Clan Tokens

Protected not only by the spirit of the sea, which keeps sea-faring Papuans out of harms way (according to the Raja Ampat Creation myth), but also their clan token, the people of Raja Ampat should feel very safe.


The token animal belief system in Raja Ampat is very interesting.  Though different to that of North America with which I am familiar, where each individual has a token animal protector, in Raja Ampat, the protection is awarded by an entire species on an entire clan (marga).  And the people believe that it is not just their protector, but their relative.


This belief is not necessarily prevalent throughout the archipelago, but I can't necessarily narrow it down to a particular tribe, although certainly many Biak subscribe.


Basically the token animal takes care of the people of the clan, and the clan in turn cares for the token animal... they are forbidden to consume their token animal, and often the clan will lobby for the protection of the species and their habitat.  The clans are extremely respectful of their token and look to it for signs of community and clan well-being... if anything unusual happens regarding it, they believe it is as a result of some action, offense or wrong-doing on their part.


Certain family clans are connected directly to certain species… For example, the story from Yenbuba village on Mansuar Island:  The clan Sawing comprises the entire village except two families.  This clan is related directly to the oceans' whales, and they won't eat or harm any marine mammals.  In the 1990’s there was a whale that they believe was pricked by a mantis shrimp, so that it died and was beached on the beach facing the village…  the kids from the community played on the carcass, climbing up and down when it was fresh.  Several weeks later once it started to rot and reek, almost all the kids in the entire village became deathly ill.  All of the kids from the Sawing clan, that it... not the other four kids in the village.  The village elders gathered the community and they performed a traditional ceremony asking for forgiveness from the whale's spirit and nature if they had wronged it, and the children were cured.

Whether coincidence or not, or the family actually has, for instance, a shared allergy that might explain the strange story, I don't know, but stories like this bolster their beliefs and make them stronger.  I wonder if in some way this is another ancient form of resource management /species conservation???

Legends, Beliefs and Myths of Raja Ampat

The mysteries and legends of Raja Ampat are very rich.  The Papuans have maintained an oral tradition, passing down their stories, their history and their legends mainly through song, as their languages were not written.  Not having a written language is one of the things that now causes things like the four different spellings of the villages own name we encountered in Warsamdin (aka Warsandin, Warsambin, Warsanbin).

Since the 300-year Dutch occupation, which at the beginning resulted in the loss of almost all traditional Papuan artifacts (thought to be anti-Christian), and continuing with the Indonesian occupation which began with the burning of all books and any remaining artifacts, it is fortunate that the Papuans had an oral tradition, otherwise none of their history would have survived at all.  However, like in Canada, the US and Australia, the colonizers forbid the natives from speaking their tribal tongues, to the sad end that those languages are now going extinct (I was once in a village called Beneraf in the Sarmi Regency of Papua where there were only 2 surviving speakers of the language, and they were in their 70s).  No doubt with the underuse of the language, and the subsequent extinction, much of the history, legends and myths have been lost as well.

There are still some surviving stories in Raja Ampat, although today's youth don't seem to know them, and are not interested in learning... It's a sad state of affairs.  I've been trying to convince the Kalabia education team that they are in the perfect position to collect and compile these stories into a book, but they have yet to really take the idea and run with it - a shame, because they have the perfect opportunity to do so as children of Raja Ampat, who visit each and every village in the archipelago, and with at least one team member who speaks every language onboard.  Actually, I was told by one elder that certain stories can be only passed along a very specific kin line anyway, and if the indicated person doesn't show an interest, or the predecessor dies before having a chance to pass on the inheritance, it is lost to this world.

A couple 'Cerita Rakyat' still around today, in addition to the Raja Ampat creation myth:

The people of Ayau have a lovely story about how they came to live in the Ayau archipelago (their 'promised land') with the help of sea turtles.  It begins, as any good myth does... "Once upon a time, a long, long time ago.."

Pada suatu saat di masa yang sudah lama sekaliiiii....waktu dulu duluuuu eee........

There was a small village that was preparing for a huge fiesta.  The villagers had to go in search of a lot of food so that the entire community could eat it's fill at the feast, so they began to divide up tasks for fishing.  Now, way back then, there was no such things as a 'johnson outboard motor', ships, or speedboats that can easily travel long distances like there are now.  People had to row, using their traditional prows, sometimes with the addition of a sail to add to their speed a little bit, and not make the people too tired.  While the fishermen were out at sea bouncing amongst the waves in their little dugouts... all of a sudden a huge, yet good, seaturtle appeared... The sea turtle had been watching the fishermen patiently yet painstakingly fishing with their lines, occasionally pulling out tiny fish... they weren't having much luck.  So the turtle began to pull one of the boats that held two fishers aboard named Igo dan Ina... he pulled them all the way to another set of islands which were not so very far away from Igo and Ina's village.

On this new island, Igo and Ina were very very happy because the island was rich with marine resources - lots of fish, huge sea turtles, large shellfish, and much more marine life.  There were beautiful, colourful shapely shells.  On the island itself there was an expansive forest anda large sago plain.  It was obvious to them that there would always be plenty for people to eat here.

After discovering this paradise, Igo and Ina went home to their village and told their family and community about it.  They were all in agreement to move to this new island that Igo and Ina had found, and once they moved there they were very happy, because the island was full of fish.

Since this time, sea turtles and people have been good friends, because it was the turtle that gave the people this paradise where life was better for them.

In general the people, and especially fishermen, of Raja Ampat believe that they must protect the dolphins in order to protect their livlihood (the fish stocks)...  They have several stories of the dolphins leading fishermen to good fishing spots after hours of desperate searching at sea, and also a story about a dolphin rescuing a lost fisherman and returning him home safely to his village after days at sea.  The common belief is that if the dolphins are plentiful, the fish will be plentiful, so they will never catch or harm a dolphin.

Most of the stories I've ever heard in Papua are related to people living in harmony and respecting nature - the tradition, not the exception, in native Raja Ampat culture.  We included the above story of the sea turtle from Ayau in the Kalabia education module as a catalyst for discussion of the traditional ways of looking at nature, and discuss current conservation efforts.

Avatar

When I watched the movie 'Avatar' for the first time, it truly struck a chord with me.  Not just because of the cool 3D graphics and amazing special effects... but because of the story.  It hit home.

As the saying goes, history repeats itself, and when you take away the special effects and blue avatars, this film portrays the current situation in West Papua, and the situation which has recurred time and time again throughout history on possibly all continents worldwide.

I have written a few posts recently involving some conspiracy theories related to Independence of West Papua from Indonesia... regardless of that, the movement in Papua is strong.  And the fear that if they don't gain independence the people and culture will become extinct is very real.

So what's the big deal, right?  63 countries around the world have recognized Papua's bid for independence from Indonesia, and no one can deny the cultural basis for their argument... so why doesn't Indonesia just grant them the Independence that they should have had since 1963 and go their separate ways peacefully... that's all the Papuans are asking for...

Well, the answer is simple:  If they were to grant West Papua independence, then Indonesia would go from being one of the most resource-rich countries on Earth, to being a very poor country, overnight.  Papua is known as the 'kitchen of Indonesia' within Indonesia... but I prefer to refer to it as the 'wallet'...   Papua is extremely rich in natural resources - forests, fisheries and minerals which are relatively untouched.  Resources which the rest of Indonesia, and indeed, most of the rest of the world, have depleted past the point of recovery.  Resources which are currently being extracted and exploited for the benefit of Indonesia, not necessarily Papua.  It's not hard to believe, as someone told me was reported in the 2010 Statistics Indonesia report, that Papua's contribution to the economic wealth of the country is higher than any other province... but what doesn't make a lot of sense is...

According to the same report of the latest data from Statistics Indonesia, Papuans are the poorest of all Indonesians with more people living in poverty than anywhere else in the country - when I looked up the data, in turns out it's at 3 TIMES the national average!

This discrepancy is unacceptable, and the Papuan people are fed up with it and pushing for action.  The last time a solution was put on the table was in 2001, when Papua was granted 'Special Autonomy', which was supposed to allow for regional decision-making, and Traditional Councils given the power to rule according to traditional law.  It's been ten years, and most Papuans call it a failure.

Native Papuans are already minorities on their own lands... the data from last years' census shows that it is now 60% non-native Papuans residing in Papua to 40% indigenous Papuans.  Of those non-native 60%, half have moved here within the past 10 years.  Some would talk of a conspiracy there as well... but barring that, the current plans for transmigration are outrageous - if they go ahead, the native Papuan tribes will become extinct within a generation or two.  The plans for Raja Ampat, a Regency with a population of approximately 40,000 people (I don't know the percentage of native to non-) is targeted to receive 300,000 Javanese in the coming years.  Can you say sitting ducks, or better yet, Dodo birds?

And this is not to mention the effect the transmigration mindset has on the environment (see this previous post for musings on that topic).

A good friend, and advocate for West Papuan Independence said to me last week, "Indonesia loves Papua's natural resources, but they don't love the Papuan people".

Division

There are many instances of new villages being created in Raja Ampat... a village literally being divided into two, not physically or geographically (no new village sites), but purely administratively.  It is extremely strange, especially considering that there is no increase in population to warrant it.

The longer I'm here in Raja Ampat, the more conspiracy theories I'm exposed to, and the less preposterous those conspiracy theories sound... this splitting up of villages, for instance, seems to me to be based more on two alterior motives than the need for new administrative clout due to population expansion…  Those two reasons have to do with money and power.

Regardless of very small populations, an additional village means an additional set of administrative officials and an additional set of monies that are distributed yearly…  This infusion of cash should be a good thing for community development... right?  Well, in addition to the new funds, it turns out the new officials are not elected, as I had always assumed they must be (you know, the ‘head of the village’ is originally from the village, and elected by and represents the people)… but no, that is not necessarily the case... they are appointed, and almost always foreigners (from other parts of Indonesia, most often Java).

In this way, it splits up the native people and strips them of any administrative powers they might have to empower their own communities and people.  Because the head of the village feels no connection or responsibility to the community, he robs the coffers blind and does nothing to further the community and feels no remorse about it at all.  Every trip I have been on with the Kalabia in the past 6 months has had at least one or two new villages either just placed or in the works…  It has basically become a bit of a joke… ‘Village limits’ are just lines drawn through the centre of town… they’re not actually ‘new village sites’!

The worst part is that the people are blindly happy and proud that they have received a ‘new village’, and in a lot of cases, completely oblivious at what is actually happening.

The splitting up of 'Districts' (originally 4 when I first came to Raja Ampat, now 24), has been sited to me as another means of dividing the people...  And not only that, but because each District must have a military police post, manned by migrants brought in from other parts of Indonesia, the area ends up being blanketed in an Indonesian military force.  This seems suspiciously convenient given the current state of the Papuan freedom movement, and the genocidal techniques the Indonesian government has employed in the past to quell uprisings in both Timor and Papua... Doesn't it?

Sorry, I usually try to keep politics and work out of these blog posts... but I guess it's just getting too exasperating!

Siri-Pinang (Betelnut) in the Papuan Tradition

Pinang (Betelnut in English) is ubiquitous throughout Papua.  I've written about it before, and I found this funny 'how-to' on WikiHow.

In addition to being a simple habit for Papuans, it is also a very important cultural entity.  Known as "kakes", "bahan kontak" and "siri pinang", betelnut plays a role to bring people together, and it is always offered at the beginning of meetings or gatherings.

I remember when the Kalabia was first scheduled to go to Kapadiri, North Waigeo, an area with rich nikel deposits and incredibly rich forests where communities had been thriving from the benefits of working with mining and logging companies.  There had been a misunderstanding, and the village was under the assumption that we were coming to basically shut down the mining/logging operations in the area…  When the team and crew went to meet with the village council, they were very angry, upset, and almost ready to throw the team out!  But as soon as the team brought out the siri-pinang, the atmosphere changed, tempers settled, and they community elders were able to be open to listen to the real mission and vision of the Kalabia.  Although Kalabia had delayed the program at Kapadiri due to the rumours that it would not be well-received, after holding the siri-pinang discussion, when the Kalabia arrived the following month (March 2010) in the village it was to one of the warmest, most incredible traditional ceremonial welcomings that she had every received!

Surprisingly enough, these mini-palm fruits open lines of communication and often facilitate the conflict management process allowing some serious problems to be settled!

*  Note:  I have recently learned that the Health Canada banned the import of betel nut into Canada and excludes it from their list of acceptable Herbals used as non-medicinal ingredients in nonprescription drugs in human use due to its carcinogenic and narcotic properties. (see the Drugs Directorate Policy on Herbals used as Non-medicinal Ingredients in Nonprescription Drugs in Human Use on the HC site here)

Spirits of the Sea in Raja Ampat

The first village on our October 2010 Education trip was the tiny village of Yenbuba on Mansuar Island in the Dampier Strait Area.  This village is not drastically dissimilar to the majority of villages in Raja Ampat, but there was something special here…

The captain was late for our departure from Sorong, and combined with the weather and waves, it meant arriving at our destination of Yenbuba in the middle of the night.  Not being sure of the condition of the jetty at Yenbuba, the captain decided not to take the risk of docking at a new site at night, and went around the corner (which was not ‘just around the corner’ but a 1.5 hour steam around to the other side of the island) to find a safe spot to drop anchor until the crew had a better chance to assess the situation in the morning and possibly move the boat back around to the dock.

The crew prepared to drop anchor as usual, and when the captain gave the signal, they let fly… I was roused from my work by alarmed shouts from the bow as the crew realized that the end of the anchor line wasn’t secured, and they tried in vain to hold the end of the rope themselves - we learned the hard way the origin of the saying 'the bitter end'!  As the last of it slipped through their hands, we noted the gps position, radar reference and sonar display, but with the combination of the continued motion of the ship, the swift currents, and the fact that it was dark and we could take no point of visual reference from land, I realized there was a very small possibility that our position was accurate and that we might find the anchor.

How it’s possible that anyone would think to toss anchor without it attached to the ship is absolutely incomprehensible to me… but no one is placing any blame, although this disastrous situation was a combination of very blatent human errors…

For four days, with the help of our monitoring team, another few local volunteer divers, we searched the 50-meter depths for our lost anchor. (This of course, while the education program continued in the village).  Even with the use of the ship’s sounder, radar, gps and the entire crews’ recollection of the events, we found no signs of it and so after too many days at too deep depths, we called off the search.  Only later that night did we find out that during the time we were combing the depths, the village elders were extremely concerned for us…

Turns out the exact spot that we lost our anchor is the long-time home of a local sea ghost.  The community believes that our anchor was perhaps taken and hidden by the ghost, and it was obvious to them that was the reason we were unable to recover it during out exhaustive search.  They apologized… they were worried about us and should’ve warned us, but were afraid we would think they were silly backward local traditions.  Of course, how could we know this was not a spot to be messed with… they didn’t blame us, but suggested that if we wanted to any hope of every finding our anchor, or if we wanted to apologize to the spirits for dumping it on them in the first place, it would be best to perform a traditional ceremony.  They couldn’t guarantee anything of course, but it was the right thing to do, so not wanting to disappoint them, we proceeded with the ceremony.

All this news came to us via a member of our team who is originally from Yenbuba, who heard through a friend and community member – they suggested we confer with the local traditional council, and acknowledge our ignorance and recent awareness of the issue.  In order to do this, we had to go to the home of one of the village elders, where three of the prominent village elders were gathered and received us.  They conversed with us in bahasa Indonesia and in their local language (through our friend and team-member), and we all decided, regardless of the fact that we had called off the search, that it would be best to apologize in case our inappropriate actions had angered the spirits, however unintentioned.

I thought we were just going for a meeting to decide on the next steps, but all of a sudden we were in motion… gathering the required elements for a proper ceremony, and heading into the forest along the path to the coastal area where the sea spirit roams.  (Of course, I was barefoot, but I figured with all the playing on a gravel driveway, I could handle it… although I was fine, my feet are certainly nothing compared to the tough feet of the men who led us – their thick and gnarled leather soles have no need for shoes – a result of a lifetime without shoes on any and all surfaces, of the men who led us).

As we traveled into the forest, we were met by the remains of a previous failed attempt to build a road… a little while later we came face to face with the reason it failed:  the skeletons of the machines that didn’t make it to the end laid scattered along the ‘roadside’, silently telling the tale of yet another example of poorly planned and executed building/construction scheme fraught with corruption.  When I asked how long ago the road was under construction, the response took me by surprise: 2 years… how quickly the tropical forest and Nature takes back what’s hers.

Without any word, we stopped at the top of the hill when the elder dropped to his knees and raised his crossed arms over his forehead and began to speak to the mountain.  He was letting the nature spirits know of our mission to go make an offering and asking, with the greatest respect, for permission for our safe passage through the forest.  Apparently this is the first stop on any journey to make an offering, and the place the elder can best connect to the nature spirits.  (I later found out this hill is now called ‘gunung wartel’ or phonebooth mountain, because it is the only place you can get a cell signal on the island – ahhh the irony!)

He got up as though nothing had happened and we carried on along our way.  Finally we broke free of the disheveled road and to my relief (and that of my poor, easily-toasted skin) made our way along a pleasantly-shaded, fresh footpath path.  When we got to the spot the elder deemed to be closest to the sea spirits’ home (and the spot we lost our anchor), we stopped again.  This time we waited as a makeshift temple was created out of completely natural materials (sticks for the table, with large beach leaves as the offering dishes.  (According to the elder the nature spirits dislike it if any plastic or non-natural materials are used.)  Onto the offering dishes were placed the customary tri-substance medley:  siri pinang kapur (betelnut, siri and lime) along with cigarettes.  Had we had more time I was told that preparations would’ve included yellow rice as well as three pieces of cloth (one each red, yellow and black).

The offerings to nature and the spirits of the sea, also called 'kakes' in the local language, were offered in a special ceremony to ask forgiveness in case we had disturbed the spirits or the balance of nature.  The ceremony was lead by the same village elder and the speech was seemingly indistinguishable from the first time atop the hill to me (I caught only a few words that I have learned in this local language).  This particular village elder is said to be the only one to have a direct strong connection to the natural spirits.  Another village elder then said a prayer (which, of course, I couldn’t distringuish from the previous ‘ceremony’)!

Ok, so we’ve appeased the sea spirit, and we’re getting in the boat and heading back now, right?  Nope, there is a third ceremony to our ceremonial series, which involves getting in the boat and going to the actual home of the sea spirit to toss more offerings directly into the sea,  complete with another communion with the spirits.

I certainly hope with all this we were able to appease the sea spirits, and even if we never do see our anchor again, it was very interesting to be involved and witness the process, and I felt honoured to be included.  And I wonder if the spirits from Yenbuba were indeed the manifestation of the Spirit which was hatched from the 7th egg from the Raja Ampat creation myth?

I remember the first time I came to Raja Ampat I had the feeling that there was something truly magical/mystical about this place…  That feeling has been slowly degrading over the last couple years… I can’t believe that the magic has become commonplace to me, but I would less like to believe that it has been lost to the area.  Sitting on the jetty at Yenbuba in the evening talking about the stories of the elders after a day full of interesting happenings made me feel it again…but also made me think it will be lost soon… the new generation more interested in praying to the cellular god than finding any kind of truly meaningful relationship with the spirits of the sea or cultivating the rich culture and traditions of their people.

Just as a note for those of you reading this and asking if she’s gone off her rocking with all this talk of sea spirits and ghosts… No, I don’t necessarily believe in ghosts, but I do believe in the power of belief, and I respect the beliefs of those areas I visit and people I encounter.  I also find it very interesting from an anthropological stand-point, and would never want to deter anyone from sharing their traditional stories and beliefs!  Especially those that respect and honour the power and intricacies of nature and Mother Earth.

Sorry no pics of this, as I said, it was completely spontaneous, and I didn’t even have the chance to grab shoes let alone a camera!!!

Kaliyam & Wailebet Villages: Forests & Fish Bombing

I just found these musings from October 2010, and supposes I might as well publish them to my blog...

From Yenbuba, we moved the Kalabia over to the village of Kaliyam, near the Westerly end of Sagawin Strait on a full day 11 hour steam.  This was to be a joint program involving the villages of Kaliyam and Wailebet, as supposedly the numbers of students were quite small… (it’s a whole other programmatic story, but they were not as small as we were informed, and so we ended up with a 40-student program!)

The Kalabia moored at Kaliyam and the team immediately began the socialization and coordination of the joint program.   The view of the forests from the Kalabia was incredible, and every morning as we prepared to receive the students I took a few moments to appreciate the lush green, literally littered with the white dots of sulphur-crested cockatoos.  I mourned in advance for them, since during our time in Kaliyam, we were surrounded by the sounds of chainsaws ripping down their homes.

Snorkeling at Pulau Sagawin was a very pleasant and unexpected surprise, with very good coral coverage and fish variety.  After becoming aware of the situation with the forest and the turtles in the village, I hadn’t hoped for much in the water…  And in fact, if we had been just around the corner, I would’ve gotten what I expected – shattered reefs blown apart by bombs.  But the bomb fishermen don’t come from here… they zoom by the village with their fancy prows, the villages hear the bombs, and then the prows zoom back toward the city of Sorong, their coolers full, leaving death and destruction in their wake along with bewildered villagers wondering why no one is doing anything about their evil influence on the local food security issue.  When I ask why they don’t deny the illegal fishers access to their reefs, they don’t have much of a response… in general this is the way of non-aggressive, humanistic people.

Stories from the villagers of the whale migrations that go through during the 'season of wind and waves', made me wish we here at that time…  but then we would have missed the traditional wedding ceremony we were invited to!

Why Sigh?

Why Sigh?

Waisai (pronounced as above) is the new capital of the Raja Ampat regency.  You would think with the opportunity to create a capital city from scratch, you would make sure you got it right… learn from past mistakes, or mistakes made in other places, and be able to create something inspired... incredible…

Disappointingly, not the case here…. Unfortunately there are plenty of reasons to sigh in exasperation when you visit Waisai.  The rate of growth is entirely uncontrolled and the cause of so many issues, planning is helter-skelter and driven by corruption… I won’t stop short of calling it a disaster, much more so because it is the gateway to the relatively pristine area of Raja Ampat.  Garbage fills the streets and waterways.  Where healthy mangroves were just 2 years ago, with clean clear water, now sit puddles of murky malaria-carrying-mosquito-breeding mud.  The beachfront, which was a nice blacksand beach, was reclaimed - extended out into the sea, and then because of course it was immediately damaged by wind and wave action, a hideous seawall was built, and behind it filled in with white sand (brought from other beaches, which, duh, now have serious erosion issues)… do I need to even mention the state of the current sea wall?

When you look around Waisai, you don't feel like you're in Raja Ampat, let alone Papua.  Everyone I speak to one the street has moved here from other provinces within the past couple years.  I have written previously about the effects of transmigration on nature conservation, and I think Waisai is proof!

Crazy Rice

On my way through Jakarta this time I discovered a little treat right around the corner from the budget hotel where I usually stay... Crazy Rice!  The place is called "Nasi Gila", literally crazy rice, and is known for its unique dish...

It should be noted of course, that there are as many varieties of Nasi Goreng Gila as there are crazies in Jakarta!

Whirling Dervishes

With a 6 hour transit in Istanbul on my way back to Indonesia last month, instead of hanging out in the airport, I decided I would like to see a little of this city steeped in history.  Turkish Airlines actually offers a free city tour if you are in transit for 8 hours or more, but that didn't apply to me, unfortunately, so...

I hopped on the subway, transferred to the tram, and bumped and jostled my way into the heart of the old city... one that has been the heart of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, and spans two continents!  As I watched the sunset over the Blue Mosque, I walked along the Bosphorus, feet firmly in Europe, and gazed over at the full moon rising over Asia, dolphins frolicking in the foreground.

I walked the narrow cobblestone back alleyways of Sultan Ahmet, admiring history in the patchwork of layer after layer of building materials used to rebuild crumbling walls after each of the many earthquakes that have plagued the city.  And I covered as much ground, and absorbed as much of the life as I could in the short time I had.

After prayers, when the devout streamed out of the mosques as the sun set, the city came to life, and I realized that there was no better time to be here than during the fasting month of Ramadan!  The public plazas were filled with colourful decorations, families and lovers, music, and FOOD!  I watched the Whirling Dervishes - to be perfectly honest, I had no idea that this was something that actually existed... I guess I had a vague inkling that it was a term for someone running around crazy like a chicken with their head cut off, or perhaps a Tasmanian devil type figure... Now that I have delved into the story, I can say that it's just the opposite of that silly notion!  In fact, the Whirling Dervishes are a sect of Muslims, and the dance symbolizes the harmony of life - the motion is that of the earth and every molecule there-in, just as electrons revolve around the nucleus of all existing matter.  You can see more about the Whirling Dervishes on this interesting page.

I sat in the evening plaza, munching on my doner, and reveled in partaking in the routine daily life of this Turkish city.

Sticky, sickeningly sweet candy-on-a-stick in hand, I headed back to the airport, utterly exhausted!

Sea Lions

One of my favourite things about the Galapagos Islands are the sea lions (or lobos marinos - sea wolves - in Spanish).  They are certainly ubiquitous on San Cristobal Island... and not only on the beaches and natural spaces.  It's not uncommon to look up from reading your book or having a nap on a bench on the boardwalk to see you're actually sharing your bench with a sea lion pup...

... or to gaze out into the turquoise waters from the jetty to see a sea lion floating along, basking in the sun...

... or vying for position on the jetty steps...

... and you know you're in a strange place when you go for a walk downtown, only to find yourself sharing the street with a sea lion as she saunters down the main drag!

The best place to interact with the sea lions however, is, wherelse, but "Sea Lion Island" (Isla Lobos), just off the west coast of the main island of San Cristobal.  Here you can snorkel with the sea lions and see them dipping and diving and summer-saulting... and have so much fun playing with them and soaking up their bubble-kisses!

Yesterday I spent an hour playing 'fetch' with a pair of lobos... they were playing just the two of them and I was hanging back smiling and watching, taking pictures... and then... you'll never believe it... they invited me to join in on their game!!!  No kidding!  They had been rolling around together passing a stolen dried sea cucumber between them, and kept getting closer to me, and although I was trying to keep my distance, they got so close as to touch me!  Then the one that I had been playing summersaulting with and had been giving me bubble kisses earlier, set the sea cucumber down on the sand and looked up forlornly as if he were in desperate need of a playmate... then motioned for me to pick it up... so I did!  I mimicked their play, then tossed it back to them... and this back-and-forth exchange went on and on!  What fun with these intelligent beings!

I've seen them taunting sting rays and marine iguanas in the past as well... It's obvious that the interaction was not to harm them, but just in play!

Last month at Isla Lobos we experienced an interesting stage during the sea lion lifecycle... for several weeks after the pups had been born the big daddy macho kept them all corralled in the area I call the 'nursery'.  Then one day, they were allowed out to play... and they were the at the cutest stage ever!

Timmy Ho's

It's 9 am at Toronto Pearson Airport.  I have an extra-long transit time in the Toronto airport since arriving on my flight from Ecuador while waiting to catch the bus which will deliver me home...
I arrived, zipped through customs and found an out-of-the way comfy chair to set myself up an enclave for a nap, a read, or to enjoy the (finally!) free wi-fi at the airport.

It is also strategically located with a view of the Tim Horton's lineup.

I took up my post at 7am.  I'm not in a rush... I have hours to fill until 2pm... so I decided I would wait to make my approach on Timmy's until there was no lineup.  It's been 2 hours, and it's not looking promising!  There has been a constant line of at least 10 people, at times 2- and 3-deep!  All I wanted was a Timmies, now back on my home soil... or perhaps it's the cloves that have me craving... ???  Anyway, it's an eye opener at the lucrative coffee business of Timmies!

Five Years!?

Where has the time GONE?

People in Indonesia are always commenting on my bahasa abilities, and asking the next logical question, which is "How long have you been in Indonesia"?  I just realized the other day that I was answering FIVE YEARS!

And now here I am headed back again for another indefinite length of time... The place must be addictive... or it's all the cloves... wasn't there a study done a while back that showed cloves to be addictive?  And I seem to remember Tim Horton's catching some flack because they were putting cloves in the coffee to keep people coming back for more of the liquid gold?!  hmmm... there might be something to this theory!?

Hammer-time!

If swimming with dolphins is good for the soul, diving with hammerheads is certainly good for an adrenaline rush!

We're rarely disappointed when we dive at Leon Dormido (Kicker Rock)... Although they're not always there in massive schools like you would find up at Darwin and Wolf, the hammerheads are always around.  They seem more shy, and we don’t always see them.... But we have been seeing them almost daily for the past several months!  And there were out in force today - a school of at least 20 of them!  Their thick, muscular bodies never cease to impress me.  And their ridiculously-shaped heads always remind me that it’s better to design for function than beauty.  

They weren’t the only impressive things on this set of dives; In the tranquil channel between the two segments of the Sleeping Lion, we saw at least 50 Galapagos sharks, and the usual array of fusiliers, blue-eyed angel fish, wrasses, puffers and nudibranchs.  On the western slope is where we found all the action, including a slight current.  This is where we spotted the hammerheads on 4 different passes as well as a graceful school of 8 eagle rays, and a congregation of huge green sea turtles who seemed to be doing a courtship dance.  Hanging out at 15m on the western slope we also observed a massive school of hundreds of chevron barracuda and several yellowfin tuna jetting by.

The water was a chilly 19oC, but we didn’t even realize we were numb because it was such an exciting dive!

The visibility left a bit to be desired, but even so I managed to get a few nice shots, and one video... 

Best Fishes,

Ange


p.s. you can be part of the action!   www.tranquilodivers.com

Dolphin Love

I don't think that there is anything better for the soul than swimming with dolphins in the wild!

We had a magical day sometime last week... a school of hundreds of bottlenosed dolphins were teasing me throughout our snorkel at Kicker Rock... I was hearing their clicks and squeaks... but couldn't see them, and everyone thought I was nuts-o because they couldn't see them either... but when we got into the boat, there they appeared right at our side... so I slipped back in, and it seemed they were happy to have another compatriot, as they continued to play as they had been, and we got some up-close-and-personal dolphin love!

p.s. you can be part of the action!   www.tranquilodivers.com

Montserrat - The Emerald Isle

I have nothing but fond memories of living on Montserrat... and would love to go back for a visit again some day.

It was back in 1987, and what posessed my fabulous, adventurous parents to relocate us for 6 months to a small caribbean island, i'm still not quite sure... but i am so glad they did!  No doubt memories of a 9 year old are distorted by the fact that one can't yet entirely distinguish fantasy from reality, but...  I remember the places we lived as tropical palaces, the local people as happy easy-going purple-black friends, the fruit new and exotic, the roti spicy and intriguing to my budding taste buds, and the Island as massive and varied.  I just spent some time on Google Earth trying to figure out the lay of the whopping 16km island once more, with a little difficulty, since, in addition to a volcanic facelift, it looks like there has been A LOT of development since '87!


I remember also a trip up to 'the middle of nowhere' in the mountains to eat some famous food... it was Miss Ann Morgan's goatwater stew.  To be honest, I don't remember whether I liked it or not, and I can't imagine how the name stuck, but when I did a little online search, I found out that she is still serving up the national dish in the same spot!

Most people had never even heard of Montserrat before the Soufriere volcano erupted consistently from 1995 through 1997, destroying half of the island, including the capital of Plymoth, the airport, and certainly, the tourist industry along with it!  You can see the extent of the impact in the map and the satellite image below.  I remember taking a family trip to hike up into the Soufriere hills to visit the volcano... twice actually (because we took a wrong turn and didn't make it to the volcano the first time around!?).  It was my first exposure to the yellow-sulphurous rocks and stinky fumaroles of a 'dormant' volcano - well, obviously it was brewing something up, since it was less than ten years after that things really heated up!

I certainly hope that the Monsterratians are still limin' on their beautiful beaches!  ... I hope they still have some of their beautiful beaches, and that they don't all look like the lava fields above!?  Limin' is local lingo meaning chillin' or 'hangin' out, and is apparently a popular term throughout the West Indes.

As a British dependent territory the island flies the United Kingdom (UK) flag. The coat of arms dates from 1909, and shows a woman dressed in green, holding a cross and harp. The cross is symbolic of Christianity, while the harp and woman recall Irish immigrants that settled on the island in 1632.  Erin is the symbol of freedom for Ireland.  (worldatlas.com)

Even the fish are on beetelnut???

Or so it would seem looking at the red-stained teeth of these bumphead parrotfish...

Giant Bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum)

Algae perhaps?

I couldn't help but think of the many many villagers in Raja Ampat that had the typical red-stained teeth from chewing beetel, such as in the picture below...

I've written more about Beetelnut in a previous post, which you can read here.

Stuck in Transit Limbo

Remember that Tom Hanks movie... "The Terminal"... well, I'm living it... or have been for the last 18 hours anyway...

I was completely floored, flabberghasted, shocked, when I arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador as per the usual, excited to see Martin after 3 months... and I was told I would not be allowed to pass immigration to enter Ecuador... huh???

When I left here in March (after a two month visit), they neglected to stamp my passport (either manually, or digitally), so when I arrived, I showed up in their system as having over-stayed my visa and never having left!!!

So all this hassle because of an error ON THEIR SYSTEM!

Post-Script:  I did get the immigration issue resolved, thankfully!