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| Fishermen bearing coconuts. |
Throw in an overnight sail, and an amazing anchorage at Saujung, a remote island in the middle of the Java Sea in perfect weather and we had a pretty good trip from Makassar to Sumbawa. At Saujung we were approached by a local fisherman with 12 big fresh coconuts. We couldn't communicate but he came alongside and put all the coconuts onto our deck. We offered him some fuel and some food and he wouldn't take anything. It seems its a custom to provide coconuts for boats... Water supply. Well they were delicious once we worked out how to get into them. We didn't see any sign of habitation on Saujung apart from this lonely fisherman. Next morning, still in company with Tweed we headed on to Sumbawa and anchored off a small village. Silver Fern pressed on towards Bali.
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| Pumice mine. Talc?Volcanic sand beach and typical scrubby eastern Indonesian vegetation. |
Our programme by now was a little rushed as we wanted to make it to Bali for the celebrations planned for the fleet and we were definitely the last boats to arrive. Sailing along the north coast of Sumbawa you have a great view of the enormous towering smoking volcanos on these islands. The vegetation, as we progress west becomes rapidly more lush and tropical. We passed a pumice mine spewing white dust and caught several good fish. The Wallace Line is an imaginary line dividing the fauna types between Australia and Oceania. Most birds and animals don't cross the line. Eucalypts from Australia is the only floral species which doesn't cross. The difference between east and west Indonesia is startling.
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| Our berthing arrangements in Bali, next to Jodi Ann. |
Our next anchorage was off an island called Palau Lawang off the north east coast of Lombok. We tucked inside a small hole in the reef we were very protected from swell, not so Egress ll and Naga who joined us later.
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| Barong |
We couldn't miss Gili Ayr at the top of the Lombok Strait. This delightful and unspoiled island is just one of a small group of white sandy islands which survive on limited tourism. There are no cars, only pony carts. You can walk the perimeter of the island in several hours and apart from a terribly deep anchorage it was a fantastic and relaxing couple of days.
Bali does have a marina but its far too small for a fleet the size of Sail Indonesia so most of the Rally boats anchored in a bay on the north side of Serangan Isl. We have some good friends with a charter operation and resort here so we were invited to moor Taipan alongside their boats in Benoa Harbour. We stayed in Seminak with Ron and Sally and joined the Sail Indonesia participants for the daily planned events which were extremely interesting. Busses ferried us around and the traffic was controlled by police and military so we had very few hold ups in the otherwise diabolical Dempasar traffic.. There was a high security presence for our entire tour as the Indonesian Tourism Commission was sponsoring the rally and with recent bombings in Bali there was a certain sensitivity.
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| Dancers at Kantour Tatausaha Museum |
During three days the Rally participants were shown the highlights of Bali and treated to wonderful hospitality for our entire visit. We visited Kantour Tatausaha Museum and there we watched local traditional art, dance and music performances. Kehan Temple, a famous ancient Hindu Temple, Penglipuran Traditional Village where we were treated to a traditional Barong dance and a display of local art and craft.
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| Penglipuran Traditional Village |
No visit to Bali would be complete without a trip to the top of Mt Batur the active volcano with a lake in the old crater and Ubud with its rice paddies and tranquil mountain scenery. Late one evening on a full moon we went to a sacred bat cave just for an interesting diversion.
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| Ubud |
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| Shopping in Dempesar Markets |
There was one night when the Regency provided a magnificent dinner and entertainment including another Barong dance. We ventured into Denpasar and spent hours in the Denpasar markets.
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| Spider Boats at Serangen |
Once the Rally fleet moved on we stayed an extra day or two and then sailed across to Lembongan Island and anchored off Coconut Beach Resort, owned by our our friends Ron and Sally, where we were spoiled for a couple of nights.
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| Silver Fern anchored at Ambat |
Sailing north up Lombok Strait we made sure we got the current right. When it was against us for a while we hugged the coast and were able to avoid the worst of it. Lovina on the north coast was our next anchorage, again lovely and tucked into a dent in the reef. The black sand beaches are a stark contrast to the beaches on the south. There are thousands of small local fishing boats on this coast manned by just one or two people. They're called Spider Boats. They head out early with the breeze, a blaze of multi coloured sails, and then return with their days catch when the wind changes, as it apparently does every day.
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| Colourful Javanese fishing boats rafted together in Barwean. |
We did some provisioning in Lovina and waited for a decent weather window to head on towards Pulau Barwean On route with Tweed and Silver Fern to Barwean we anchored overnight amongst reef off the north shore of the island Kantor. This broke up the trip and was fine in the balmy south easterly wind.
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| Down town Barwean. |
The further north we sailed the more hazy it became. As we approached Bawean the visibility was very poor but Barwean was nice. A little deep like so many Indonesian anchorages as they are just off a fringing reef. Here we hired a driver and small bus and 6 of us took a run up the mountain hoping to catch a glimpse of a sun bear. No such luck. We heard gunfire and the guide told us they still shoot the bears....?? maybe they were pulling our leg. I hope so. Nevertheless it was a fun day and we all had a refreshing dip in the mountain top lake.
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| Nearing Kumai the smoke was thick. A constant lookout for local fishing boats was necessary. |
From Bawean it was an overnight sail to Kumai in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Again, in company, we set off into thick smog. This we found out, is the traditional rice fields being burnt off after harvest and the National Parks being burned by land poachers to plant Palm Oil plantations. There are vast areas of Indonesian National Parks coming under production as there are enough corrupt officials to get past the laws Sadly the loss of habitat is creating big problems for the native fauna and flora especially the Orangutang. Our visit to Kumai was specifically to go into the jungle to the Leakey Camp and see them in the wild. Most having been rescued and relocated to this area of the Taman National Park
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| Martha, our cook, Bryce, Jon, Pam, David and some smoke. |
Arrival into Kumai River was in such thick smoke we could hardly breath and visibility was down to 100m. Its some miles up river to town and we managed to feel our way in. There were quite a few rally participants already there so we were able to pick their collective brains. It was suggested that we hire a boat boy to stay aboard Taipan while we went upriver for a couple of days in a Klotok, a local tourist boat especially designed for the rivers. In company with Tweed and Silver Fern crews we set off leaving boat boys on each of our boats. They camped in the cockpit so we left the boats safely locked up. They were fed from shore by their boss
Our trip up river took several hours winding amongst the jungle in narrow creeks and rivers. We saw Makaks. Dutchman monkeys... or Proboscis monkeys they're really called, heaps of birdlife and water fowl. The jungle was wonderful but little did we know, it only stretched about a hundred meters either side of the rivers then it was Palm Oil. We couldn't see that. We arrived at Camp Leakey in sweltering heat and about 100% humidity and walked to the main camp. Here we were introduced to guides and instructed on the procedure. The Orang-utans are not tame. The big males can be mighty dangerous. Late in the afternoon in company with a few other tourists we walked on into the jungle to a site where the Orang-utans are fed daily. They get milk and bananas. Many are recovering from traumatic experiences. They are taken as babies when their mothers are shot or trapped and used as slaves. Sex slaves and pets. Chained and abused. Several had wounds and scaring. International researchers here, rescue them and repatriate them back into the wild. The diminishing habitat threatens their work. Camp Leakey researchers have been monitoring Orang-utans in the wild, in an area of approximately 50 sq km, since 1971.
At feeding time the guides called the Orang-utans and they gathered gradually from all directions. Big Tom was the dominant male and a very impressive animal. There were many females and some of them had young. A hairy nosed pig even decided to pop by for a free feed but he had to be quick.The competition was hot.
Our Klotok was fabulous. We were fed by our very own Indonesian cook aboard and slept on a communal platform on the top deck, well protected by bug netting at night and by day this was our viewing platform as we meandered along the beautiful waterways. Unforgettable!
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| Our Klotok moored at Camp Leakey. |
