were just in the jungle. A great day.
A station was founded by Richard Leakey up this river to rehabilitate the many orangutans found in captivity. It has been such a success that 2 more stations have had to be opened to give the apes the area of territory they need. Baby animals are still caught by local people to keep as pets (illegally) but they are usually not wanted when they grow and need half their body weight in food per day. Also smugglers are caught trying to export orangutans. We stopped to take a walk to a feeding station. The apes are given bananas once a day and a plastic bowl of milk - not enough for their daily diet so they still have to find their own food. Being very intelligent animals (97% same genetic code as humans), they know when it is food time and gradually appear swinging through the trees. Some mothers with little babies hanging on. Some younger ones with attitude. And a dominant male who arrived last, and all the others disappeared from the table, a couple of submissive young females edging on the table ready for flight, grabbing a mouthfull of bananas to skin and eat later, and scampering away. We stayed and watched for a couple of hours with about 20 other people, mainly European, including several British.
Lunch was on our launch, tied up to a tree on the bank. A ready-prepared lunch box of rice, spicy veg. and chicken, then bags of little bananas and a small fruit like a lichee. Jenie asked if we would like a walk in the jungle, and if so how long. We said couple of hours and he was really pleased as he usually gets people who only want to sit at the feeding stations and on the boat, rather boring for him. He pointed out food plants, plants used to get water to drink, and medicinal plants. Also poisonous plants either to touch, or that could be used by the dayaks (who still live in remote areas) for their poisoned arrows and spears. He was a mine of information, only 29 yrs old, and rather worried that he wasn't married, very unusual in his community. He has a girlfriend, a photographer, but says they are too different to get married. Maybe social background we felt. They go trekking in the jungle and sleep out and both obviously love it. We saw and heard orangutans sucking termites out of lumps of nest which they have to dig out of the ground. Also a family of wild boar. At this point it started to rain, a real tropical downpour. We had macs with us, but just put them over our heads and shoulders, much too hot and humid to wear them. Soon we were paddling along streams rather than walking the paths, and soon we had little leaches attaching themselves to our ankles.
So we arrived back at a second feeding station rather wet and muddy, and orangutans weren't very forthcoming in the rain either so we headed back to our launch.
Late afternoon is the time that monkey congregate to feed in the trees beside the river. Jenie had promised that we would see plenty and he wasn't wrong. Probiscus monkeys are only found in Borneo. They are strange looking creatures with huge noses and bulging stomachs. The males have noses that hang over their mouths and they swell and turn red when angry which must be quite a sight! They only eat leaves and unripe fruit and have developed special stomachs which have cellulose digesting bacteria. They can swim quite well, and have partially webbed feet. Not surprisingly these monkeys and the orangutan are threatened with extinction because their habitat has disappeared due to clearance for the palm oil business and logging for timber. Only 6.500 probiscus left, 4,000 of those in Kalimantan.
We had expected the trip to be much more commercialised with stalls selling postcards and tat. Not at all, there was nothing, not even an information centre. A few buildings used by rangers, and boardwalks to the feeding stations. We were just in the jungle. A great day.
passage to borneo
The passage to the island of Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of Borneo) took 2 nights. It was a busy trip, no relaxing with a book. For once we were able to sail all the way until we got into the shelter of the river Kumai. Also we were catching fish - landed two mahi mahi, one of our favourite fish. Had a large barracuda on the hook as well and it took ages to get it unhooked and back (we hope) to live longer.
There were a lot of ships and boats. Ships over a certain size have to be equipped with AIS (automatic identification system). We can receive the signals but don't transmit. However on this trip huge tankers passed by and no signal was given out. Others when called up couldn't speak English (the international language between ships), and some didn't answer even when called by name. This all meant that we had to be super vigilant, and had to take avoiding action, probably unnecessarily, as we were unable to communicate.
Some fishing boats were very inquisitive, coming very close and even cutting across our bows. Friend or foe? It was a bit worrying, though all seemed to be friendly and waved as they passed only metres away.
As we approached Kalimantan, in the night, the sky was lit up with a blaze of lights from a large fleet of shrimp or squid boats. They attract their catch with lights strong enough to floodlight a football field. We just didn't know how we would get through them, and with those lights they would certainly not see us. However radar showed that they were in two groups with a clear 'road' through the middle. It actually wasn't a problem at all. They have huge outriggers with nets on both sides, and very noisy gear to raise and lower them. Lights and noise were quite something.
We had to sail about 20 miles up the Kumai river. It is mostly wide with many shallow areas so it is essential to be armed with waypoints. Quite a lot of barges being towed, and palm oil is big business in Kalimantan (to the huge detriment of the jungle) so many tankers too. Anchored off Kumai town with a couple of other boats. Their owners were away on river trips, so only boat boys aboard looking after them. We phoned our contact to arrange a trip, and to our surprise were able to go the next day, it is low season at the moment, and a great advantage being ahead of most of the rally boats. He sent someone over to collect copies of passport, visa, boat papers etc. (all this paper must be filed somewhere never to be seen again) and payment. All arranged for 7.30am next day.
The town looked unusual as we approached, several tall ugly grey concrete buildings. They looked like blocks of flats with slit windows and no decoration at all. None of the towns we have seen in Indonesia have high rise buildings, and this isn't a large place. During the evening we could also hear the tweeting of lots of birds, and it seemed to be coming from the town with not a tree in sight and not from the wooded banks of the other side of the river where we were anchored. Eventually we found out. They are nesting buildings for cave swifts who make nests from strands of saliva - yes, you've maybe guessed, for birds nest soup. So these are huge 'dove cots'. The male birds make the nests from interwoven strands of saliva which are stuck to the walls. Of caves in nature, and now on concrete walls. All exported to China, and some to the Chinese communities in the USA. A kilo of nest brings in something like US$2,000 so it is big business.
There were a lot of ships and boats. Ships over a certain size have to be equipped with AIS (automatic identification system). We can receive the signals but don't transmit. However on this trip huge tankers passed by and no signal was given out. Others when called up couldn't speak English (the international language between ships), and some didn't answer even when called by name. This all meant that we had to be super vigilant, and had to take avoiding action, probably unnecessarily, as we were unable to communicate.
Some fishing boats were very inquisitive, coming very close and even cutting across our bows. Friend or foe? It was a bit worrying, though all seemed to be friendly and waved as they passed only metres away.
As we approached Kalimantan, in the night, the sky was lit up with a blaze of lights from a large fleet of shrimp or squid boats. They attract their catch with lights strong enough to floodlight a football field. We just didn't know how we would get through them, and with those lights they would certainly not see us. However radar showed that they were in two groups with a clear 'road' through the middle. It actually wasn't a problem at all. They have huge outriggers with nets on both sides, and very noisy gear to raise and lower them. Lights and noise were quite something.
We had to sail about 20 miles up the Kumai river. It is mostly wide with many shallow areas so it is essential to be armed with waypoints. Quite a lot of barges being towed, and palm oil is big business in Kalimantan (to the huge detriment of the jungle) so many tankers too. Anchored off Kumai town with a couple of other boats. Their owners were away on river trips, so only boat boys aboard looking after them. We phoned our contact to arrange a trip, and to our surprise were able to go the next day, it is low season at the moment, and a great advantage being ahead of most of the rally boats. He sent someone over to collect copies of passport, visa, boat papers etc. (all this paper must be filed somewhere never to be seen again) and payment. All arranged for 7.30am next day.
The town looked unusual as we approached, several tall ugly grey concrete buildings. They looked like blocks of flats with slit windows and no decoration at all. None of the towns we have seen in Indonesia have high rise buildings, and this isn't a large place. During the evening we could also hear the tweeting of lots of birds, and it seemed to be coming from the town with not a tree in sight and not from the wooded banks of the other side of the river where we were anchored. Eventually we found out. They are nesting buildings for cave swifts who make nests from strands of saliva - yes, you've maybe guessed, for birds nest soup. So these are huge 'dove cots'. The male birds make the nests from interwoven strands of saliva which are stuck to the walls. Of caves in nature, and now on concrete walls. All exported to China, and some to the Chinese communities in the USA. A kilo of nest brings in something like US$2,000 so it is big business.
September 16, 2011
on passage
We arrived at 11.30am, having sailed the whole way except for the last bit up the river. Have booked a trip up the river tomorrow to the Richard Leakey reserve so that we can see orangutans, proboscis monkeys, and hopefully other birds and wildlife. So will write more later.
September 14, 2011
on passage
Just an update to say that we have been at sea for 2 days and a night now, an should arrive in Kumai, Kalimantan tomorrow afternoon. 120 miles to go. Good wind all the way so we have been averaging 6 knots. Rather a lot of fishing boats which near Bali were banana shaped, very low in the water; and out here are more like Chinese junks with several layers of superstructure. All painted in bright colours. They tend to be rather inquisitive, and come rather close then cut across our bows. For sure they do not know the rules of the sea so we just have to avoid them. Called up one large ship by name (it had an AIS signal) as we were just about on a collision course. He replied in Indonesian but obviously didn't understand a word I said, so we had to take in sails and motor around him. If we had been sure he would stick to his course and speed we would have been through him!
So never a dull moment. We have also caught 3 mahi mahi (released one) and a large baracuda (released with difficulty), and have had a pod of dolphins playing around the bow and escorting us along. Good moonlight all night, it is just about full moon, and that makes a huge difference.
September 10, 2011
Bali Blog
Did you know that Bali was 'famous' for a type of coffee made by feeding civets coffee beans (ie the whole fruit), then collecting the beans which pass through their system, washing, roasting, grinding, and selling for exhorbitant sums. It's called Kopi Luwak. Evidently the acids in the animals stomach affect the composition of the bean giving it a special flavour. Now who thought that one up and did a good bit of marketing?
We have been anchored off a low-key resort area in north Bali for the last few days. Strange to be in an area with mainly European tourists, and a few Australians. There is a German baker, and the little grocery stores sell muesli and yoghurt. At dawn each morning the 'dawn patrol' sets off, a group of small local boats with a few tourists in fluorescent life jackets. They head out to find dolphins. When seen, they home in, only to find that the dolphins are far too intelligent to be herded like this, and they dive down out of sight. Then another fifteen minutes waiting for them to surface again. Hope the punters at least get a good sunrise for their money!
Yes, it's a tourist island. Every time we go ashore we are politely offered beads, carvings, fruit, clothing, transport, laundry done. We've had jerry cans of diesel fetched for us, laundry done, and have eaten in the local restaurants so feel we are supporting the local economy. We are not on holiday, and really don't want the goods on offer!
Yesterday we hired a car and driver to take us up into the cooler central mountains. We wanted to do some walking, and had the company of a Canadian whose wife has had to go back to Canada for a couple of weeks. He is a keen hiker. We were taken to a place where we could get a guide, and chose a 2 - 3 hour walk through the jungle and beside a couple of lakes. It was lovely, and saw no one else until we were nearly back to the road. The jungle had huge ancient fig trees, hanging moss, and creepers (one of which we were able to swing on Tarzan-like). A little 10-family village was tucked in among the trees. Self sufficient with cow, chickens, a bee hive, fruit trees and vegetable plot, and a lovely view from its hilltop position. Not far away was a Hindu temple in a clearing in the trees. Every day someone visits to sweep up leaves and leave offerings of rice and flowers. It was in the middle of nowhere, only footpath access. Another temple was beside one of the lakes, a quiet peaceful spot, again only accessible by footpath. From here steep steps, 350 at least, G counted, led back up to the road. A few muscles complaining today.
From there we drove to the main rice-growing area to see the bright green terraced paddy fields. Had lunch overlooking the fields - the men chose lemon chicken which turned out to be greasy deep-fried chicken skin. I did better with traditional mixed rice. Then to the coffee growing area (where we visited a place producing kopi luwak), to a market selling the locally grown mandarins and passion fruit. Also strawberries, but mainly for tourists we felt, the climate just isn't right.
I made the mistake of wanting to visit a famous temple, Puru Danau Bratan which is situated on a lake with mountains all around. A beautiful setting, and the temple has multi-storied thatched roofs and is set in lovely gardens. But it was swarming with tourists - some dressed in short shorts and sleeveless t-shirts, in spite of notices outside. A dawn visit would be necessary to appreciate it we felt.
So that has been 'our Bali'. Tomorrow we leave for Kalimantan, the southern part of Borneo. We will leave early and hope to get to an island where we could anchor for the night, but if we don't make it in time will just keep going, in which case we will be two nights out.
September 1, 2011
Markets and things
A few days ago we visited the town of Bima on the island of Sumbawa. It is the busy port town for the island, about 10 miles down a creek. We anchored close to all sorts of interesting traditional wooden cargo and fishing boats. It's a very Muslim town, and from the anchorage we could see a variety of mosques, a gold dome, a cream concrete dome, a large bright turquoise dome, and a dull metal dome perched on a tiled roof with the sickle moon hanging at a broken angle from the top. At 5am, they all sang out their calls to prayer, and it was a signal for the small fishing boats with their single cylinder diesel engines to start chugging out to sea.
So an early start, and we decided to walk the couple of km to the market rather than get a pony cart, ride in a bemo (communal taxi) or hop on the back of a motor bike. Along the road a group of men were shovelling cement into bags and loading it onto a lorry. The air was thick with dust, and only a few of the men even had a piece of cloth tied around their faces. They, the road, and the building was thick with the dust. Plenty of health and safety hazards around. Always deep holes in the pavements, maybe there were once manhole covers but probably not since independence. The waste water drains below look awful, and we watched as a young guy put his motor bike too close to the edge of one of the open ditches and he and his bike toppled in. No harm done, but hope he had a shower available not too far away.
The market was larger and more crowded than any we have seen, an absolute swarming mass of humanity. Very narrow passages between the stalls, which are only low wooden platforms, and many people sell their goods on the ground. We actually found chicken - dead, plucked, and oven-ready! There are places at the edge of the market where the live chickens are prepared, best not to look! At least you know it is fresh, and although there were flies, we've seen worse. (Cooked that night it was delicious). All the inner bits and pieces were for sale too, including yards of intestines. Could also have got beef, they were busy hacking up a carcass with a machete at another stall. Huge range of vegetables, lots of green stuff, and several things that we didn't recognise at all. Long strings of tobacco on one stall, betel nut of course, bottles of diesel for the motor bikes, and piles of rice and grains. Ancient machines grated up coconut. Huge piles of eggs (one thing there is no shortage of). There were 4 of us, and we decided to get a ride back to the boat in a pony cart. The carts are 2-wheeled, so climbing on and off needs care, and they are made for a population a head shorter than us, so getting legs, heads and bags of produce under the little sun awning was quite a feat. I had quite forgotten that I'm quite allergic to horses, so spent the next hour or so wheezing like mad. Worth is for the fun of the ride though.
We have now arrived at Medina Bay Marina on the island of Lombok. Next island is Bali! It's not really a marina, but is a pleasant place with mooring balls, a beach, a restaurant and bar, and cold showers and a 'proper' flushing toilet (a first). The mooring balls are far too close together, and some are right on the edge of the shallows so you have to choose carefully. We, like several other boats have picked up a second mooring on a stern line so that we don't swing into another boat. Only 50 yds from the dinghy dock so we row over in seconds. And on the dock is a water hose, the easiest water we've had in this country. It's not drinking water, but we put some bleach in it and are filling up the tank. Actually scrubbed down the decks today, not a drop of rain since before Darwin so quite grubby. Easy to organise diesel and laundry so all in all a good place for a few days. The manager is married to an Englishman and has a good idea of the standards required for westerners. Everything clean and swept. Vegetable materials composted, and plastic bottles and drink cans recycled.
It is the third day of the Ede festival which marks the end of Ramadan. Lots of local families have been arriving by boat (and probably by road as well) to picnic on the beach further along. We went for a walk this afternoon, and the beach, the shady area above, and the water line are all full of rubbish. Three days of picnicing, and it is doubtful whether one single piece of rubbish has been put in a bin or taken home. This country is the worst we have ever seen for rubbish pollution. One interesting/amusing thing we noticed is that all the little boys run around and swim naked on the beach, and the little girls are well covered in trousers and t-shirts.
Going back to the toilet situation, all the toilets we have seen so far, and we tend to make sure that we don't need to see them (not a problem in this hot weather), have had a large tiled tank of water next to the toilet with a scoop. They may be hole-in-the-ground type or western type, but they don't ever have a flushing mechanism. And no toilet paper of course, but we were used to that in Oman. Essential to carry tissues to dry off, ever tried pouring a plastic jug of water onto the right place while keeping your clothes dry!!
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