My favourite Papuan Song has a great line which refers to the land of Papua being full of mystery. This week in Wayag has proved that beyond a doubt!
I was here for several days of meetings, and then to hold a training for Kalabia Conservation Educators, but before and after heavy, yet productive days, we took advantage of the amazing backdrop and explored the area.
We snorkeled in a Secret Bay...
the entrance to 'Secret Bay'
'Secret Bay' - over
The floor of Secret Bay - covered with a floral coral garden
Climbed to the top of two different karst mountains... (with two different groups!)
Bright clear morning overlooking the Wayag karst peaks reflected in a mirror-like sea!
Kalabia training group at Wayag
This is not staged - it is really 'climbing' to get to the peak!
Dove amongst the highest marine biodiversity on the planet...
Not to mention endless snorkeling on the considerable house reef right at the Wayag Field Station, which is home to several large black-tip reef sharks (and a baby), curious bat-fish, giant clams, massive mantis shrimp, mating octopusses and many many other species taking shelter in the special safety this entirely protected area provides.
Wayag is incredible!
Bird's-eye view - can you find the snorkelers?
Wayag also gave me the opportunity to get back to a tent again!
I have been missing living in a tent since I haven’t been spending time in the forests of Canada… but this week also gave me the opportunity to tent-it again! What a treat! Although the view from my front door is slightly different that the view I’m used to from a tent, I can’t say that’s been a problem (as you can see below)!
There is this Bay in Raja Ampat that I have wanted to visit for YEARS - I guess you could say it's right up there on my 'bucket list'! It's been there ever since I first heard about this spot, which, when the light and conditions are absolutely right, you can enjoy swimming with thousands of jellies! I was even there once, too, with the right local guy to find us the spot, but he said it wasn't really the right season at the time, so we only saw one or two... so I can't cross this place off my list just yet!
BUT.... During our annual Bird's Head Seascape meeting, which was held at our Wayag field station this year, there were a few opportunities to explore this amazing area...
And it turns out, hidden amongst these stunning karst mountains, there is a saltwater jellyfish lake RIGHT HERE!!! There were at least two species of jellyfish in the lake, one virtually carpeting the entire floor of the lake, and the other, much larger, much more intimidating one free-swimming around the slightly deeper areas.
It was such a peaceful, calm place -- hidden away from the roaring sea, it was like being in a dream. No coral tinkling, only my own heartbeat in sync with the pulsating jellyfish as I floated through the algae-thick green waters.
(Sorry, the video is not loading on the bandwidth from the field station... maybe once i'm in town again...)
In fact, an aerial survey of Wayag has shown there are actually 12 saltwater lakes here - I wonder what mysteries the other ones hold!?!
The only place in the world I had heard about where you could swim with thousands of stingless jellyfish is a land-locked lake in Palau...
Even though Palau is geographically the closest place to Raja Ampat (closer than most of the rest of Indonesia, in fact!), it is virtually impossible to get there from here! There are absolutely no direct connections. Although this is probably the most famous place on earth to experience the stingless jellies, I also just found out about another place right here in Indonesia called Kakaban Lake, in East Kalimantan! Turns out it is actually part of an area in which CI works - hmmm.....
The Jellyfish lake in Palau is also a very different situation from the bay in Raja Ampat - it is a land-locked lake, which used to be part of the sea, but which has been cut off from the sea, probably in a geological 'lifting'. It is still connected to the sea only by small fizures in the porous limestone walls surrounding it. The jellyfish were trapped in the lake, and over time in their predator-free safe haven, have evolved into 'stingless' jellyfish. Their stinging cells (or cnidocytes/nematocycts) have all but disappeared, making it possible, and some might say pleasureful, to swim amongst them.
This makes them unique from the stinging cousins in the open ocean, some species of which can cause serious pain and even death to humans!
Having just returned from a very productive, intense, week-long training session on MPA Management Planning (part of our Bird's Head Seascape Capacity-Building Training Program), I have a bit of brain drain... so I guess this post should be called Manokwari Mind MELT...
In fact, this is just to try out embedding a Google Map into my blog. Manokwari is "A" (I haven't figured out how to change the marker yet)... you can see Sorong also (the gateway city to Raja Ampat). In fact, I was trying to embed a google tour, which would've flown you from Canada (Ontario) to Manokwari, so you could get an idea of how far away we are, but it's only producing errors so far!
I don't really understand why this word holds such negative connotations for us as kids - I guess at that stage, 'icky, slimy green stuff' is easier to understand about seaweed than all the variety of impressive uses in food (directly in soups, salads and sushi, or extracts in things like ice cream, dressings and jellies), medicines (for everything from cancer to impotence), and cosmetics (lotions, shampoos, toothpaste and lipstick). Of course, there are over 60 species of red, brown, and green seaweeds, which actually aren't 'weeds' at all, nor plants for that matter. Seaweed is actually ALGAE!
Anyway, I have come to appreciate another aspect of one particular species of seaweed over the course of my growing love affair with the ocean... Floating Sargassum Seaweed mats comprise a complex mini-ecosystem of their own - an entire miniature world within a square meter! An encounter with this stuff in the wild open ocean, on the fringes of the reefs, can be a real eye-opener. I can spend ages searching each inch of any given floating mass for all kinds of interesting critters - juvenile fish, shrimp, crabs, clams, flatworms, hydroids, seahorses, etc! See if you can find some in these photos:
The sargassum frogfish, of course, being the ultimate find... Although I have never encountered one myself, I am including a few pictures here so you can see how well-camouflaged they are to their homes in the Sargassum seaweed!
Not only good for making jello, medicines and make-up anymore...
It's best use: accessorizing any costume!
Seaweed farming is on par with tourism in the islands of Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Penida, the area of Bali Martin is calling home for now, while he enjoys showing guests the natural wonders of the seas.
This seaweed stuff is pretty incredible, really, and new uses are being discovered for it all the time, specifically with regards to new medicines... and in fact, if done properly and sustainably, seaweed farming doesn't have to be destructive to the marine and coastal environment. Unfortunately, in Nusa Penida, a great deal of mangrove forests were cleared and coral reefs were lifted in the creation of these expansive seaweed farms.
I've written a little about my Hashing experiences previously here and here...
But I've rarely showed you pictures... Well, I got brave and took my camera on the Hash a couple weeks ago, and then the other day I was also given a few pics by friends... so now you can see for yourselves what Hashing in Bali is really about!
This last picture captures pretty well the state of relief I was in when I finally stumbled back, in the dark, from the Super-super-super long run for Sari/Inul's birthday run - it was actually set as an extra-long, but due to a slip-up by the 'hare' (the guy setting the trail for the run), I ended up doing it at least once and a half - 20+ kms in the most mountainous area of Bali - seriously... I scrambled up and down at least 6 different ridges, crossed at least 4 rivers (or maybe the same river a few times!?), and started to get paranoid that I was going to be spending the night somewhere out on the trail once it started to get dark and I was still in the middle of absolutely nowhere, having seen neither another hasher nor a local for at least an hour!!!
The five intrepid Bali Female Divers had a magical day of diving on Nusa Penida island in Bali yesterday.
It was my first time seeing the mola-mola, and we saw 6 of these funky fantastical creatures... and had them all to ourselves! So lucky!
Sari Flying with the Mola!
Mola a la Macro!
Sunfish Silhouette
Is it a bird... is it a plane... ???
Up Close and Personal
Even though I had seen pictures, and heard stories, I wasn't prepared for the encounter, and was happily blown away! These are the largest bony fish in the ocean, and probably also the wackiest! From their profile, side-on, it's obvious where they got their common name, oceanic sunfish (or moon fish, as in french (poisson lune) or spanish (pez luna))!
Wacky creature
But they all-but disappear if you catch them directly head- or tail-on!?
Where'd he go?
We also held a little underwater flag-raising ceremony for Indonesian Independence Day (17 August)! Thanks to Sari for organizing this fabulous day, and to her and the other ladies for making it so much fun!
Two weeks ago I joined Martin on another magical dive on Nusa Penida (where he is currently working as a super-awesome (constantly smiling) dive guide) - to see the always-magical Manta Rays. Sorry, I don't have as many photos, because we made mostly video that day...
Origins of the names Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya
I thought I had written about it before, on one of our first visits to Papua, but I see I may have made a mistake...
Actually the roots of the name are multi-faceted:
In 1511, The Portuguese (Jorge de Meneses) called the island "Ilhas dos Papuas" (Island of the Fuzzy Hairs) from the Malay word 'papuwah' or "puah-puah" for a frizzled quality, like wool, because of the inhabitants' fuzzy hair.
Not many years later, the Spanish (Ynigo Ortiz de Reyes) provided the 'New Guinea', as the black skin of the inhabitants reminded them of Guinea, Africa.
The Indonesian half of the island of Papua New Guinea was given the name Irian Jaya when it became part of Indonesia in 1963 (although the name had been proposed since 1945). 'Irian' is actually from the Biak language (one of the local languages in the region), and means "hot land rising from the sea". 'Jaya' means "victorious" in Indonesian.
The province's name was changed back to West Papua on February 7 2007.
I have a few of my own pictures of the amazing amount of produce, wares, and people that Indonesians squash onto a motorcycle... and have previously blogged a little bit about it in a few previous posts, including a little bit here, but this spoof pic really cracked me up!
It's actually not so far off - I routinely see mini scooters with all 5 members of the family on-board (Mom, Dad, babe-in-arms, and two young kids) driving around Bali!
As I was saying... Bangkok felt shiny and modern in a lot of areas (a lot of areas still held some traditional charm, and were not too far away from what I used to imagine 'Siam' was like). The most stark modernity was to be had downtown at the Siam Paragon mall.
Siam Paragon, Bangkok, Thailand
The Siam Paragon also houses the first truly luxury movie theatre I have ever seen... Completely private deluxe seats which adjust all the way into lying position, Thai silk blankets and pillows... complete with service right to your seat - in case you forgot to get popcorn or a drink, or have a sudden craving after the movie begins! You pay for this luxury, of course... about the same as the price of a normal movie ticket at home!? 600-700THB compared to 180 for the regular theatre (which is still pretty comfy)!
When we were there, the Siam Paragon was also hosting a fabulous food event - specialty foods from all the regions around Thailand were on expo... so we got to taste a few more without even leaving Bangkok! Yumm...
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