Pulling out of Bandanaira
Washing in the village....... Chn will be chn
Village life.....
The sails were hoisted and we sail the 180 miles to the Banda Island group further north. This is what we have been hanging out for -clear water, albeit a chilly 27 degrees. It is exciting to be seeing sea life we haven’t seen before. Bandanaira, where we are anchored, is a Muslim community so it has been a challenge to stay comparatively covered up in these warm temperatures. They like us to be covered for swimming also so the rash shirt has had an airing. The locals here are more tourist savvy than the other stops but Lydia did well bargaining down her laundry quote to a quarter of the original asking price. And of course we are dealing in Rupiah, where 6000rp is equivalent to NZ$1 – we’re spending thousands.
We dined out at one of the flash hotels for less than $20 for the four of us. Daryl is finding the food a bit spicy but he’s coping. What is great about travelling this way is that we can still eat on the boat if we want a western styled meal. With eggs being readily available Daryl is smiling, as he is still gets his poached eggs for breakfast. Gado gado, vegetable with peanut sauce, is my current favourite. Followed closely by a Banda speciality, eggplant stuffed with almond paste. With these dishes I finally think I could become a vegetarian.
Bandanaira is seeping with history. In the 15th century these islands supplied all the worlds’ quality nutmeg. There is a castle and ruins that date back to 1629 when these islands were occupied by the Portuguese then the Dutch. The island has sustained some bloody battles in pursuit of control of the nutmeg trade. The biggest losers appeared to be the local people whose population dropped from 15,000 to 1,000 in 1621.There was wealth in the islands well into the 20th century when extravagant living and corruption sealed its fate and now the locals live amidst what remains. Needless to say we are all in to nutmeg at the moment. David had pancakes with nutmeg jam for breakfast yesterday. I didn’t realize that the nutmeg fruit has flesh which the locals stew and dry. I’ll let you know what it tastes like once we’ve tried some. At dinner on the last night we had nutmeg and potato soup and surprisingly it was nice (I think the coconut cream had something to do with it too).
The plantation...... Nutmeg
Daryl and I felt privileged to be asked to attend and photograph a local wedding. It began in the morning and in all we saw the bride in three different outfits. She started in a lace and batik outfit, then a full on white wedding dress (which she only had on a few hours) and then she changed into a short dress for the dance. It was a real mixture of traditional culture, local culture and then the influence of western culture. The family seemed as pleased to have us there as we were to be there. We felt rather like special guests of honour.
Celebrity guests at the wedding..... Wedding procession
Daryl, David along with friends on ‘Allaban’ and ‘Three Ships’ hired a local boat and guide and went diving at a nearby island. We are enjoying being in a new sea with new and different creatures. This island is known for having a ‘mandarin fish’ that isn’t seen in many places. One cruising couple has been waiting years to see one. After two late afternoon dives we can now cross that off our ‘to do list’. There are fabulous snorkelling and dive sites within a dinghy ride so it feels great to be in the water daily again – even if it is a chilly 27 degrees.
Rare mandarin fish..... A new coral yet to be identified?
Daryl, Dave and friends on dive boat.
There have been quite a few ‘antiques offered to us and Daryl has chosen to buy some 17th century trading nuggets used by the Dutch and the English (hopefully they aren’t fake).We figured they would take up less space on the boat as opposed to the canons we were offered.
We had a lovely guided tour on a neighbouring island, wandering the nutmeg plantations, watching village life, visiting their sacred well and visiting the old Dutch fort. The trip over gave us opportunity to see the locals skills at maneuvering their boats, given that their simple economical motors have no reverse.
Rice for lunch..... Village store
Locals watching us..... View from the Dutch Fort. Built 1629
Playing at the Museum......... Wedding guests.
View from Banda Besar....
Daryl couldn’t let up the opportunity to hire a motorbike for the same price as a bottle of beer. I declined gracefully leaving him and another cruiser to tour to the outer perimeters of the island. They couldn’t resist testing the bikes limits down the airstrip – boys will be boys!! They said the outer villages were gob smacked to see two white boys on bikes come through.
What a fantastic place and a great start to our time in Indonesia. But reluctantly after having stayed over a week we drag ourselves away to the next scheduled port, Ambon.
The bikie boys............... Bamboo Crazy Tradition
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