Appropriate Tshirt

The translation of the phrase on this ladies' tshirt is "Coming together to push ahead/move forward"...  how appropriate, no!?!  This lady was such a great subject I couldn’t get over it… fishing with the kiddies on the jetty in the blaring sun.

Senat

Senat is the name in Indonesian for these special rattan mats...

I remember at our cottage growing up we had precisely these as blinds on the windows... the way the morning sun reflected off the water and through the slats to wake me up each morning is a peaceful feeling I will never forget.

Here, they are the central entity in any home... the central point around which life revolves.  Discussions get heated, bread gets broken, plans are hatched, and babies are born onto these mats.

Anyway, here in Indonesia I’ve sat on them many many times, but never witnessed all the work that goes into their creation...

...often it means a trip to the 'kebun' (farm), which may be several kilometers away by boat...

...then another distance on foot...

... then the rattan has to be dried, split and shaved...

(and sometimes further treated as well)

... then each individual piece gets added on with woven threads...

And the central instrument of life is finally complete...

Turtle Rescue

In the village of Waisilip, as we were coming back from a field trip with the students, we passed a sea turtle, which, upon closer inspection I found to be alive.

He was helplessly on his back.... barely breathing.

Ironically only a few hours previously we adjusted the schedule so that we would be studying about sea turtles and their vulnerability to extinction the following day.  Even so, not only the students, but also the educators, just walked right by!?

Have they not been toting the conservation line for two years now???

Anyway, I couldn't ignore it, and directly asked if we could find the 'owner' to see how we could rescue this turtle before he became sausages (as we know would happen)...  my thought being that even if we had to buy the turtle in order to release it, we would do just that...

After speaking with the fisherman who had captured the turtle, he agreed to release it.  We explained that we were there to teach the students about sea turtles and conserving nature, and did he know that Raja Ampat is one of the few places that sea turtles still seem to be in abundance (and even then, the anecdotes tell the tell of drastic population declines)... that they are protected internationally because they are in danger of extinction.  We got him to agree that it would be a great lesson for them to see the turtle released.... and he seemed understanding... and we didn't even have to offer anything.  Whether from embarrassment, or comprehension, at least the turtle avoided being on the menu that day!

Unfortunately, we know that every year hundreds of his cousins aren't so lucky...

Anchovy Fritters

A neat new food find… right onboard!

These little fish, called ikan teri/ikan puri (similar to sardines, I guess they're actually a kind of anchovy) make for a pretty tasty snack… now you would think preparing a fish this size would be a royal pain in the a$%… but not at all!  If you chop the head and pull all the innards just slip right out… and they are cooked (and eaten) with the bones in!  Our cook made his specialty: Fish Fritters!

Anchovies make up part of a popular 'bar snack' here also... dried anchovies mixed in with peanuts.  Not my favourite, but people seem to really like it!?  I'll have to remember to take a pic so y'all believe me!

This one is not a sardine, but a juvenile box fish that came with the batch of small fish!

A side note:  I have the next few posts set up to go automatically, so don't get confused... yes, I am in the wilds of Papua doing my trek, and will let you know all about it when I get back!

Another kind of 'floating school'

There are lots of more serious problems with the education system here in Raja Ampat and in Indonesia in general… But I must say, it surprised me, when we went to the virtually new village of Waisilip (created to be the seat of the local district in 2001)...




The school floods at even the slightest rain.  Many people refer to our boat-based environmental education program as 'the floating school' or the 'floating education station'... but now that phrase takes on a whole new meaning!

It's no wonder, actually.  The entire village area is sitting on reclaimed land from mangrove swamps.  Nature always wins and takes back what's hers.  The surprising part is that the design and development of this village was done in complete and total ignorance!?  The school is brand new (no more than 5 years), but no one can go to school if it rains... which it does for about 6 months of the year.

This was only a light afternoon shower... just imagine once the rainy season really hits!?

The Islands of West Waigeo

Just having returned from another trip aboard the Kalabia education vessel, I really feel like I’m getting to know Raja Ampat… or better said, to know how much I don’t know!  Each region we visit is quite distinct, each group of students, and each community very different, not only in the language they speak (there are about 10 different languages, with some of them having several different dialects depending on the region around the islands), but also in their manner, attitudes, behaviours, etc.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a little bit about the area we visited, apart from the Kalabia program itself (which I have written about in my reports, and the Kalabia blog – hope to be published soon!).

Our Route:

Our route took us from Sorong to the small villages of Waisilip, Meosmanggara (and Manyaifun), Gag, Fam (and Saukabu).

The single dive we got the chance to do was at a site called Melissa’s Garden… one of the most famous sites in Raja Ampat… quite lovely, and within 2 kms of a village we did a program in.  So we got up extra early and did one dive before the program even got started.  Even thought it was first-light, and it felt like the reef was ‘still sleeping’…. we encountered a few interesting things… flatworms, a wobbie (wobbegong shark)...

... and lots of crinoid shrimp commensals (you can see some pics in my previous blog - my camera fogged up, unfortunately, so I didn’t any great shots).  I was disappointed that the only thing left of the giant clams I’d heard about were their empty shells...

When we were in the village of Fam/Saukabu on the Kalabia, the biggest news was a story of a diver who had been lost last month (mid-May?), thought to have been eaten by a giant octopus... Just one dive-site away from Melissa's Garden.  The villagers said there were four liveaboards all gathered attempting to 'free her'....  Their story was somewhat fantasical (included rescue efforts botched by giant octopus ink sprays, diver-to-surface tele-communications (where the victim was able to communicate that she was trapped inside the cave by the giant octopus, and running low on air), body nor any gear ever seen again...).  They are also now terrified of this giant octopus and the diver's ghost, that they think must now be haunting this particular area... I am attempting to corroborate the story, and hopefully get them a more accurate version!?  We saw an octopus while snorkeling in Waisilip, but he was not of a proportion to be in any position to devour a human... and he was much more intimidated by us, than we needed be of him, changing colour and texture several times as I tried to snap an in-focus shot of him... check out this sequence:

Snorkeling with the students was a lot of fun, as usual, and we usually saw both relatively healthy reefs, alongside evidence of destruction.  Martin found an unexploded bomb in one spot, and a potassium poison spray bottle on another!

Anyway, although the program was as full as always, we tried to find a little time for a little exercise (volleyball, whatever you call what Martin is doing here, and even yoga – which the entire village came out to watch!?!)

The head of Gag village was the most incredible man - obviously open-minded, and much more ‘worldly’ than many of his counterparts I have met on previous occasions.  Even though Gag is targeted for serious nickel mining exploitation, he is set upon doing everything possible to minimize the impact of those activities on the local environment.  Whether that's possible or not is another question?  When it rained, the bays flooded murky with red mud, and the mouth of the river has quite a build-up of silt... and they haven't even opened up the uplands yet.  You can see the red hues of the nickel in the hills even in the Google Earth map above!

As we were docking at the village, he saw me, and said, in flawless English… Welcome to Gag Island… Small, but nice!  Then after his closing remarks at the program closure, he proceded to serenade us with a song of remembrance - in English!

The head of the village from Saukabu village was just as charismatic, but in a much more local Papuan way… he’s the first village leader that has come snorkeling with us and the kids, and in fact participated in almost the entire program... he even dressed up in our Kalabia mascot costume!  There were lots of other interesting characters in this village as well, including this old fisherman who regaled me with stories of 'the old days'!

Mostly in these villages, the favourite (if only) pass-time is fishing (young and old)... In most of these communities they are still able to catch decent-sized fish right from their jetties...

There are a few more individual posts from this trip yet to come...

HAPPY DAY!

Wouldn't even know it's Canada Day here... bummer!  Oh well, I hope you're all enjoying festive celebrations!

HAPPY CANADA DAY EVERYONE!

And more importantly...

Happy 38th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!!!

Bugzzzz!

The bug – I think it’s possible I've found the cause of my swollen face/head etc from last month’s trip to Misool… this little guy.  Who’s not so little, by the way, at about 12 cm!

As far as bugs - beetles, moths, butterflies, etc - I swear I have never seen the same one twice in Raja Ampat…. I usually see a few that at first glance appear to be the same, however upone closer inspection there is some colour or structural variation….  Amazing… Especially attracted to the ship's lights at night, all shapes and sizes flutter about - I’m sure if we had a ‘bug geek’ aboard the Kalabia, they would go wild!

I guess I figured since I'd been blogging about all the wondrous critters in the sea I'd better put something up from the 'top side' as well!