Galapagos Dreams - An Announcement!

Many of you might already know by now that Martin and I are starting a little dive business in the Galapagos... Tranquilo Divers!

I've been working on the website (a lot of learning involved!) - check it out: www.tranquilodivers.com

I just wanted to let you know that if you're starved for my blog (which I've been neglecting a little because of this new focus, and also because I know about the dire internet connection I'm going to have from the Galapagos)... you can also check out the blog that I'm maintaining for Tranquilo Divers:

http://www.tranquilodivers.com/Tranquilo_Divers/Blog/Blog.html


Wish us luck!!!

or better yet...

COME DIVING WITH US!

Merry Christmas!

Yay!!!  It's Christmas!!!

Wishing you and yours a Wonderful Holiday:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I actually took these pictures in the village of Wawiyai way back in June... it seemed to me just the most disjunct thing at the time... but works for this Christmas card!  All the best, Ange xox

Papua Penuh Damai (PAPEDA)

That's the slogan on one of my favourite Papua tshirts (I bought if for Martin last year when he was away)... As my last pre-Christmas post, I wanted to share with you its origins:

Papeda is the traditional staple food (read glue) in Papua.  It comes from the sago palm.

Indonesia is FULL of acronyms and 'singkatan' (putting parts of words together to create new words)... So they expand Papeda to Papua Penuh Damai (which literally translates to Papua full of Peace).  I like it.

Anyway, I started this post to share a little more about Papeda itself.  We have had it a few times aboard the ship... when you buy it in the village, it comes neatly packed in bamboo and banana leaves like this:

Then our cook works his magic, and we eat it with the yummy yellow fish curry...  The fish is not yellow, the curry is... the fish is usually snapper (called 'red fish' here!).

Urotherapy

Is that what I think it is???  Yes, the use of urine for therapeutic reasons... also known as auto-urotherapy.

I heard about this a few years ago, but given that some people think I'm gullible, and often try to put one over on me, I assumed this was just another... and dismissed it as fiction - turns out I was wrong!

After a little investigation I found out that this is anything but a new concept!  It's not a very appealing alternative, and probably makes most people as squeamish as myself just thinking about drinking glass-fulls of your own urine (or having it injected into the bloodstream, for that matter)...  But tell that to the many people who have had to resort to it as a cure to anything from skin and hair problems (like acne, hair loss, warts, wrinkles, psoriasis, eczema and infections) to more serious illness such as multiple sclerosis, colitis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, hepatitis, hyperactivity, pancreatic insufficiency, heart disease, diabetes, herpes, mononucleosis, adrenal failure and allergies.  There is even a World Congress on Urotherapy!

I guess it could make sense... Urine contains 95% water 2.5% mixture of urea and 2.5% is mineral salts, hormones, vitamins, enzymes and antibodies.  There must be something in the combo that could act as a medicine and/or immune booster!?  Unconventional to say the least.



What reminded me of this story was another type of "Uro"-therapy that someone I recently met was attempting.  He was soaking his feet in urine each night to get rid of some fungus or something that was growing beneath his toe-nails.  He thought it was really a great treatment, until he woke up to go to the washroom in the middle of the night and accidentally knocked over the bowl of urine that he had used to do it with!  ewwww....

Again different from the only kind of "Urotherapy" I knew of previously:  cure for jellyfish stings!

Langsat/Duku

While we were in Misool back in May, I learned the way langsat and dukuh grow.  These yummy fruits are almost identical to eachother, I've been enjoying them for years in Indonesia, but for the first time saw a fruit-bearing tree!

Strange isn't it, the way the fruit grows in bunches directly on the trunks of the trees!?

Medusa's Cousin

Yes, it was the mythical one I was thinking of... not the sea-dwelling version.  But we're talking worms... not snakes.  And dried worms at that... and...

...you probably won't turn to stone if you look me in the eyes... although I have been known to stop a few people in their tracks!  haha...

These worms, known as insonem in the Ayau-Asia Archipelago in the north of Raja Ampat, are actually a traditional food... you can read more about that tasty meal in this previous post.

My cousin Caroline came to this area on her visit, and got to try them, as well!  Caro's experience.

Geocaching!

I have been geocaching now since 2006... I don't get a chance to do much when I'm way out in Raja Ampat...  Although I did actually place a cache in a rather exotic, remote location in Wayag.  But it has since gone missing... presumably taken by non-cachers.

I cache under then name bushbabe... a nickname affectionately given to me by my non-bush friends during the times I was living and working in the bush in Canada!  At the time of this post, it looks like I've found 355 geocaches... but I think this tag will update as I make more finds... which I hope to do when I'm home for the holidays!



One of the neat add-ons that one discovers about geocaching quickly is this thing called "Travel Bugs"... they're items that get moved from cache to cache, but their location is logged, so can be tracked.  I was just asked to rescue a bunch of travel bugs from a cache in Bali that was closing down, so I will have to move them all along somewhere soon!

More things on bikes...

I seem to have accumulated a LOT of photos of things transported or sold on motorbikes and/or bicycles in Indonesia.  You can see some that I have posted previously here, here, here, here and a little here.  As you can see, it's a common theme!  Well, here are a few more to add to the collection - who would've thought you would find welcome mats sold on bikes!?!

Penida & Lembongan

For the last several months Martin was in Indonesia he was working as a Dive Guide on Nusa Lembongan Island in Bali.  Lembongan is the smaller kidney-bean-shaped island that is part of the group of islands collectively known as Penida, just to the east of southern Bali.

When I was not on the Kalabia, I would join him there... it is a beautiful island, and although the rate at which development has taken off in the last few years is sad, it still has some of the best diving around Bali.

I only got to dive a few times with him (you can see a few pics from one of the dives here), and mostly I worked while he dived... but at least we enjoyed the beautiful sunsets together.

And one day, we had a chance to go on a little exploration of the three sets of islands, from motorbike, to walking, to rented boat, to another motorbike, we used every kind of transportation possible on the islands and got to even the most remote corners!

stairway to heaven...

We also found out a lot more about the main economic activity on the islands, which I wrote about previously... seaweed farming!

Leapin' Lizards!

LITERALLY!

I was trying not to squirm too much as Martin fumbled to get the camera out quickly to catch this funny moment of a gecko climbing up my arm... he didn't get it.  Anyway, as the gecko got to my neck, it was too ticklish to restrain any more, and I squirmed... the gecko leapt... and Martin caught him in mid-air!!!  He landed as if there was nothing to it, and skittered off.  I guess they're used to it... at our old house, there were always so many of them along the ceiling beams... and they were always dropping from the roof with a great 'splat' onto the tile floors (again, no harm done!)!

Dive Glasses

Kaca Molo, or Dive Glass, are the traditional masks for seeing in the ocean in Papua, and the rest of the Pacific islands for that matter.  They're literally coke-bottle bottoms artfully embedded in home-made wooden casings... gives a whole new meaning to what we usually think of as coke-bottle glasses, no!?!  And they're not as easy to use as these kids make them look!

I tried, and because you have to sort-of scrunch your eyes to keep them in place, it's hard to get a decent seal, and they leak like crazy!  Not to mention the strange sensation for us scuba mask wearers of having the nose exposed... there's another trick to it!  Anyway, everyone had a good laugh at the 'bule' trying out the local-style scuba gear...

Cap Tikus (pronounced Chap Tee'KOOS)

Martin prefers to call Cap Tikus (“Rat’s Brand”) by the more appropriate name, “Racun Tikus” (or Rat Poison). This is the Minahasan version of Moonshine!

Cap Tikus is the local Palm brandy, mostly made in small distilleries in the jungle. It is a VERY strong distilled version (usually 40 - 50%, but sometimes up to 90%) of a liquid they get from a common tree in these parts, the sugar palm. 'Palm wine' is actually a less-fermented version of Cap Tikus, obtained during the beginning stages of the process of making Cap Tikus. Palm wine is a slightly more appealing, although still nauseating, drink!

The labour-intensive distillation process is actually quite simple and basically employs metal ovens and bamboo tubes.

The people around Manado have told me that cap tikus actually has medicinal qualities; they hold firmly to the belief that cap tikus is a health-preserving as well as a health-restoring liquid. It is used when people feel a cold coming on, or to cure digestive disorders... I suppose anything with an alcohol content that high would kill any germ on contact!?

Don't drink this alcohol to excess, though... some locals have gone blind or died because of the high level of methanol in Cap Tikus! Anything in moderation, I suppose. There is nothing pleasurable about the cap tikus experience, so as far as I'm concerned, it's not worth the risk!

Our first encounter with the stuff was rather innocent, but was enough to turn me off the stuff for good. We were simply having a quiet night, hanging out with a few friends on the island and having a couple drinks. When the few beers we had brought ran out, they pulled out the plastic bottle of moonshine. No matter how little CapTikus you had nor how much Cola you mixed it with, it was NOXIOUS! The problem was the cola ran out even faster than the beers... I was smart and decided not to push it, but Martin kept up with the boys and drank a couple glasses of it almost* straight. He was sick for the next TWO WEEKS!  Needless to say, he didn't ever try it again either!

The picture below is actually not from Minahasa, but from Sorong... this is the infamous local hangout called the 'tembok' (seawall)... you can tell if someone is indulging in the captikus depending whether or not he is facing out to sea (getting plastered), or back toward the road (safely tottling tea).  Hahaha.

Christmas Trees in the Sea

This is one of my favouite sea beings... and I can't believe I haven't written about them before!

You can see for yourselves where these colourful, bushy-tailed segmented worms (polychaetes) get their name!

These aptly-named Christmas Tree worms (Spirobranchus giganteus) burrow into massive coral heads to make their home.  They expose only their fluffy tail, which they use to filter-feed as the current brings plankton and other goodies their way.

This featherduster worm is a close, less-colourful, relative!

I am looking forward to seeing another kind of Christmas Tree in the not-so-distant future!

Dream

Mimpi means 'dream' in Indonesian.  It's also the name of the resort where I spent a weekend on the north coast of Bali a few weeks ago, and the subtitle I'm giving to my life for that weekend.  They definitely made no mistake in naming this place - it is seriously like being in a heavenly dream.

The coastal property is sprawling, complete with several natural thermal pools, at least 3 regular swimming pools (although regular is anything but what they are!), spa, mangrove forest, with several villas tucked away amidst it all.

The most stunning area is the beach-front... complete with infinity pool overlooking the ocean and the sunset over the mountains in East Java... We enjoyed a beer here after several nice dives... aaahhh.  Doesn't it sound like a dream!?

I thought I was in a dream underwater as well, as we glided along a very healthy, colourful, fishy wall along the 'back' side of Menjangan island, and I saw turtles, and a spotted eagle-ray.

Ship Food

We are pretty lucky to have a decent cook onboard the Kalabia... I don't call him a 'chef'... he's never worked at 5 star restaurants preparing international fare, but considering his training and experience (none), he's amazing!

He does a few dishes that I would include among my favourite foods in Indonesia: One Eggplant Coconut milk Curry that is scrumptious (I think for cooked veggies eggplant is surpassing brusselsprouts and others as favourites for me now!), and he makes a Chicken Curry that is the closest thing to Indian flavouring I've had in Indonesia (and since Indian food is hands-down my favourite, it automatically makes the cut)!

Of course, most of the food consists of regular Indonesian food... nothing fancy... and almost always, there is fish (apparently if Indonesians don't eat fish at least once a day (and for a lot, every meal), they feel like something is missing.  Dishes like this have made up the majority of my diet over the last few years:

Dragonfly Delicacies!

Yes, dragonflies... although I can't imagine wanting to kill one as a food source, since they have much greater value as mosquito-eating machines in my books!

Here, the Balinese use dragonflies as one of the ingredients to one of their special dishes:  Pepes.

How do you catch a dragonfly?
Well, with a long thin strip of bamboo covered in the sticky sap of the jackfruit tree... not to be mistaken for a fishing pole.

Pepes Preparation?
The legs and wings are removed, and the insect is ready to cook!

Only one of the ingredients?
The cooked dragonflies are added to a pounded mixture which also contains:
coconut paste
fermented fish paste
garlic
chilis
tamarind juice
basil leaves
ginger
and lime juice

The complete mixture (paste) is wrapped into individual banana leaf packets and grilled to make pepes.  I tried pepes once (before I knew of its special ingredient), and I must say, I really didn't think it was anything special... and I certainly couldn't taste the dragonfly flavour!?

Blue Marlin in the Deep Blue!

Well, the only diving I did on this trip to Raja Ampat was to attempt a search and recovery mission for our anchor.  (Which, in case you didn't have the patience or interest to read my previous post, was unsuccessful).  Basically the only thing I saw for the entire 4 days/9 dives underwater was dull sand bottom and deep blue depth.... PLUS...

The second day, only seconds into our decent to the 40-meter depths from which we could see the sea floor (at 50+ meters), a blue Marlin swam within meters of me!  I was in awe and totally intimidated by its size, the very prominent potentially-impaling sword at its beak, and the sheer muscle apparent in its bodily movements... (I can't really find the right word to describe the way it moved, but it was almost like it wagged itself along (in a much more fluid graceful motion than the word wagging seems to encompass for me).)

Unfortunately, I wasn't carrying a camera, since the only thing I expected to see was sand and blue, and *hopefully* an anchor or anchorline.  ;)  But I did manage to gather the presence of mind to get a squawk out in time that my dive mates had a fleeting look as well and can corroborate my story ;)  Now, if it had looked more like this (I borrowed a few pics from SeaPics and SuperStock), perhaps my heart wouldn't have skipped quite so many beats...

Transmigration Woes

A related story, both to the Wasior disaster I wrote about yesterday, and also to the general degradation and destruction of  the natural environment:  transmigration.

The Indonesian government has been employing transmigration plans to decrease pressure on highly-populated areas of Indonesia (such as Java and Bali)  by spreading people around the archipelago, specifically targeting areas like Papua.  There are many theories as to all the reasons for this… including cultural and religious dilution, increasing the speed of development (read resource exploitation - there is actually a new government mandate for the ‘increased speed of development of papua’!?).  Anyway, I don’t want to debate the reasons here, but instead speak a little bit about the effects of transmigration, aside from religious, cultural and social issues, but focussing specifically on the environment.

Firstly, we have the blatent, first-hand destruction of natural systems and conversion of land to clear land for the newcomers.  Some have suggested that these transmigration plans are no more than fronts for logging operations which would otherwise be unpalatable.  Regardless, the forest destruction and fragmentation is unavoidable... and worse, as the manner of undertaking these projects in these areas is uncontrolled (poor, if not non-existent, drainage systems, minimal impact plans, buffer zones and watercourse deference), the destruction of the watershed, and thus also the coastal ecosystems, inevitably follows.

Secondly, the inherent pressures associated with the additional populations on the natural environment.  This is another no-brainer:  more mouths mean a greater need for food, thus more fishing pressure and more land conversion for agriculture... all with the same effects as above (especially because of the lack of government control on these processes)!  This is compacted of course, by the already-increased fishing pressures that exist in Raja Ampat, by foreign fishers coming from areas whose oceans have already been depleted of fish stocks sufficient to sustain the populations in their own areas.

Third, the constant and detrimental decrease in general stewardship of (caring about/for) the environment, as a result of a new population with no direct feeling of responsibility or ownership over the local natural environment.  Especially in the Indonesian cultural context, where, regardless of where you live, or even where you were born, your ‘home’ is associated with your tribe of origin.  Although the people native to Raja Ampat currently live extremely closely in an inter-dependence with nature (it would be complete harmony, if not for the outside influences), it can be predicted that the transmigrants will not do so, and will dedicate themselves to other forms of business.  So generationally, and especially with population dilution that will result due to intermarriages inevitable with the new populations, the degree of 'caring for the environment' will decline steadily, resulting in a population with no direct link to the environment with which they are surrounded.

Is this starting to seem like a familiar story?  Oh, I forgot to mention that this is all occurring with little to no consultation with the peoples who have inhabited these lands and waters since the beginning?

Perhaps I have become too pessimistic... or perhaps it takes this long to have your eyes opened... and once they're opened, it's like someone stuck toothpicks between your lids and now you can't stop seeing it all over the place!?

Wasior Disaster

There should be no doubt about the cause of this disaster.  It is not a 'natural disaster', it can't be attributed to 'climate change'... it could have been avoided.

Unfortunately Indonesia doesn't think ahead.  The governments don't heed glaringly obvious warnings, and the dollar signs in their eyes make the environment fall by the way-side, even when it means the welfare of the people they are charged to serve and protect is put at risk.  They just cut the trees, rape the forests, build completely ridiculous road systems and destabilize watersheds so that a simple heavy rain ends in hundreds of lives lost, thousands displaced, and a city in ruin.

I was supposed to be arriving in Wasior this month as part of the Kalabia education trip to Cenderawasih Bay.  I was just discussing the situation in the Bay with some colleagues who had recently returned from a survey trip there (they were doing genetic studies on marine species, surveying for new previously-undiscovered species, and identifying potential areas for marine tourism development, but they couldn't help but see the destruction of the marine environment that was going on as a result of activities on the land surrounding their study sites)!  I was enquiring about conservation issues that we should focus our education program for the area on.  They had just finished telling me that the story there, even though Cenderawasih Bay is a National Park, is no different from the situation all over the rest of Papua, and indeed, most of the lesser-inhabited areas of Indonesia... uncontrolled, poorly-planned development, combined with rampant illegal exploitation of natural resources (illegal logging, mining and land-conversion)... then the breaking news story of a disastrous flood and mudslides burying the main town in the Bay hit the news.

We postponed our trip, as it is an inappropriate time to visit while the town and regency is dealing with a disaster of this size... Current counts (as of yesterday, 2010/10/10) have 144 dead, but another 161 missing and feared dead, over 1000 injured, and the entire town's population of over 5000 displaced (most evacuated to nearby cities due to lack of access to clean water and fear of additional flooding if rains continue).  It's a small town, but it is the capital of the main regency in Cenderawasih Bay, Wondama.

As conservationists, and educators, we definitely want to capitalize on the moment to turn it into a learning experience... be sure that the message gets through:  destruction of the natural environment holds nothing but disaster.  But we don't want to be insensitive, so we are postponing until the trauma experienced by the people there settles, they can get their homes, and their lives, back.

Of course, the 'aid' effort is committing all kinds of serious errors as well - like 'handing over 2 billion Rp in cash' to aid the recovery of the disaster... yeah, how much of that money do you think will actually get to the people who need it!?!

Anyway, there is a positive light in this story... there are a few local aid organizations from other areas in Papua who are being driven by their hearts and not their wallets to help with the recovery.  A small group of doctors and nurses called MerC have arrived to tend to the wounded, and several others are making collections of clothing, etc, for evacuated survivors.

The problem of course, is that the people responsible for this disaster aren't affected at all.  They are so far away from the sites that they are affecting...  cozy in their posh Jakarta homes, sitting on their padded pockets, watching it all on the latest flatscreen high-def television.

The climate of corruption is so thick in Indonesia it permeates every level.  There exists in Indonesia the equivalent of what we call an Environmental Impact Study (it's called an AMDAL), but it can be bought... and bought for peanuts when comparing the potential income from a large gold mine, or a large harvest of hardwood.

Tumpek Landep - the Day to Praise the Metal Gods

So after posting the previous blog about the "Metal Gods" in Bali, I opened my weekly Bali Update Newsletter to see that the holy day is called "Tumpek Landep".  It is celebrated every 210 days (according to the Balinese Calendar), and indeed it is to pay homage to all things metal, including cars, motorcycles and tools of trade.  You can read the story on the occasion here... a very well-informed source for all sorts of news and information about Bali.