Nusa Tenggara, also known as the Lesser Sunda Islands, is a chain of Indonesia’s most eastern islands. It lies on the collision point of two tectonic plates and comprises some of the most bio diverse, geologically complex and volcanically active regions in the world. Apart from its first island Lombok it is still largely off the beaten track of tourism. 
On a slow cargo boat sailing through the Nusa Tenggara islands and operated by a Bugis crew, a Nomad suddenly becomes a Nomad among Nomads. On Lombok I have embarked for a weeks’ sea voyage to the island of Flores, the transitional area between the Malay and Melanesian worlds. The passengers consist of European backpackers in their early and mid thirties, an adventurous elderly Australian couple and our Sasak guide from Lombok.
On a slow cargo boat sailing through the Nusa Tenggara islands and operated by a Bugis crew, a Nomad suddenly becomes a Nomad among Nomads. On Lombok I have embarked for a weeks’ sea voyage to the island of Flores, the transitional area between the Malay and Melanesian worlds. The passengers consist of European backpackers in their early and mid thirties, an adventurous elderly Australian couple and our Sasak guide from Lombok. The captain and crew are of the infamous Bugis people. The Bugis are a nomadic seafaring tribe with exceptional maritime navigational skills. Once they ruled the waves of the Indonesian seas and were feared as pirates. The English word ‘Boogie man’ in fact is believed to be based on these legendary pirates. Currently they have settled around the coasts of the Indonesian islands with strongholds in South Celebes. This crew lives in a village on the island of Sumbawa. Normally they ship coconut cargo to Surabaya on Java for the ‘Minyak kelapa’ industry, but in the tourist season they found the more lucrative business of transporting visitors to the eastern islands. This time I am part of the cargo.
Live on the small Bugis cargo boat is rugged and felt surreal after being on a cruise ship in the Pacific, where you are expected to disinfect your hands at every turn. Here we eat and sleep on deck. Do our duties in the tiny toilet, ‘kamar kecil’, in the back of the boat, next to the tiny kitchen. The guide and 4 men crew sleep behind the bridge and are both the sailors and cooks. Live chicken and foodstuffs are stored in the cargo space next to our luggage. You take a bath by jumping into the sea and rinse with fresh water back onboard. The boat is propelled by a large and very noisy motor. Most nights we keep sailing and many wrap a towel around their head to kill the engine noise.
The formidable view and incredible scenery from the
Live on the small Bugis cargo boat is rugged and felt surreal after being on a cruise ship in the Pacific, where you are expected to disinfect your hands at every turn. Here we eat and sleep on deck. Do our duties in the tiny toilet, ‘kamar kecil’, in the back of the boat, next to the tiny kitchen. The guide and 4 men crew sleep behind the bridge and are both the sailors and cooks. Live chicken and foodstuffs are stored in the cargo space next to our luggage. You take a bath by jumping into the sea and rinse with fresh water back onboard. The boat is propelled by a large and very noisy motor. Most nights we keep sailing and many wrap a towel around their head to kill the engine noise.
The formidable view and incredible scenery from theboat is breathtaking and explain why the Indonesian archipelago is called the emerald necklace. Large volcanic
islands and small uninhabited bounty islands pass before our eyes as we cut through deep blue waterways. Along the main island of Sumbawa we visit small specs of (is)land with white beaches and super snorkeling spots, hike inland to bath in waterfalls and swim in a sacred salt water lake.
The well travelled passengers include 3 adventurous French guys, French freshly weds from Marseille, a Canadian girl and her Sasak boyfriend from Lombok, a Polish couple from the UK , 2 schoolteachers from the UK, an elderly couple of seasoned travellers from Australia, and a young German couple. A tough bunch not prone to sea sickness and complaints. The first night I sleep on the main deck among some of the crew and Peggy, the American lady from Australia that has seen much of the world already and travelled the African continent for 11 months last year.
The second day on the Sumbawa high seas the waters are rough with strong winds, currents and high waves. Sitting on the fore deck becomes impossible and sea legs become necessary to move around the boat. Later that night the captain suggests that this time I might want to sleep on top of the bridge with the other passengers as it could get wet on deck. The next day Peggy tells me that in the middle of the night the main deck was indeed flooded by rain being blown into the boat by strong winds, creating an onboard swimming pool. She moved to the back of the boat, while the Bugis crew apparently kept on sleeping.
The last few days of our boat trip we enter the region of Flores and visit the legendary Komodo Dragon island, an official world heritage site. That night we anchor close to Kalong island and see the superb sight of swarms of large bats flying into the sunset. On the less regulated Rinca island we hike inland and suddenly are startled by wild movement just a few metres into the bush. An adult deer was running for its’ life chased by Dragons. One poisonous bite of a dragon is enough to kill a wild bull and while they usually move in slow motion, a dragon can actually reach a speed of 14 kilometres per hour.
Nomad & the Dragons
Dragons are solitary creatures that hunt alone, but up to 4 big dragons had set their mind on the same prey. First the ranger in the front of our group became very excited, stammering "Wow, wow!". Than found his composure and told us this was an unique example of raw nature in action. Once the rangers realised there were about 2 more hungry dragons involved the people in front got instructions from the first ranger to move back, while at the same time the ranger in the back was urging the people behind us to run along. It appeared that one of the dragons behind us didnt take too kindly to photographing Frenchmen and redirected his hunt towards them. Sniffing out his potential prey with his tongue and aggressively approaching the group. As there was still one dragon on the right and one in front we carefully moved to the left and into a dry riverbank and waited quietly till the path in front of us was clear again. The only thing I could think about was how the hell to outrun a hunting dragon that can reach a speed of 14 kilometres per hour...
A nomad thinks that traveling the wild wild east of Indonesia sure is exciting...
The well travelled passengers include 3 adventurous French guys, French freshly weds from Marseille, a Canadian girl and her Sasak boyfriend from Lombok, a Polish couple from the UK , 2 schoolteachers from the UK, an elderly couple of seasoned travellers from Australia, and a young German couple. A tough bunch not prone to sea sickness and complaints. The first night I sleep on the main deck among some of the crew and Peggy, the American lady from Australia that has seen much of the world already and travelled the African continent for 11 months last year.
The second day on the Sumbawa high seas the waters are rough with strong winds, currents and high waves. Sitting on the fore deck becomes impossible and sea legs become necessary to move around the boat. Later that night the captain suggests that this time I might want to sleep on top of the bridge with the other passengers as it could get wet on deck. The next day Peggy tells me that in the middle of the night the main deck was indeed flooded by rain being blown into the boat by strong winds, creating an onboard swimming pool. She moved to the back of the boat, while the Bugis crew apparently kept on sleeping.
The last few days of our boat trip we enter the region of Flores and visit the legendary Komodo Dragon island, an official world heritage site. That night we anchor close to Kalong island and see the superb sight of swarms of large bats flying into the sunset. On the less regulated Rinca island we hike inland and suddenly are startled by wild movement just a few metres into the bush. An adult deer was running for its’ life chased by Dragons. One poisonous bite of a dragon is enough to kill a wild bull and while they usually move in slow motion, a dragon can actually reach a speed of 14 kilometres per hour.
Nomad & the DragonsDragons are solitary creatures that hunt alone, but up to 4 big dragons had set their mind on the same prey. First the ranger in the front of our group became very excited, stammering "Wow, wow!". Than found his composure and told us this was an unique example of raw nature in action. Once the rangers realised there were about 2 more hungry dragons involved the people in front got instructions from the first ranger to move back, while at the same time the ranger in the back was urging the people behind us to run along. It appeared that one of the dragons behind us didnt take too kindly to photographing Frenchmen and redirected his hunt towards them. Sniffing out his potential prey with his tongue and aggressively approaching the group. As there was still one dragon on the right and one in front we carefully moved to the left and into a dry riverbank and waited quietly till the path in front of us was clear again. The only thing I could think about was how the hell to outrun a hunting dragon that can reach a speed of 14 kilometres per hour...
A nomad thinks that traveling the wild wild east of Indonesia sure is exciting...
The coldblooded Komodo dragon is a carnivorous cannibal that doesn’t hesitate to eat its’ young. The dragon can stand on its hind legs using its long tail (the size if its’ body) as support to reach prey. It can even use its’ strong tail to knock down large pigs.
ReplyDeleteThe fearless dragon eats anything including the occasional person, although it only needs to feed once a month. The native people of Komodo island told me that they never hunt or eat dragons. The dragons are in fact revered as reincarnations of fellow kinsmen and are sacrificed goats.
When in 2007 western environmentalists felt they had to prohibit this adat practice of sacrifice, a dragon soon wandered into the kampong and killed a young boy. A dramatic example of the underestimation of ancient adat by modern science.