« May 2005 | Main | July 2005 »
June 30, 2005
Lembata Island
DAY: 16
LOCATION: Lembata Island
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY: 16
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP: 154
LATITUDE : 08 degs,14.99'S
LONGITUDE: 123 degs,55.42'E
EDUCATIONAL REPORT FROM JANSEN - BAHASA
Pada hari senin, sekitar jam tiga petang teman saya Ady bersama Mr Jason datang kerumah saya dan meminta saya untuk mengantar tiga orang tamu dari barat yaitu Mr Jason, Mr Chris dan Mrs Lourdes menuju ke Larantuka. Ady juga meminta ijim kepada keluaga dan kedua orang tua saya dan mereka juga tidak keberatan dengan kepergian saya namun sebelum kami berangkat, kami di doakan oleh seorang bapak J:Z namanya. Setelah itu kami bertiga berangkat dengan sebuah motor Honda ketika kami sampai di Kalabahi, kami berhenti di Hotel Pelangi Indah. Dan Ady terus pergi ke rumahnya. Dan beberapa menitkemudian setelah kami istrahat, saya bersama Mr Jason pergi dengan sebua bemo ke toko untuk membeli beberapa perlengkapan berupa topi kaboy, sarong, celana pendek, dan lainlain. Setelah itu kami kembali ke Hotel kemudian pada jam tujuh (7) malam, saya bersama Mr Jason pergi melihat sampan yang akan kami gunakan untuk pergi ke Larantuka. Setelah kami mencek semuanya, Mr Jason melatih saya bagai mana cara untuk menggunakan alat-alat perlengkapan, cara mendayung, dan lain-lain. Setelah itu kami kembali di jemput oleh Ady untuk kembali ke Hotel dengan motor. Sesampainya di Hotel, Ady lalu pulan dan kami pun istirahat. Pada hari selasa pagi sekitar jam 0700 kami berempat mulai berangkat dengan tiga bua sampan. Saya bersama Mr Chris menggunakan 1 bua sampan. Dari Kalabahi (kadelang), kami mendayung dan terus mendayung hingga kami tiba di Levokisu (Alor Kecil) di sana kami istirahat sebentar kemudian kami kembali mendayung menyebrangi lautan menuju P. Pantar. Dan kami tiba di sana pada sore hari. Kami istirahat semalam di pantai Tuabang.
Pada hari rabu pagi, kami berangkat dari Tuabang kemudian kami singgah sebentar di pantai di sebalah dari Kabir untuk mendapat info tentang keadaan laut dari orang-orang di sana kemudian kami melanjutkan perjalanan kami sampai di sebuah Kampung di tengah Kabir dan Baulang. Dan kami nginap semalam di Kampung tersebut. Kemudian pada hari kamis pagi, kami kembali mendayung dan kami singgah sebentar di Tanjung Nuha untuk ambil gambar (foto) setelah itu kami kembali mendayung menyeberang lautan menuju pulau Lembata. Dan kami tibah di teluk teula sekitar jam dua (2) pada siang hari. Di sana kami istirahat untuk melepas lelah dan bersantai-santai dan di situ juga kami tidur semalam.
EDUCATIONAL REPORT FROM JANSEN - ENGLISH VERSION
On Monday it was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. My friend Ady with Mr Jason came to my house and asked me to guide 3 x guests, from west, they are Mr Jason, Mr Chris and Mrs Lourdes to Larantuka. Ady also asked for permission from my parents and family and they also agreed with my journey yet before we went, we prayed by a man J:Z - his name. After that we three went by one motorcycle. When we arrived in Kalabahi, we stopped in the hotel Pelangi Indah. And Ady kept going to his house. And some minutes later after we took a rest, I went together with Mr Jason by bemo (bus) to the shop to buy some things like a big hat, a blanket and shorts, and so on. After that we came back to the hotel then at 7 o'clock in the evening I went together with Mr Jason to see the kayaks that we would use to go to Larantuka. After we checked everything, Mr Jason taught me the way to use the equipment and the way to paddle and so on. After that Ady took us back to the hotel by motorcycle. When we arrived at the hotel, Ady went home and we slept.
On Thursday morning it was about 7 o'clock we four started to go with three kayaks. Mr Chris and I kayaked. From Kalabahi (Kadelang), we paddled and kept paddling until we arrived in Levokisu (Alor Kecil). There we took a rest for a while then we paddled across the sea to Pantar Island. And we arrived there in the afternoon. We slept there for one night on the beach at Tuabang.
The next morning, we left from Tuabang then we stopped for a while on the beach beside of Kabir to get information about sea conditions from local people there. Then we continued our journey until a village between Kabir and Bualang. And we slept for a night in the village. Then on Thursday morning, we paddled again and we stopped for a while on the Nuha beach to take pictures. After that we paddled again to cross the sea to Lemaba Island. And we arrived on the Telu beach about 2 pm. There we took a rest waiting for the tide and relaxing and also there we slept.
GENERAL PROGRESS REPORT
We managed to get an early start this morning at 6.30am to make two big leaps across open water - the latter being Selat Alor which we are on the other side of now on the island of Lembata. Smooth conditions - helping by the moon being a day off three quarters full, so the tides are at neaps. When we reached Tg. Leur at noon however the water off the point (at low tide by this time) was too rough to cross. There's a reef that starts here stretching for several miles around the north side of the island, so we decided to play things safe and do another early start in the morning when the winds will be lighter and hopefully the conditions better.
The satphone refused to turn on this evening for a while, so if you don't see anything on this blog all of a sudden, most likely it's died. Either that or we're croc bait...
On this note it's interesting to read how this area was home to quite a few large salties until the time of the second world war when the Japanese shot and ate most of them. The lack of any restrictions on hunting since has probably seen them disappear completely. Not that we're getting complacent or anything, but none of the local fishermen we've spoken to have seen one for years.
Posted at 2:40 PM
June 29, 2005
Jansen's Update #1
DAY: 15
LOCATION: Pantar Island
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY: 19
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP: 138
LATITUDE : 08 degs,17.30'S
LONGITUDE: 124 degs,10.37'E
Update from Jansen - our new paddler and international youth ambassador
IDENTITAS - Bahasa Indonesia
Nama lengkap saya Jansen Adang. Saya berasal dari kokar (Seydon). Saya lahir pada - 25 Januari 1984. Saya mulai duduk di bangku pendidikan dasar sejak saya berumur 6 tehun dan terus sampai pada tingkat SMA.
Saya belajar di SMA Kristen 1 Kalabahi. Di sekolah, saya mendapat begitu banyak pelajaran termasuk di antaranya adalah bahasa Inggris. Bahasa Inggris adalah pelajaran yang sangat saya sukai karena bahasa Inggris adalah bahasa dunia. Saya mulai belajar bahasa Inggris sejak SMP kelas 1 dan kemudian sampai pada kelas 1 SMA, saya mulai mencoba untuk berbicara dengan tourist. Mulanya saya tidak berani karena saya takut dan malu. Namun gugu bahasa Inggris saya Mr. Karsten Van Derhood mengatakan kepada saya bahwa jangan eemas! Karena bila kau salah maka mereka (tourist) akan memperbaiki menjadi benar.
Maka saya mencoba dan akhirnya saya bisa berbahasa Inggris. Saya tamat dalam bangku SMA pada 14 Juli 2004 dan ketika itu juga saya menjadi seorang pembimbing bagi tourist (guide).
Besok saya akan memperkenalkan kepada kamu tentang pengalaman saya dalam perjalanan ke Larantuka!
Jansen
IN ENGLISH -
My full name is Jansen Adang. I come from Kokar (Seydon). I was born 25th January 1984. I began studying in elementary school when I was 6 years old and kept studying until high school.
I studied at (high school) Kristen 1 in Kalabahi. In school I had many lessons. One of my favourites was learning English because the English language is the language of the world. I studied English from I was in class 1 SMP (elementary) and then until I was class 1 SMA (high school). At first I tried to speak English with a tourist. I was not very confident because I was afraid and shy. Yet my English teacher Mr Karsten Van Derhood told me not to worry because if you are wrong then they (the tourist) would correct me.
So I tried to speak and then at last I found that I could!
I graduated from senior high school at 14th July 2004 and at the time also I became a guide.
Tomorrow I will let you know more about my experiences on this expedition kayaking to Larantuka!
Jansen
++++++++++++++++++++
A snap of our miserable campsite this evening...
Posted at 2:00 PM
June 28, 2005
Xing to Pantar Island
DAY: 14
LOCATION: Pantar Island
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY: 15
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP: 119
LATITUDE : 08 degs,13.71'S
LONGITUDE: 124 degs,19.51'E
Well our new paddling partner Adam didn't work out. He came with us yesterday morning to visit some high schools in Kalabahi but decided later in the day that he couldn't come with us to Flores - his family was too sad for him to go and afraid be might not come back. So Adi, our guide and local 'fixer', and I then rode like maniacs on mopeds to another village on the north side of the island to track down another prospective recruit and ask his parents permission for him to come with us. It really was a last minute desperate attempt to find a replacement for Ina so Chris and I wouldn't have to tow the single with the double - an unknown quantity and potentially hazardous, especially in rough seas. Thankfully Jansen's family agreed to our proposal and within 3 minutes his bags were packed and we were all three headed back to Kalabahi on the back of one 50cc moped. Scary stuff, especially when the road is also a thoroughfare for all manner of animals, both four footed and two!
I got a kick out of how little time it took for him to prepare for the trip - 3 x minutes versus my 3 x years!
Jansen is 20 years old and has lived all his life in the village of Seydon, 20 kms from Kalabahi on the island of Alor. He graduated from SMA Kristen 1 Kalabahi (high school) in 2004. This is the first time he has traveled to Pantar - just 10 kms across the water. He speaks a little English, and is helping us learn Bahasa Indonesian. He is also a great guitar player and expert at lighting fires, so I think he'll be a hugely valuable asset to our gathering!
He'll be traveling with in the capacity of guide and youth ambassador as far as Flores where April will take over in a week or so. He'll also help us with visiting some schools in Larantuka before returning to Kalabahi by ferry. Jansen will be writing tomorrow's update...so schools please tune in!
As per usual after a few days off we got a later than intended start and finally pushed away at 8am from the beach outside the Doctors without Borders office where we've been fortunate enough to store our kayaks and equipment since arriving. We were hoping to avoid the strong winds that have been kicking up here mid-morning these past couple of days, enough at least to get out of the mouth of the bay that Kalabahi is at the end of, but by 10am we found ourselves having to hug the coast to avoid being pushed back by 1.6m+ waves and force 4-5 winds. Being Jansen's first day we stopped for lunch a little earlier than usual (11am) at the mouth of the selat and by 12.30 the wind had died down enough to attempt the 6 nautical mile crossing to Pantar were we are now (we're on the east coast of Pantar just above Pura Island). The conditions were absolutely ideal with the tide in slack. We also had the benefit of having the shelter of Pura island to the south of us to paddle in the lee of.
Jeremy, Yung (spelling? - sorry!), Kathy, Dr Hakon and all the local staff of Doctors without Borders - thankyou so much!
Posted at 1:49 PM
June 26, 2005
New Paddler - Adam from Kalabahi, Alor
DAY: 13
LOCATION: Kalabahi - Alor
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY:
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP: 104
LATITUDE :
LONGITUDE:
Yesterday we visited some local people in the village of Tak Pala. They live a traditional lifestyle outside the progress of modern technology and we were lucky to spend a little time with them. One of the highlights was our guide Adi playing a Moko drum that we'd heard and read about so much. Thousands have been recovered buried in the ground all over the island and their original remains a mystery. One theory has it that they were brought from India and/or China as trade items around 300 years before Christ. Once here they were perhaps buried by people to prevent other waring tribes from taking them. Made of brass and beautifully decorated with lifeforce symbols such as tigers, deer and trees, they're quite valuable (some over 50 million rupiah - $500US) and even today form an important part of a bride's dowry.
Another highlight of the visit was meeting Adam, a local tribe member who will be taking the place of Ina to paddle the big double canoe as far as Larantuka or Maumere in eastern Alor where April will hopefully take over when she arrives in a little over a week. Adam is a teacher as well as a woodcarver and fisherman. He doesn't speak English, and our Bahasa is still very limited, so it will be a learning experience for all of us!
Part of the reason for delaying one more day until tomorrow morning (tuesday) is to allow time to visit some schools here in Kalabahi with Adam, presenting the expedition and in particular this section to Flores that Adam will be doing with us. We hope these schools can then follow the progress of their community member via this blog.
Our intention is also to connect with schools throughout Indonesia via the UNESCO radio communications network centred in Jakarta. Taking daily updates from this blog they will be able to update schools without internet access of our progress. We believe Adam will be a great cultural ambassador not only for his people on Alor to the rest of Indonesia, but for the people of Indonesia to the rest of the world. We welcome him and are privileged that he will be part of our team!
Posted at 11:52 PM
June 25, 2005
Kalabahi
DAY: 10
LOCATION: Kalabahi - Alor
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY: 20
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP: 104
LATITUDE :
LONGITUDE:
Tonight we find ourselves in the relative luxury of Chez Kalabahi - the main hub for the surrounding islands of Alor and Pantar. We've just returned from a meal dropped from heaven - eight dishes of absolutely yummy skran between the four of us for just 147,000 rupiah ($15). We'll sleep the sleep of the dead tonight after paddling the hardest day yet.
It was only 20 nautical miles but for periods we found ourselves paddling north against counter-currents and quite confused seas in Selat Pantar. Our route depended upon getting the tide just right. We're in spring tides at the moment - having just had a full moon - so the water can run at 3 knots running north and 9 knots south. There's a complicated calculation to determine what direction one can expect the water to be flowing at what time of the day, but this depends upon knowing the moon rise and set (which we know) and a Nautical Almanac (which we don't have). So I made a rough calculation based on the moon's behaviour and the information available in the cruising guide for this area. Having spoken to some local fishermen at camp yesterday evening I concluded the calculations were about right - to start our northward track up through the selat around 7am - a little after low tide. But rounding a headland just 2 miles into the passage it was clear that all was not quite right - a strong southbound current was colliding with a northbound inshore tide creating a nasty looking whirlpool directly in our path. We beached the boats to scope out the selat from the high ground. Such confluences of water can be quite disastrous for small boats like our kayaks - spinning them around, dislodging the occupant/s and dragging both under. So for the price of a short wait, or longer if necessary, we decided to play it safe.
An hour later the tide did indeed seem to slacken, or whatever collision of events that was creating the whirlpool effect. So we continued our track northwards, getting into Kalabahi without further incident at around 4pm.
Kayaks are an amazing piece of equipment that can yield enormous freedom of travel. They can also be a millstone around one's neck when trying to book into a hotel for the night. The two main hotels here in town couldn't provide security for the boats so we decided to paddle past the town and see if we could hunt down the folks from Medicine Sans Frontier (MSF) that we met a few days ago on the south side of the island and who offered for us to drop by on arrival here.
Luckily Jeremy was at the office when we arrived and kindly offered to keep our kayaks and equipment safe while we found ourselves a hotel. This was a massive result, as we were all exhausted from the paddle and in desparate need of getting somewhere to recover.
Tomorrow Ina leaves us to fly back to Kupang. I think I can say on behalf of both Chris and Lourdes that she has been one of the highlights of our trip so far; not only for helping to smooth the necessary paperwork and bureaucracy in Dili and at the border, but for her ever-constant good humour, willingness to take the challenge in the first place (paddling kayaks with three complete strangers through some quite dangerous waters is no mean feat) and her good company in general. We shall miss her. Good luck Ina in all your future endeavours both in East Timor and elsewhere!
On that note we're currently looking for another paddler to take Ina's place at least until Maumere when April hopefully catches up with us. This plus resupplying with food and a few other essential pieces of equipment (a machete being one) might take us 48 hours to turn around.
Posted at 1:03 AM | Comments (1)
June 22, 2005
Head Hunters of Old
DAY: 8
LOCATION: sandy beach - no people for a change!
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY: 8
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP: 72
LATITUDE :08degs, 26.34'S
LONGITUDE: 124degs, 32.97'E
This evening we find ourselves in relative luxury - a white sandy beach overlooking an idyllic little cove. And the best part about it is there are NO PEOPLE HERE! The first time we've had any privacy since arriving on Alor some 4 days ago.
We got here pretty late though, and didn't manage too many miles on account of not leaving Mataru village, where we spent last night, until 1.30 this afternoon. The reason was our guided tour this morning of some of the cultural heritage sites important to the local people. Matan (who I thought last night was called Matt) kindly picked Lourdes, Ina and I (Chris picked the short straw to stay behind and look after the stuff) up at around 6.30 and together we wandered down the coastal path leading west though the adjacent villages to Mataru. Pretty soon we had another in our party - the one of the tribal elders responsible for their sacred sites. At only 42 years old I could have sworn he was more like 60. There also seem to be alot of health problems in this community - many people, especially the children and elderly, look pretty sick, many with open sores on their arms and legs - perhaps a combination of bad diet and lack of sanitation?
Our first site was a bit of a disappointment. The fossil footprint (some 2.5 feet in length) of a giant human was reputed to be visible on a rock overlooking the ocean. But when we got there the elder explained that the rock had sheared off its original position during the November 12th earthquake of last year, blocking the footprint from easy viewing. Nearby however we were shown the skeleton of a young child, possibly the victim of a head-hunting party pre-1960's (which is when the practise along with cannabilism was officially called to a halt here on Alor).
We were then told of the head of the giant along with some other bones another 2 kms walk down the coast, so off we trotted. The trot soon became a bit of a slog however, with the 2kms dragged out to 4, and all three of us were starting to suspect we were on a wild goose chase. Lourdes actually started to feel quite uncomfortable with the energy of the places we were walking through, and at one point considered heading back. But as we're all starting to realize, this is a very different part of the world where everthing kind of happens, but not necessarily when you think it will - very good for one's patience.
Eventually the elder and Matan headed off the beaten track and led us under the overhang of a rock. There, nestled in a cradle of rounded beach rocks, were a clutch of bones originating as it turned out from various people, all the victims of a headhunting party from another island.
The legend goes that some 180 years ago, the king of this area was a giant over 3 metres tall. He was slain during the battle with the attacking war-party and as king, his head was removed and taken as a trophy. We were shown a huge rib, pelvis and femur bone which is all that is left of the king - but no head. The other bones and the skulls belonged to other members of the tribe whose bodies were left intact.
What's interesting here is the dovetailing of myth and a more likely historical scenario based on western scientific reasoning. The rib and pelvis were definitely from a larger animal, likely a cow. Somehow 'way back when' these bones were mixed with the human ones, and today they serve an important purpose in supporting the story of how their ancestral king was once a giant with an enormous head (the most important part of the body for these people) some 2-feet in diametre - the evidence being the huge pelvis and rib.
I have no doubt we were the first outsiders to see these sacred sites (the last visitor was a German who spent a day here 6 years ago looking for fish in the bay), and as such it was a great privilege. I felt a little ambivalent however about filming, considering how sensitive the material is and the fact I am taking what is essentially their intellectual property away from here. But when I offered to send a copy of the footage for their archives, Matan seemed to understand the significance of preserving their cultural heritage for successive generations and was quite enthusiastic about filming and taking photos. So I suppose that's the trade off.
Posted at 2:24 PM | Comments (2)
June 21, 2005
Fossil Footprints + Skeletons
DAY: 7
LOCATION: Mataru village - Alor Island
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY: 20
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP: 64
LATITUDE :08degs, 23.52'S
LONGITUDE: 124degs, 41.21'E
Gifts were exchanged with our friends at Pureman village before we paddled away. The chief was given a baseball cap, some insence sticks and one of our x360 cards (with map + route etc) that we had printed up specially in Darwin to give out to people along the way. In return we were given a beautiful piece of local 'tais' ( local weave - not sure what the Bahasa word for it is yet) and six hen's eggs.
Staying with the people of Pureman will I think stick in our memories as a one of the highlights of the trip: it was the first village we hit on the archipelago, and as it turns out the seat of the first King of Alor back in ancient times - King Pureman. So it was a fitting place to start our Indonesian odyssey proper.
We started looking for a place to camp at 3pm, but the coastline of south Alor is quite treacherous; sheer cliffs dropping straight into the water and sharp volcanic rock lining the coast preventing easy access to the beach. So we had to paddle an extra 5 miles down the coast until nearly dark to find a safe spot to land. The locals clearly don't have any problems in their dugouts which can take a real beating compared to our fibreglass equivalents.
We are quickly learning that every single square inch of beachfront property is populated, in particular sandy beaches that allow an easy entry and exit by dugout canoe. So we have pretty much resigned ourselves to zero privacy and hordes of inquisitive people staring at us wherever and whenever we land.
Tonight we are being put up (or rather allowed to stay on the beach) by the Mataru village of 600 people. Again the people are very friendly, and the second chief (introducing himself as 'Matt') came down and made us feel welcome. He showed us a fresh water spring on the beach that we were able to wash in and tomorrow morning he has offered to take us to see a place of cultural importance to his people. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but it involves something to do with a giant's footprint in the rock and the remains of a skeleton of one of their ancestors. Sounds intriguing.
Posted at 2:54 PM
June 20, 2005
Pureman Village
DAY: 6
LOCATION: Pureman village - Alor Island
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY: 0
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP: 44
LATITUDE :08degs, 21.51'S
LONGITUDE: 124degs, 57.93'E
We decided on a rest day today, partly for Ina to get over her sickness, and also for the rest of us to recover from the crossing from Timor. This turned out to be an excellent move as we've all just had a truly magical day with the people of Pureman.
We were woken at 6am by a full-scale dog fight just feet from our tents. At some point a pig joined the fray and the high-pitched squeals had both Chris and I out of our tents hurling rocks in the hope we'd get a little more sleep. We might as well have been dreaming as a few minutes later our first visitors arrived to watch us get up, and by sun-up we had at least 50 people squatting around the kayaks; the men taking special interest in the kayaks, very different to their dugout canoes of course, while the women looked on in fascination at the process of boiling hot water on Chris's strange camp stove.
The Chief then came sauntering down from one of his many wives' houses holding a cigarette rolled in dried palm leaf, and we were able to return the hospitality of the previous evening by offering him a cup of hot English tea and a regular cigarette (thanks Isa!). Next some betel nut was produced and all four of us, as is custom with visitors, were subjected to taking a mouthful which in turn produced some fairly impressive facial expressions to entertain the onlookers. I first had betel in the Solomons back in 2000 and I swallowed the whole lot before someone told me to spit it out instead. I spent the rest of the day throwing up. Although I was better primed for the correct proceedure this time the foul mixture still made me gag. Chris and Lourdes seem to get along pretty well with it, even getting a slight euphoric buzz, but all I could feel was my mouth filling up with saliva and my throat constricting. I reckon I must be allergic to the stuff - bad news considering this ritual will be repeated EVERY time we visit a village, and it's considered rude not to partake!
After this we were treated to a rare display of local dancing by both the local women and men, dressed in traditional 'tais' and dancing to the percussive sound of gamelon-style brass gongs, many of them beautiful decorated with animist forms and symbols. These and the animal masks worn by some of the dancers gave us a little insight into the spiritual ancestry of these people. We returned the show with our own very paltry rendition of a Bob Marley song and some other tunes strummed out on the guitar we thankfully brought with us. We desperately need to brush on some more upbeat songs before the next village, and think of some other party tricks to entertain the kids especially. SOS April - please bring out balloons - the ones you can twist into different shapes...
`
It turns out we are the first visitors by kayak ever to visit this village, explaining the high level of interest in our boats which must seem like spaceships compared to their wooden equivalents. Having made friends with the chief we were allowed to roam around the village, making friends and feeling totally secure at all times. Even though one of us was always back at camp keeping an eye on the stuff I truly believe we could have left it there unguarded and nothing would have been taken. It's almost like an unwritten rule I think - if you have the blessing of the Chief no one would dare steal anything.
Tomorrow we make an early-ish start down the coast towards Alor's main town Kalabahi - 53 off nautical miles away which will take us between 3-4 days. From there Ina flies out to Kupang on West Timor and we'll hopefully pick someone else up to paddle the double with Chris until April arrives early July.
Posted at 3:48 PM | Comments (1)
June 19, 2005
On Alor
DAY: 5
LOCATION: Pureman village - Alor Island
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY: 17
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP: 39
LATITUDE :08degs, 21.51'S
LONGITUDE: 124degs, 57.93'E
We're pretty exhausted from the crossing so this will be a short one. Suffice to say that we're all OK and on the island of Alor in a village called Pureman. The crossing took a little over 7 hours, starting at 7am this morning and making landfall by around 2.15pm. Despite the fatigue it feels great to be over the second major hurdle of this trip - making it to the Indonesian Archipelago. Having negotiated both the border formalities and our first major crossing of a selat, I think we can start to enjoy the trip proper without fears of any major roadblocks (fingers xd).
For every mile north we paddled today we were taken west another mile by the 3-4 knot current. So we ended up pretty much at a 45 degree angle (to the NW) from where we started. The only sign of any of rip currents that we'd been told to beware of by the folks in Dili (and which can reputedly run at 8+ knots) was a patch of broken water of about 1/2 mile across that seem to run a little faster than the rest of the selat.
Ina was unfortunately sick for much of the trip - throwing up any food she had in her stomach from this morning's breakfast - and was a pretty bad way when we got to land. She's recovering in one of the tents as I write this. The only other major event was an Indonesian naval vessel passing to a mile of our stern around 2/3rds of the way across. If noticed (or did they already know of our presence?) and confronted it would have been tricky explaining where we've been the past 36 hours since crossing the Indonesia border in West Timor. So this plus the horror story of some Japanese friends of Ina's who were shot without provocation by some trigger-happy gun boat not too long ago gave us all a much needed boost of enthusiasm for paddling the last 4 miles to land in record time.
On arrival we were invited to stay at the village here, which has turned out to be not the best move. If we'd know we were to have 40 people (the entire village) gauping at our every move, even cooking a meal just now and setting up our tents, we'd have elected to stay down the beach a ways. But without knowing local protocol we didn't want to offend the village chief who requested meeting with us. So here we are, sea-sore and in a fairly advanced state of mental retardation brought on by fatigue, entertaining the local populace with gadgets and wizardry such as Chris's new Primus stove, our headtorches and of course this computer and the satphone I'm about to send this report back to the weblog.
There are no roads linking this place to the outside world and it's a day's hike to the island's biggest town Kalabahi. This and the fact that we were the first to sign the village guest-book - that's looks a few years old now - has us thinking that they don't have many visitors here. Excellent people though - extremely friendly and with a very jovial sense of humour. We look forward to getting to know them a little better - starting with inviting the Chief around for a cup of tea and biscuits - in the morning when we'll feel more sociable.
Posted at 1:31 PM
June 18, 2005
Eve of the first Xing - to Alor
DAY: 4
LOCATION: Maubara
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY: 0
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP: 22
LATITUDE :08degs, 37.08'S
LONGITUDE: 125degs, 10.71'E
We spent today taking it easy at the nunnery here in Maubara - resting up, eating and generally gathering our energy for our big day tomorrow crossing to Alor. The 17nms should take around 6 hours to complete, with breaks. We were looking to get started around 3am but decided on a later start at 6 to coincide with a more favourable tide. The low tide is at around 4.15 pm, after which the tidal flow runs west-east. This could become quite uncomfortable and risky with the tide contrary to the predominant westerly flow of current (the waves can get pretty big), so by the time we reach the middle of the selat, at around 9am, it should be coming up to slack water for around 2 hours. Our main concern is not to get dragged too far east that we can't make landfall on Alor, but not to leave it too late in the day so that the winds pick up and cause problems. It's all a trade off - and to be honest it's not the most ideal timing. But with coming up to full moon and spring tides it's as good as it'll be unless we wait for another 2-weeks, which we can't do.
Another factor is the number of ships we've seen passing through the selat, some without lights (probably smugglers between Indonesia and East Timor), so the less time we're paddling in the dark, exposed to being potentially run down, the better.
This is our first major crossing between islands so we're all a little apprehensive about getting it right. This crossing will give us some idea of what we can expect to look for on subsequent crossings over the next few months. So many people in Dili told us we were crazy for even attempting to make a crossing in kayaks. But I for one have grown pretty used to this pattern before any leg - all these 'expert's come crawling out of the woodwork and tell you a hundred reasons why you shouldn't do it. It's part of the tall-poppy syndrome I think, where some people can't stand others stepping out of line and doing something different. You then go away, do your research, and do it anyway - no problems. So I hope that by this time tomorrow we are able to report back that Dili is as full of blow-hards as any other port the expedition has departed from in the last 11-years.
Posted at 1:36 PM
June 17, 2005
Border Xing Complete!
DAY: 3
LOCATION: Maubara
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY: 0
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP: 22
LATITUDE :08degs, 37.08'S
LONGITUDE: 125degs, 10.71'E
Today was a big day. For 3-years, since first putting my mind to planning this leg through Indonesia, I've been befuddled as to how best to carry out the crossing from East Timor into Indonesia - with kayaks. Plus pedaling Moksha into either Dili or Kupang, then shipping her out to Singapore (now arranged thanks to Perkins), and keeping the human powered trail 'pure' also were complicating factors, mounting up to an almost impossible logistical equation. But at 3.30 this afternoon we paddled away from the Indonesian side of the border with entry stamps in our passports and without having to pay a single penny in 'fines' or bribes for bringing the kayaks into the Indonesia.
We have high level nepotism partly to thank (actually the highest). When we arrived at the border shortly after lunch we were briskly stamped out of Indonesia, then escorted by 3 x East Timorese policemen across the half kilometre no-mans-land to the Indonesian side. They even let Isa drive the truck with the kayaks loaded on top across to save having to carry them.
Before crossing the Indonesian side we employed the services of around 15 local lads to help carry the kayaks the last few hundred yards through a series of checkpoints, beginning with customs, then immigration, police, then marine police (I think - I started to lose track after a while). It was clear that someone at the top had made a phone call on our behalf as we were basically greenlighted through a process that, given the unusual nature of our entry (with kayaks) and intended route (through the archipelago to Singapore), should have taken all day, if not a week. Ina forged the way ahead, bossing everyone around and conversing with the officials in Bahasa, showing them the letters and paperwork we've been acquiring since Darwin. Big smiles greeted us at every turn, and instead of waiting around in small offices with the officials waiting outside for a bribe to be paid, we were almost treated like celebs - one of the border patrol guys even requesting a photo to be taken of he and Chris together. Basically these guys were making sure their jobs were secure.
After just 40-mins of officialdom we asked the porters to carry the boats down to the beach where we swiftly packed up and headed out towards the island of Alor. A few miles down the coast however we snuck back into East Timor and rendezvoused with Isa and the truck, and at the time of writing we're back in Maubara staying at a Nunnery (another Ina connection). For a number of reasons, including Ina's illness, we've decided to delay our 16nm crossing to Alor until Sunday morning (looks like the weather will hold also). This will also give us the time to get a full night's sleep and prepare fully tomorrow for a bright and early start at around 4am on Sunday.
On behalf of everyone on the team I'd like to thank Ina and Isa for making this logisitcal hurdle such a doddle, the Presidents of East Timor and Indonesia, Carlos Geronimo (Head of Immigration for East Timor), Pak Hendarsin (Head of Immigration for Indonesia in Dili) and the local personnel at the border.
Next up on the agenda is our first major crossing of a 'selat' (a passage between islands) to Alor. We've heard so many horror stories of whirlpools and 14 knot currents that we're taking it pretty seriously (hence the day layover). However, if today is any indication it should do pretty smoothly. Having said that the ocean is answerable to no-one, so we can't rely on any outside string pulling on this one.
Posted at 3:03 PM | Comments (1)
June 16, 2005
Day 2 - Maubara
DAY: 2
LOCATION: Maubara
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY: 12
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP: 22
LATITUDE :08degs, 37.08'S
LONGITUDE: 125degs, 10.71'E
Before going to bed last night we set up the infared security shield around camp. One of the major issues of camping on the beach every night for this leg will be theft of equipment or the kayaks while we're sleeping, and inquisitive crocs entering camp, so our friend Sharon Kessler in Colorado kindly organised for a system involving infared beams forming a perimeter around our tents and the kayaks to be sent out with Kenny.
After just an hour of sleep the alarm went off (there's a sensor I keep inside the tent by my head) signaling an intruder in zone # 2. At 11.30 pm there was still just enough moonlight to see without a torch. Instead of a 2-foot lurking about however the culprit turned out to be a 4 footer - a stray dog that was making a beeline for one of the cooking pots containing the remains of the evening's meal. A good first test of the system!
After a late start (9.15 - we allowed ourselves a lie-in on the first morning and compensate for the all-nigher the previous evening) we managed to make it to Maubara by around 2.30 pm, just as the wind was really starting to pick up. This included a 50 minute break half way to allow Ina to be sick on the beach. Poor thing has been under the weather all day, possible from a dose of flu that she picked up before leaving Dili. Many pods of dolphins traveling eastward up the coastline, entertaining us with acrobatic displays that had all of us ooing and aahing.
Tomorrow morning Ina's husband Isa will meet us at 7.30 am to transport the kayaks down the coast for our first big logistical hurdle clearing through the border into Indonesia. Good news to relay tomorrow evening we hope!
Posted at 12:34 PM
June 15, 2005
Away from Dili
We finally paddled away from Wayne + Anne's dive centre 'Freeflow', just west of Dili, at 8.15 this morning. There was the usual all-night partying the night before (a tradition before any major leg of the expedition since the very beginning) rounded off with an utterly disgraceful karaoke episode at the AAJ Bar at 5.30 am, with Lourdes and I propped up against the bar bawling into a microphone to nightmarish 80's songs such as Wham's 'Careless Whisper' and Starship's 'We Built this City on Rock + Roll'.
So the 12 miles we managed to get down the coast to our beach campsite was (for me especially) a bit of a grind. Plus I had Starship looping in my head all the way as extra punishment. But the kayaks performed fantastically fully laden (I must have around 300lbs of gear in mine what with all the camera gear, satellite link, laptop plus 40litres of water + camping gear) and we averaged around 3-3.5 knots going at a fairly relaxed pace. Ina and Chris in the double easily outpaced Lourdes and I in the singles - as we expected they would.
The weather and sea-state we're idyllic also - fingers crossed the same conditions hold until Saturday when we plan making our first big crossing to Alor.
Tomorrow we paddle another 11 miles to the town of Maubara where we meet up with Ina's better half Isa, plus truck, for a run down to the border on Friday morning to clear Indonesian immigration. This is our next big hurdle and something we are all a little apprehensive about. Things might go a little easier for us now thanks to a bizarre twist in the final meeting Ina and I had at the Indonesian embassy. When we met with Mr. Hendarsin, the Chief of Immigration, on Monday afternoon to pick up our long awaited letter with the embassy letterhead and his signature, it was instantly apparent that he was reluctant to do so. I felt the frustration rising again - after all this delay in Dili it looked like we STILL wouldn't get our hands on this confounded letter. The reason for his reluctance is then explained: earlier that same day Xanana Gusmao, the president of East Timor, had telephoned the President of Indonesia to request that no harm come to Inah (they are good friends it turns out!). The President of Indonesia then called his ambassador in Dili, who then called Mr. Hendarsin, who by the time we arrived for our meeting was feeling the whole thing had gone too high level for him and he wasn't comfortable with the responsibility of signing a letter that, in the event something bad happened to us in Indonesia, might blow up in his face if it transpired that the letter was the way we entered Indonesia with kayaks in the first place.
The impasse was avoided however by my producing the export clearance letter for the kayaks leaving East Timor. To this he added a hand-written note at the bottom, his signature + stamp - enough to get our kayaks through the border without dramas (we hope!).
The upshot of all this is that we never got the letter we requested and waited for an extra 10-days for, but we seem now to be on the radar screens of both the President of East Timor and Indonesia (at least as long as Ina is with us). I can't think of anyone better positioned to bail us out of jail than either of these two people!
Posted at 1:38 PM | Comments (2)
June 14, 2005
Dili Departure
We're off first light tomorrow morning, for sure. There's a bizarre twist to how things ended up with the Indonesian Embassy and the paperwork we've been waiting for 2-weeks now. But I need to get to bed now for a 5am start - will tell all tomorrow via the satphone 10 miles down the coast towards Maubere.
Posted at 2:26 PM | Comments (1)
June 10, 2005
No More Christmas in Dili
First off a huge thanks to my friend Dale Priem from Port Douglas in Queensland, Australia who has been working consistently over the past couple of months to 'up' the profile of the X360 site
Quite a lot has come together in the past 48hrs, but we're still in Dili. We decided to wait on for the letter from the Indonesian Embassy, and should have this in our sticky paws Monday morning. The meeting we had this morning was quite an eye-opener though I have to tell you.
Ina, Armando Lay (Ina's cousin, a drinking buddy of the guy we were meeting) and I trooped over to the Indonesian Embassy at around 1030 this morning armed with a disguised bottle of Claymore to meet with Pak Hendisin, the Chief of Immigration. This was the guy we met with last week who told us to basically go away and jump through a gazillion hoops before coming back and asking for a letter. Well Ina's plan this morning was to use her brother in law's company to 'sponsor' the kayaks over the border using their export/import license with Indonesia (rather than registering the boats with the Ministry of Transport - a lengthy + expensive process). But this didn't fly. From the way the conversation was going in the beginning (all in Bahasa - so I'm picking up on body language here) I reckoned we'd be trooping right back out of there with nothing to show for ourselves again.
But unbenownst to either Armando or I Ina had a plan B up her sleeve. She'd already contacted the East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao before the meeting and lined up a request letter from him to the Indonesian Ambassador and Pak Hendisin. With the promise of this letter and the Claymore quietly pushed under the table during the course of the meeting the atmosphere visibly lightened, and to the best of our knowledge a letter will be produced on Indonesian Embassy letterhead with Pak Hendisin's stamp and signature first thing Monday morning. Bingo.
So, it doesn't get more high level than this! The plan is now to leave first thing Tuesday morning. We'll kayak down the coast 22nms to Maubara. Then, because of the delay in getting away from Dili, one of Ina's friends will come pick us and the kayaks up by truck (this woman is turning out to be our saviour as you're probably gathering!) and take us to the border to clear immigration and enter the kayaks into Indonesia. Chris actually hired a motorcycle the day before yesterday and scoped out the border area with his mincers. Apparently the border is right by the beach (so not far to carry the kayaks to the water once we cross over) but the distance between the Timorese side and the Indonesian side is about half a kilometre, a fair distance to carry three boats and all our gear. Then the other side there are 6 x different groups of officials we have to go through (immigration, customs, quarantine etc). Quite the right of passage to paddle kayaks through Indonesia. I think we'll need a bottle of Claymore ourselves once (or rather if) we get through all that lot.
From there we paddle to Alor. I can't divulge the real route we're taking until we arrive on Alor - might shoot ourselves in the foot if the wrong person reads this. But it does look like we won't be spending Christmas in Dili anymore.
Posted at 12:36 PM | Comments (1)
June 7, 2005
Can of Burearucratic Worms
Yesterday we visited the Indonesian Head of Immigration here in Dili to request assistance with notifying the Indonesian police, army + navy the other side or the border of our coming, and to 'please not shoot us as spies!' The meeting unfortunately didn't go quite as we anticipated, and opened up a new can of bureaucratic worms, possibly delaying us for a few more days yet.
The first problem was Pak Hendisin (sp?) couldn't speak English well (contrary to what we were led to believe), so Ina had to do all the talking in Bahasa. The topic of clearing the kayaks through customs at the border then reared it's ugly head, something we were REALLY hoping to avoid by handcarrying them across as personal effects or 'handluggage'. The upshot of all this is the need for us, or rather Ina, to register the kayaks with the Ministry of Transportation for East Timor, then supply this documentation along with information about the kayaks (commercial invoices, custom clearance to E. Timor, photos etc) to Pak Hendersin who would then write some sort of letter (we're not quite sure what) with his boss's (the Indonesian Ambassador) signature included. And Ina said she needed the assistance of Carlos, the Head of Immigration for East Timor with dealing with the Minister of Transportation. So before we knew it it all sounded incredibly complicated, time consuming and costly.
So we've decided to do one of two things. We're still forging ahead with the plan to leave Friday this week, to avoid the momentum of the expedition completely grinding to a halt before it's even started. There's a very good chance, with a little gifts put in the hands of the right people at the border, that the kayaks won't pose a problem AT ALL. However, a letter from the Indonesian Ambassador would be a very handy thing to have not only for the crossing of the border but perhaps even more so for the remainder of the journey to Singapore, to wave under the noses of local officialdom who might try and hassle us along the way.
So, if this letter from the Indonesians can be acquired within 2-3 days, we'll wait. If 2-3 weeks, we'll roll the dice and see if we can get through the border. Nothing to be lost by trying at this point. The worst they can do is send us back for 'the right piece of paper' and we have to wait anway.
Frustrated in Dili!
Posted at 10:46 AM | Comments (1)
June 4, 2005
Yesterday we took our beautiful new Current Designs kayaks out for spin in the bay and practiced some rescue maneuvres. The initial launch was quite tricky; the beach all around the port area (where we’ve rented some space from the Dili port authority to store Moksha and work on the kayaks) being a dumping ground for old vehicles + scrap metal in general. Just to the left a boat was being relieved of it’s cargo the old fashioned way – the lengths timber being thrown overboard and swum to shore by hand – and typically the guys came over to help. Just like in Tarawa or the Solomons, the locals are always incredibly enthusiastic to help out.
We then had to paddle for about an hour east up the coast to clear the polluted water and find a spot we could each practise flipping over, draining the water from the upturned kayak then making a re-entry. Easy in the calm conditions we experienced and without any gear in the boats. A different story in a real-life I'm sure.
Chris and Ina seem to be getting the hang of the 'Mothership' double Libra XT that will carry much of the heavier equipment, food and water. At 21 feet it will be quite a knack steering it in the right direction and in adverse sea conditions when fully laden. We have some excellent water-bags acquired from Ortlieb Water Solutions - enough capacity to carry 200 litres, enough for 10-12 days at 4-5 litres per person per day (4 team members in total). We hope water won't be a problem on the trip.
In addition to our personal effects we will be taking with us a laptop computer for updating the website, 2 x solar panels for powering 2 x master batteries (that in turn recharge the batteries for the video cameras, the laptop and satphone), 2 x video cameras, tapestock x 100 (for the video cameras), 3 x still cameras, slide film (60 rolls), fishing gear (including speargun), epoxy resin to repair the kayaks, other misc tools and repair materials, 2 x EPIRBS, 8 x flares, 2 x waterfilters, 1 x desalinator (for creating fresh from saltwater in an emergency), 2 x saucepans, kettle and basic camping gear including mosquito domes + bedrolls.
For food we plan to take along basic 'staples' (like rice) that we can mix with locally grown veggies we buy along the way from the villages and fish of course that we catch towards the end of each paddling day.
ETD looking like Tues/Wed morning at this rate. We have a crucial meeting with the Indonesia embassy Monday morning - we're asking them to notify the police, army and navy over the border in Indonesia that we're coming. There was a recent incident of a dive boat being fired upon by an Indonesian naval vessel in East Timorese waters. No one was injured but we're keen for the guys at ground level to be informed that there are some crazy westerners heading their way before we hove into view on the horizon, and to be nice to them! Indonesians are very suspicious of anything out of the ordinary, and the last thing we want to be mistaken for are spies...
Posted at 1:18 PM | Comments (1)
June 1, 2005
The best laid plans of mice and men....
We're getting pretty close to leaving - hopefully sometime over this coming weekend. We're currently waiting for one more visa to come through for our new temporary team member Ina, a native East Timorese who will paddle in the double with Chris as far as the western edge of Alor at Kalabahi. Ina will be an incredibly valuable asset, speaking both Teton and Bahasa Indonesian, and having a wicked sense of humour to boot!
We're also hoping to get the Indonesian consulate here to notify the Indonesian army and navy of our coming. The navy up around Alor are especially to be avoided apparently due to the Indonesian building a new naval station on Wetar, an island just 20 miles north of Dili.
Tomorrow morning we get out in the kayaks for the first time to practise our rescue drills in the event of a capsize at sea. We're all really looking forward to getting these beautiful kayaks in the water and seeing how they perform. I suspect as beautifully as they look on land.
It's proving pretty tricky reducing all the gear we need down to an amount that will actually fit in the relatively small storage spaces available. But it's good practise also, having to decide what is absolutely necessary and what can be left behind or sent ahead with Moksha. One that note we scored a result today with Perkins Shipping kindly agreeing to send Moksha to Singapore for free, saving around $1000. It all helps!
The plan right now is to paddle out out Dili and head 20 miles west down the coast to the town of Maubara, where we can stay the night with Ina's friends at the nunnery. There we'll leave some of the heavier gear and hire a truck to take us and the kayaks to the border, around 40 kms away. After carrying the boats across the border and getting stamped into Indonesia, we hire another truck (or hopefully Ina's friends there in W. Timor can help out) to take the kayaks to the coast town of Atapupu where we relaunch them and paddle back up the coast to Maubara, thereby completing that section by human power. Although strictly back in East Timor, Ina has spoken to her friends in East Timorese immigration to allow us this one-off bending of the rules (we'll be stamped OUT of East Timor at this point), before we paddle the 16 nautical miles across the Alor.
The best laid plans of mice and men....
Posted at 12:50 PM