The Blue Auction



I am now working with Conservation International in the Raja Ampat (Bird’s Head of Papua) Project. I am developing the Environmental Education Program that will be based onboard a ship and travel around to the villages in the region to do programming. The funding for the Education Program is (*hopefully*) going to be bolstered by an elite event that will be held in Monaco in a couple of days, called The Blue Auction. You can check out The Blue Auction website, and, if you happen to have an extra couple mil lying around, you may just want to consider attending, or bidding!

The Blue Auction is a funky new form of fund-raising; a gala auction event with limited seating. It's not the auction part that is unique or innovative... it's what being auctioned off! The idea behind it is that people can bid for the right to name some of the new species that have been discovered here in Raja Ampat. There are several species of fish, corals, and even a shark that walks on his fins! The opening bids have been set well outside my personal budget (from $50,000 up to $500,000 for the shark!!!) It’s all for a good cause – Conservation efforts in one of the world’s last true pristine areas! I’m told that some of the folks that are going to be in attendance are some pretty big names (who obviously aren't making a volunteers stipend like me!). Word is Leonardo DiCapprio (or was it Bono or the Prince of Monaco himself?) has his heart set on naming the ‘walking shark’ (the mascot for our Education Program)!



Unfortunately I myself won’t be in Monaco on Thursday, schmoozing with the rich and famous… I will still be here.

P.S> Happy Birthday Gabs... I would buy the rights to name this species "Pseudanthia Gabriela" in honour of your Birthday, but, well, you understand... I'd have to mortgage the hubby, kids, and home, and since I don't have any of the above, you're stuck with just my bestest wishes! Love you! Here's your pretty pink fairy fish... come for a visit and we'll go diving to look for her!

The EGG Man and the EVERYTHING Man!



It doesn't seem too unusual to me anymore to see motorcycles piled with all manner of wares for sale in the streets in Indonesia. When you think about it, it makes sense... cheap and effective means of transporting an endless supply of odds and sods (depending how good you are at rigging up a carry-all or tie-down system) to all corners of the city or countryside. In the city, of course the advantage would be weaving amongst the traffic, whereas in the country it is more likely the ability to swerve to avoid potholes or washouts... either way, high-speed, high-volume... what better service! Some entrepreneurs, like the milkman, or the egg-man (above) have chosen to specialize, while others have taken on more of a dollar-store/mini-mart approach to their business:





Stopped at a red light in Bali, I was determined to think of something he wouldn't be carrying... so I asked the driver of this supermarket-on-wheels if he happened to have a medium-sized, rainbow-coloured feather duster... when he produced it in no time, what other choice does one have but to buy!? "I'm thinking of foul for dinner... you wouldn't happen to have a duck on you, would you?", I ask. "No", came the reply... "but hold on, I'll call my friend over."

Tasseled Wobbegon!

Our first 'real' dive trip in Raja Ampat made me feel like I was watching a movie - a National Geographic documentary on the best diving in the world; it was a non-stop array of fish, corals, colours and fun, the show-stopper being the Tassled Wobegon (actually THREE of them!). The ones we saw were 2 - 2.5 meters long.

These critters are also known as Carpet Sharks - must've been named in the seventies, when SHAG carpets were the big thing (have a look at the fringe along the front of the head)! Can you spot his REAL eyes?





Before the dive I didn't know much about these sharks, but upon return, I did a little research. They're mostly active at night, while during the day they are found, as we saw, lounging on the sea floor, in the shelter of a large rock or cave. They have teeth (and lots of them!). They're not aggressive, however if disturbed (intentionally or not, tricky because of their effective camouflage!), they have been known to bite... and when they bite, they clamp on and don't let go! I uncovered one story from Australia of a man who was bitten by a Wobbegong while swimming, swam back to shore, walked along the beach to his car, got in his car and drove to the hospital... all with the shark still attached to his leg!



Now, when I say, first "REAL" dive trip, it's only because the first dive we tried to do here (a couple of months ago), the current was strong... For the most part, I can handle current while diving. This current was not just 'strong', like "ooh, I actually have to kick my fins a few times", no, no, I mean it was 'strong' as in, I was holding on for dear life, while the entire ocean rushed by my body, making it feel like my head was stuck in a washing machine! As a general rule in dive sites, with current come lots of fish... and it's true, there were plenty, and BIG... but I couldn't really appreciate them, since I was concentrating on not being swept off to the neighbouring continent by the current at the time! In the meantime, we have found out that we simply dropped in on the wrong side of the rock, and that from the other side (or another time of day/tide for that matter) these fish can be enjoyed from the lee of the rock! Just goes to show why people dive WITH GUIDES!?

Meanwhile, Meos Kon, our most recent adventure, was a wonderful dive, with a little current, and TONNES of fish. Although the two human-sized barracudas that seemed to be stalking me made me a little nervous! I don't need to do research to know THEIR fame! I didn't get a picture of the two individuals in question (although the look in their eyes is permanently etched on my brain! -- no need to tell you I was concentrating on doing my most nonthreatening-diver imitation, while being sure they knew I knew they were there, so that they would leave me alone?)... but later I did manage to get one of the school.

RAJA AMPAT

For those of you who have been asking, I'm re-posting the original map I made to show y'all where we're at. Especially now that you'll be hearing much more about Sorong, and Raja Ampat, Irian Jaya (West Papua), since we've shifted our focus here from Bunaken/Manado, North Sulawesi.




You can also check it out on GoogleEarth, which, funnily enough has crisper images of this area than of Madoc! (I'm trying to figure out how to make a placemark available here).

Trying out the new video tool...

Here's a video of Martin surfing in Bali!



and another one!

TURTLE TALES

The reason we were in Bali in the first place was officially for CI Internal Workplanning meetings for the upcoming fiscal year. Although the meetings were heavy and draining, we learned a lot... especially us, being new to the CI team - I feel like my eyes were opened to the intricacies of the CI Indonesia Marine Program. We also created a vision for the program for the upcoming 5 years, which I think inspired everyone. Of course, as an International Conservation NGO, CI's ultimate goal is that their presence is no longer required in the area in which they work because the local community has taken conservation matters into their own hands in an effective manner... HOWEVER, as this is not yet the case in Raja Ampat, we weren't quite ready to devise any form of exit strategy!

It wasn't all work... we did have one day to go on a 'field trip' to a very interesting conservation site in Bali. Perancak is a community situated on an important sea turtle nesting site that has sustained a successful turtle protection program for years. They focus mostly on the conservation of sea turtles' nests, but their program also includes an education component for school children (or adults who still act like children, ie. us!)!

A few pics from our field day.

SURF ADVENTURES

A few photos from our recent mini-holiday (which was drastically cut off by Martin's Malaria illness...) Because Martin is used to surfing daily, and has spent the last year like a fish out of water, we focussed on areas that have surf - Although we wanted to get to Rote, Timor, that will have to wait for another time. Luckily, Bali is not only fabulous for the surf, but also the beaches, scenery and culture... so I was happy too!

These are pics of Martin... he really does have the moves!

surf... cont'd

can you believe this is only 2 weeks after recovering from a near-fatal bout of malaria!???

Gadget Girl...

I bought a chiPod... yup, that's right, no Apple iPod monopoly for me. This knock-off will do just fine - better in fact! The comparable iPod doesn't do 1/10th of what this little power pack can handle!



I hold in the palm of my hand an mp4 player, mp3 player, radio, camera, video camera, flash disk, ebook reader, picture viewer, and digital voice recorder... i think this little doo-dad might even brush my teeth for me, although since it didn't come with an instruction manual, i can't figure out the right buttons. Of course, as Martin says, if I were smart, I would just buy a new cell with all the above functions (as well as phone, email, internet and gps - I saw there are hundreds of Geocaches in Singapore - I would've liked to be able to catch a couple!)... but a gadget like THAT wouldn't cost me about 70$, now would it!?

The sound and video quality is actually very decent, and thus far I have had none of the nightmare-ish conversion issues that I've heard some people talking about with these fakies. Hey, I figure I might as well try it out... it beats the 400-ish dollars for an iPod that would do comparable things! Ok, so it seems I fell into the Singaporean techno trap...

Singaporean Sickness - Silver linings

Now, I would like to make a case for all relatives, family & friends of patients... I think they've got it worse than the actual sickie... not only are they super-ultra-stressed about said loved-one, giving care and compassion, and being a 24-hour private nursemaid surrounded by sickness, BUT they are cooped up going stir-crazy in a hospital room, and they're not sick! And of course, you feel guilty leaving the ill lying alone in their hospital bed to go out and get a breath of fresh air/sanity, when you know that's exactly what they wish they could be doing too!

HOWEVER... There were a few +'s in this Singapore trip. Especially once Martin was feeling a little better and back on his feet, and able to go out for small tours around the town. Singapore is truly a 'cultural melting pot', a dynamic mixture of many of the cultures found on this planet, which makes for lively mixtures of colours, sights, sounds, and smells... not to mention TASTES! I managed to eat Indian food at almost every meal (and I have a whole new appreciation for eating masala - haha! I don't know what it means in Hindi/India, but in Indonesian 'masalah' is 'problem'... so i've been literally eating up my problems!)

Interestingly, the city's fluidity doesn't translate into messy, dirty streets and unbelievably unsanitary conditions as it does in Indonesia; Singapore is so CLEAN (the hospital, the streets, everywhere)!

The overall hands-down, number one, ultimate bonus of this trip for me had to be...
the HOT water (in the hotel/hospital private room!)... which was especially appreciated since it rained the ENTIRE stay!

A few random pics from our Singapore Stay:

DRAGONFRUIT!


Forget the Komodo Dragons... This delicious tropical fruit is much more to my liking; and WE can eat IT, NOT the other way around!



YUMMMMMMMM............... You can find ANYTHING in Singapore! Including the wonderful little fruit stands where I found this dragon fruit; they sell every kind of fresh juices you can imagine (as well as cut up fresh fruit)!

THANKS BRO!

Here is a new blog by Jonathan (my super-computer-savvy brother) on how you can all now SUBSCRIBE to my blog (or any other for that matter)... ie. you don't have to keep checking back, and checking back to see if I've updated... just follow HIS INSTRUCTIONS! ... and check out what he's up to while you're at it!

getting there is another story!



(Ange waiting to board the ferry, Padangbai)


Because of our limited holiday (time and money), and our stated holiday goal (ie. SURF), we decided to take an 'organized boat tour' to get half the way along our route toward our selected destination (ie. the island of Rote (or ROTI, depending whose map you read) in Flores, West Timor, Indonesia). This tour was also going to enable us to 'Hunt Komodos by Camera', and see some other difficult-to-reach places along the way! Everybody's happy. Of course, we booked the tour in Bali, however it departed Senggigi, Lombok the next morning. So... we would have to bust our butts to get to the starting point on-time instead of wandering leisurely along. Little did we know at this point that several strains of malaria were brewing in Martin's system!




Like any holiday, one has to start off happy to have new and exciting adventures ahead!














but regardless of the adventures, let's face it, sitting in any vehicle for extended lengths of time wears thin!









we sat on/in: ojek, taxi, bus, different bus, feet, ferry, bemo, another bus, and, finally...
THE Tour Boat:




I'm afraid that for us, the tour was not all it was cracked up to be... Malaria tends to have that effect on a holiday, it seems... so I can't say anything bad about the tour itself. We saw the Komodo Dragons, and that was the aim (although even that was overshadowed by the stress of worrying about Martin's then-mysterious illness). Martin had been sleeping and with fever almost the entire trip, but he summoned all his energy, put up a brave front and came on the hike to look for the Komodos (although only five minutes in he was absolutely exhausted)!



The weather conditions were less than conducive all around during our boat trip! The waves and driving rain were enough to make numerous people sea-sick, and you can imagine our dismay when we were awakened by large waves that were crashing over the bow rushing around the doorway INTO the cabin, giving us a bath in the middle of the night!

This is our 'comfy' sleeping area... We opted for the cheaper option of 'deck' accommodations instead of splurging on a cabin, since the difference in description seemed minute. Our 'mattress on the deck' accommodations, however, in fact turn out to be mattresses... it was a 1-inch thick, hard, foam... that I didn't even think existed until I saw them take it up in the morning!





Well, if you've read my last few posts, you know the rest of the story, and that our first holiday in Indonesia turned out to be a non-holiday... three days... all three of which were spent pitching on the deck of a boat with Malaria (Martin) or worried about Malaria (me!)! We will have to find another time to get to the as-yet unattainable isle of Rote.

Lions and Tigers and ... Dragons!? Oh MY!

They don't fly, or breathe fire, as one might expect, but these dragons are pretty impressive nonetheless. The Komodo dragon, Varanus komodoensis, isn't really a dragon at all, but a monitor lizard; the largest monitor lizard on earth (they grow up to 10 feet and weight as much as four hundren pounds!). As befits any creature evoking a mythological beast, the Komodo, or biawak raksasa, has many unique characteristics.



The Komodo is endemic to the islands of Komodo National Park in Indonesia (Komodo, Rinca, and a few other nearby islands). They seem docile if you see them hunkered down for a mid-day nap in the shade, but they are lightening fast, both on land, and in the water!

In more dragon-like fashion, their razor-sharp teeth are unforgiving, and their mouths are host to several types of highly-toxic bacteria. This real-life dragon is capable of swallowing up to 80% of its own body weight in one meal, and is known to prey on deer, wild pigs, and even sometimes humans! Just last month there was an eight year-old boy attacked and killed by a Komodo dragon (actually the first attack in 30 years)!

Komodo's have a 'sixth sense'; a combinations of taste and smell (or vomero-nasal). The Komodo uses his specialized tongue to gather chemical information from the air and surrounding objects. This 'tasting of the air' lets the Komodo know about potential prey or anything else within 4 kms (using the Jacobson's organ which translates the chemical information and sends it to the brain)! The foot-long forked tongue of the Komodo was the most interesting part about the one we saw... although it was too fast for me to catch a picture! It looked to me like they were licking the sky!



So, while these dragons aren't consistent with the images stirred up by Anne Murray's Dragon in the Driveway, or Robert Munsch's Dragon who tries to intimidate the Paper-bag Princess, they were well worth the trip to the remote Komodo National Park. They've still got nothing on Puff!

And... for those who aren't lucky enough to actually catch a glimpse of a dragon, which is possible since the National Park just lets the dragons roam free in their natural manner, the scenery itself is worth it!

UPDATE:

I am writing you from Singapore, where I find myself in a much more relaxed state of mind, and with a wireless internet connection right from the hospital room! Martin is doing much better, and although still weak, and tired, he is 'back to his chipper self' (as our boss says).

The doctors at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital are very capable, and taking excellent care of Martin; it is reassuring to know that he is in good hands. Thank you all for your thoughts and best wishes.



When we left Bali the doctors there had said that Martin had malaria, dengue, hepatitis, and liver damage... but they were confused about several of the test results. So, the doctors here, even as 'world-class' and capable as they are, still haven't figured out everything that is wrong with Martin. It appears that what was making him really sick was a mixed-malarial infection (which they are treating), but that may have also triggered, or been triggered by, something else. The dengue antibodies that they found in Martin's blood appear to be from the previous infections he had as a child (the doctors actually told us that there are only three kinds of dengue, and since he has had dengue three times already, he's only got one more to go and he'll be free of that worry!). The tropical disease specialist thinks that he has another type of viral infection, and they are still doing tests to check for that. The liver specialist says that although his liver function is still out of whack, it will improve with the treatment. In short, both doctors have said that Martin is going to be OK.

What a HOLIDAY! I have barely left the hospital for the guilt I feel at leaving Martin alone in the room with the wheezing, coughing, sputtering, grunting old man in the bed next to him, and screeching of his family members. I did escape to meet Lisa (a friend we met through our friend Cecilia, and hung out with on our first visit to Bali) for an Indian dinner last night, and to see the Harry Potter movie. I would buy the new book also, but it's an outrageous 53 Sing dollars here, so I think I can wait!

Funny thing is about this hospital... many people actually do come here on HOLIDAY!!! -- They book their hospital room like they would book a hotel room! And the options are wild: there are deluxe and superior rooms as well as suites (where the whole family can stay together while their loved-one gets whatever treatment they require or elect). Aaaahhh, private health care. Mount Elizabeth also happens to be situated in the midst of the posh "Orchard Road" shopping district, and room rates are competitive with some of the corporate hotels in the area, so hey, why not... visit Singapore, go shopping, and have a little surgery! Apparently many Americans are starting to do it... it beats the costs and the service in their own country, and the climate and shopping is world-renown!

They just moved us into a single room, which is much more comfortable, and now I can sleep on the couch!

back to Singapore again...

After the insurance company referred us to another clinic for a second opinion within Bali, they have decided to do a medical evacuation to Singapore. I heard the insurance company consulting doctor from the States say, in a tone of complete finality, "I do not think the course of medication is appropriate. Get him out of there NOW, N-O-W, NOW, that's all I have to say about this case" (I don't think I was supposed to hear this part of the conversation, and it scared me, naturally). What was even scarier is that after taking meds for several days, Martin is still the same. No better, and, seemingly, no worse. The first test they did for Malaria was negative, but the second one came back positive for ALL FOUR strains of Malaria (virtually unheard-of)! The third and fourth have come back negative again, probably meaning that the virus is hiding out in the liver, spleen or elsewhere (Malaria very often gives false negatives, but never gives false positives). So maybe there are complications; hope not. We are going to Singapore tomorrow to find out, escorted by a doctor (something I think this is an unnecessary precaution... I mean, he can go to the bathroom on his own, I'm sure he'll be fine for a 1 hour flight!).

Hey, the silver lining is if you get a medical evacuation, you're flying exec...



Keep Martin and his liver in your prayers!

ON VACATION!?!

Finally, after a year in Indonesia, we got around to taking our first vacation... much-deserved, and much-needed... and... much-screwed UP!

One word and the whole plan got turned on its head. MALARIA. We had set off from Bali on a tour from Lombok to Flores (via Komodo to visit the dragons), when, the first evening Martin started feeling 'off'. By the next day he was a mess -- fever and sweating, headache and chills -- ok, maybe just a flu. But, when the next day he hallucinated that his hands had grown as big as his head and were weighting him down and causing the boat to begin to sink, I got really worried. We were on a boat, a three-day tour in a very remote area with no real options, so we just kept Martin comfy, and hoped for the best. As soon as we got to Labuan Bajo (a town with few medical services, but high incidence of malaria), we got him checked out by a local doctor - malaria was the diagnosis. No big surprise considering we had just come back from being eaten alive by mosquitos in the field in Papua and hadn't taken our prophylaxis. There were no decent hotels to be had in Labuan Bajo, let alone flights out to get him back to Bali where the proper tests could be run to see what KIND of malaria he had! So, we got a room that I can't imagine being ill in, and Martin slept off and on while I tried to figure out how to get him to proper treatment. (As a side note, in other circumstances we probably would have thought that same room was a steal - 60,000 Rupiah for the two of us, including breakie). We got lucky the next day: after booking the absolute soonest available ticket (4 days hence), we packed everything up and went to the airport to try to get on the flight as standby, and as luck would have it, there were two no-shows, so we were on our way back to Denpasar and a medical clinic with international standards.

That was yesterday. Since then we have been back and forth from the clinic to our hotel countless times, and Martin has given them enough blood that they could open a donor clinic. The insurance company is suggesting a medical evacuation to Singapore or Australia because of the potentially serious nature of MALARIA. YIKES. More to come!

Insonem - Wriggly Wormy Delight

oh yeah, and then there were the worms... apparently a delicacy, and certainly a good source of protein?



you can't tell from the picture (oops, photographer's faux-pas), but these suckers are huge (about the length of my forearm)!

no more singing 'going to the garden to eat worms'... i really did!

*** and to answer those of you who have asked since this was originally posted: no, I wouldn't order this if I saw it offered on a menu; and to describe the experience: salty crunch.

Rujak



THIS is your fruit salad? This sweet-sour-spicey medley is, well, interesting.

It's fruit, slightly under-ripe mango, dondong, papaya, etc, coated in a sauce made from red(brown) sugar, vinager, peanuts and chilis...

you'll have to decide for yourself!

After a brief scare, I have confirmed that said previously consumed kangaroos were NOT those known to be endangered in Papua (the pygmy species), nor were they the recently discovered, cute furry tree kangaroo. Phewww....

i ate kangaroo...

i swear i didn't know it at the time! when someone said it was a pork dish at the dinner table, i simply believed them. i had a hunch... since the seas had been stormy for days (hence no fish, which is the usual fare). what's more, the entire community was tied up in the Christian Camping activities (the reason we were present on the island of Misool in the first place was to fill the environmental education sections of the schedule!)... and well, the day before i witnessed the hunting party hacking and slashing flesh after they came back from the woods with about 10 kangaroos. the final give away was the taste and texture - definitely not pork.

Had i known that there was a hunting party going out, i probably would have asked to tag along! i didn't actually get to see the kangaroos pre-butchering, but i'm told they're much smaller than the Auzzie variety (which you could see just from the bones).

Our first weekend in June was absolutely fabulous – we had a great visit with our friend Cecilia who, luxioriously for a volunteer in Indonesia, flew in to spend a long weekend with us! Cecilia lives on the same island as we do in Indonesia (Sulawesi), but that doesn’t say much, considering we are over 1000 km apart – we at the Northern tip in Manado, and she at the southern tip in the city of Makassar!… of course, we’re much more accessible to her here than we will be as of next month when we’re almost full-time in Irian Jaya (might as well be another country)!

We had a pretty busy weekend, but still lots of time for visiting and catching-up. Because it was a mere three-days, we wanted Cecilia to see as much as possible of this area… but we had to start off nice and easy because of her her delayed arrival (at 3 am – no big surprise with Indonesian airlines… if you’re not on the first flight of the day, you’re almost guaranteed to be delayed!), and of course, since it’s been 6 months since we’ve seen eachother we stayed up chatting ‘till 5am(!). So we had a liesurely breakfast and hung out at our place until mid-day on Friday, then hit the port just in time to catch public transportation to the islands (an experience in-and-of itself!). We had fortuitous timing all the way along, in fact, our stars were definitely in-line!

The purpose/pretext of our jaunt to Manado Tua Island was to go for a hike to see the monkeys (Sulawesi Black Macaque) which are said to reside at the peak of the mountain. We never did, by the way, see the monkeys, although we think we heard them, and I definitely SMELLED their presence! Manado Tua ‘mountain’ turned out to be a LOT steeper than it looks (and we’re probably not in the best shape of our lives after spending a year at sea-level), but we had a lovely, if somewhat more gruelling hike than we were expecting! We spent half of the hike on foot, and the better part of the descent on our butts!~ Our ‘guide’ was Hendra, a friend who lives on the island, and told us he knew the path to the summit - after all, he led the project to MAKE the trail! As it turns out, the project to create a path to the top of Manado Tua was completed about 10 years ago, and hasn’t been in use very much over the years… taking into account the rate of growth of lush, tropical rainforest, well, you get the picture: there was no path, at least, no continuous one. On the way up, this wasn’t a huge deal… we knew that as long as we were headed up (and it was straight up!!!), we would eventually reach the top… and we did, several hours after our ETA. (Some of the ‘several hours’ might be attributed to the frequent rest stops, including one at the family farm (how they farm on the side of that mountain, I can’t imagine!) for some refreshing coconut water…)



Of course, by the time we reached the apex, it had completely fogged over, and the promised, spectacular view that had kept driving us on all along was lost! Anyway, we had a nice rest, ate some peanuts, chatted, and prepared for what was to be the ‘much easier descent’. Well, it was the way down that was a departure from the plan… This is where the forever-stained pants come into the picture! As we hiked (bushwhacked) along, an occassional glimmer of hope would hit us as we came across a path, and followed it for a while, but it was usually short-lived, as we got a view through the trees which told us that we were headed toward the back of the island, or somehow off-course! So, we very literally, SLID our way down the mountain! What fun… but although we were exhausted, with aching feet, we were privy to some pretty fantasic views, and got a little exercise along the way! After a little break, and a late lunch, we headed back to Manado aboard Hendra’s K-ting-ting (that's Manado Tua in the background):



We slept well that night.

Sunday, before Cecilia had to catch her flight mid-day we rented a car and went for a tour into the Minahassan Highlands (and even to some areas we had yet to see in our year here!) The highlight was a beautiful lake which changed colours by the minute… due to the unique combination of its sulphurous nature, shallow depth and altitude, a slight change in the weather or the angle from which you’re looking at the lake seems to transform it completely – from deep blue, to green to aquamarine, to all shades in-bewtween!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DAD!!!

Can't believe I'm missing another one... although, given how lucky I am in the 'dad-department', I believe Father's Day should be everyday!

Thanks so much for everything! Hope you have a fabulous day!

xo,
Ange