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October 2006: Turtle Nesting Beaches, Tenacious Boils, and an Engagement |
by
Marit Wechsler
Misool Eco Resort's faithful webmistress is back in Bangkok after
a blissful month on Batbitim. Sunscreen's back in the medicine cabinet,
bikini's back in the drawer, dirt's gone from under my fingernails,
and I'm back at my desk. *Sigh*
|
view
from the ridge, overlooking Batbitim's South Beach |
Before
I treat you to the latest news from the island, I must be sure you've
all heard the latest news from Conservation International. They've
just released their findings from their latest expedition to the
Birdshead Seascape, which includes the Raja Ampat Islands. They've
discovered 52 new species, including fish, coral and mantis shrimp.
The area, which scientists say is 'stunningly beautiful' both above
and below the water, boasts the highest diversity of reef building
corals in the world, home to nearly 600 species, which is 75% of
the world's total (Australia's Great Barrier Reef is 10 times larger
and claims 405 species.) They're very interested in preserving this
region and have made a number of recommendations to the Indonesian
government on how to best protect Raja Ampat.
Click here to read more on Conservation International's website.
Click here to read the article on the BBC's website. |
As
promised in the previous posting, I've got a few bits of juicy news
for you, the first of which shall now be revealed. The immediate
purpose of my last minute trip to Misool was to deliver a video
camera, compliments of a German TV station. They're producing a
series on people following their dreams, and they'll be airing a
few one-hour segments on Misool Eco Resort! The producer has asked
us to film a video diary until the film crew can visit Batbitim
towards the end of the year. So I bought a snazzy little camera
in Bangkok and delivered it safe and sound to Misool, filming the
entire way. I must admit that neither Thorben, Andrew, nor I are
particularly keen on being in front of the camera. But you'll all
be able to decide for yourselves in not too long! |
| I
arrived in Sorong with the tail end of the Southeast monsoon doing
its best to leave a lasting impression. Chilly winds were blowing
in from Australia, wreaking havoc on all our travel plans. |
As Misool Eco Resort's beautiful transport vessel
is still in a state of disrepair, we had to rely on the generosity
of the nearby pearl farm. One of their locations is an hour and
a half by boat north of Batbitim. Their cargo ships putter to and
from Sorong, carrying fuel and food.
Andrew and I spent 4 days waiting in Sorong for the next boat bound
for the pearl farm. I can confirm that Sorong is about as far from
tropical paradise as one could imagine. A close study of the tide
charts confirmed this suspicion - although only a day's sail away,
Sorong and Batbitim are on opposite tide schedules! I experienced
'The Sorong Oblong,' so dubbed and oft described by Andrew. It's
a phenomenon similar to the well known Bermuda Triangle - things
vanish, chocolate doesn't melt, there's fancy plumbing but no water,
and tomorrow is at least 3 or 4 days away.
|
Sorong's
harbour |
| Although
it felt like weeks, my diary tells me we spent exactly 4 days trapped
in the Sorong Oblong, investigating plant nurseries, interviewing
Sorong's citizens about black magic and ghost sightings, eating loads
of gado-gado, and enduring endless (but very friendly) attention as
the only 'bulehs' in town. It was finally time for the pearl farm
boat, Yellu 03, to leave for Misool. |
the
wheelhouse of Yellu 03 |
We
added all our gear (a dozen jerry cans of fuel, loads of drinking
water, bags of cement, a stove top oven, sacks of onions and garlic,
a double mattress, and a stockpile of yummy biscuits) to the cargo
ship. (Mom, Dad, stop reading here.) Yellu 03 turned out to be carrying
drums of gasoline and not much else, and it was rather unnerving
to watch the sailors puffing on their clove cigarettes.
The
ship's crew were very friendly and hospitable, offering us noodles
and rice at every opportunity. The captain expressed some grave
concern about my gastrointestinal health when he saw me munching
on a raw carrot. I understood this as a valuable insight into Indonesian
eating habits. Our little stash of fresh veggies was very quickly
exhausted, and I can tell you that vegetable cravings are not satisfied
by multi-vitamins. |
| Words
can't express how happy I was to see the rickety sprawl of Sorong
recede into the distance. The murky brown harbour water gave way to
green channel water, finally revealing that unmistakable and infinitely
alluring deep azure blue of Raja Ampat's sea. We arrived at the pearl
farm at dusk. Again, the Papuans were incredibly warm and welcoming,
offering us dinner and a room at their compound. |
| We
awoke early the next morning and hitched a ride to Yellu, the nearby
village, from which Batbitim has been leased. We spent the day visiting
with the village elders, who greeted us with cups of sweet tea and
fresh donuts. As I don't yet speak Bahasa Indonesia, I just smiled
and did my best to not scare the children while Andrew chatted away
amiably about something or other. I got the distinct impression that
this village doesn't receive foreign visitors all that often, as we
were quite the spectacle. We loaded up on eggs, tomatoes, and other
sundries, and then finally were on the last leg of our journey. We
arrived at Batbitim just after the sunset, exactly one week after
I had left Bangkok. |
Yellu's
welcoming committee |
It
was quite surreal to be on Batbitim again. I had only been there
once before, shortly after Andrew and I met. He had taken me to
the island for an afternoon and was regaling me with his grand dreams
of opening an eco resort there. I wasn't yet acquainted with the
depth of his conviction or the power of his ambition, and I am a
tad bit embarrassed to admit I didn't listen all that carefully
- who hasn't had the dream of making their home in a totally unspoiled
paradise? |
view
from our bungalow |
Batbitim
was just as beautiful as I remembered it. The camp is set up on
the north beach, where the dive shop's construction is well underway.
Thorben had built us our own bungalow over the ridge on the south
beach, just 30 meters from the beach. The view from our balcony
was stunning, and the water clear enough to spot a titan triggerfish
patrolling his territory.
In
fact, we spotted several juvenile batfish, baby sharks, and a hunting
grey moray eel in the shallows of the bay. Although we were rarely
lucky enough to find ourselves underwater, we did spot a whole bunch
of new pinnacles in the area! This place just keeps getting better
and better. . .. . |
It
was shockingly easy to shrug off my other life, steadily shedding
layers gathered around me to buffer the jolts and shocks of urban
life. I always feel much more at home with my feet bare and sand
in my hair.
We spent the first couple of days exploring the island. It's a fascinating
landscape, with a number of different ecosystems on one island.
August (and our future low season) is the tail end of the windy
dry season, and the island hadn't seen rain for several months.
I was struck by the lack of insect life on the island (thankfully,
not a single mosquito!). I'm curious to see if this will change
when the rains come. I did spot a few gigantic butterflies and iridescent
beetles. |
Batbitim
makes people happy |
| One
morning when the seas were relatively calm, Andrew and Thorben and
the guys moved Lucy the Sawmill to Yillet, a neighbouring island.
Shark fisherman from Sulawesi have made a camp there to dry their
haul. About three years ago, they felled a hillside of hardwood trees,
presumably to use the land to plant papaya and cassava trees. They've
left all the trees there to rot. Andrew gained permission from the
villagers who own Yillet to use the already felled trees and make
lumber out of them. It was a long and arduous process, with the added
stress of trying to mill all the lumber before the shark fisherman
return to their camp - we were none too eager to cross paths with
them! |
on
Yillet |
Andrew
hired a "Tukan Chainsaw," or Chainsaw Expert, to come from
Yellu and spend a couple of days sawing the trees into 5.5 meter lengths,
which is the maximum length Lucy can accommodate. Next step was to
clear some flat area of rocks and sticks and detritus. The guys made
rollers out of straight coconut trees, and then heaved and ho-ed the
enormous logs (some more than 1 meter in diameter) into place with
a block and tackle, and lots of sweat and multi-lingual grunts. Once
the log was in place, the sawmill was assembled around it, and finally
it was time to start milling! |
The
lumber is simply gorgeous. There is a wide variety of wood there,
ranging in color from deep purple-red to bright yellow, and each
gave off its own fresh scent as it churned through the mill. Some
of the wood was so dense that two men had a difficult time carrying
the 8 x 14 cm beams. Thorben reckons they've already got about 70%
of the wood for the guest bungalows without cutting down a single
tree!
We
were told that one type of wood, called "lingoa" in Bahasa
Indonesia, is what Rolls Royce uses for their dashboards! Thorben's
vouchsafed some broad slabs to be used as counter tops, tables,
and stairs. |
hauling
the wood into position |
Me
burning the ricekills
|
As
it turns out, a 50 kg woman is of very little use on a construction
site. I have to say it came as a bit of a shock to this 1st world
urbanite that traditional gender roles are not entirely arbitrary!
I was better suited to doing the washing and cooking rice over an
open campfire than hauling giant trees.
Once
I got over my initial frustration, I realized that I preferred my
solitary endeavours, and washing in a cool well under rustling palm
leaves is much nicer than sweating with a prickly layer of sawdust
clinging to you. But I've still got a thing or two to learn - I
burned every single pot of rice, even botched instant noodles. However
it was a proud moment when I fashioned rice bowls out of folded
young banana leaves. And made a Thai curry with freshly squeezed
coconut milk rather than than tinned variety! |
When
the washing and cooking was done, I spent a fair bit of time collecting
plants. Batbitim and the surrounding islands are covered in lush
Philodendrons, and I took it upon myself to transplant and propagate
these beauties at every opportunity. Caladiums and ferns were also
in abundance. We also spotted a number of wild orchids clinging
to cliffs! We'll have to build a ladder before we can hope to collect
any of those beauties.
A
few months back, Andrew collected some cast off frangipani cuttings
from a roadside in Sorong and stuck them in some dirt on Batbitim.
Towards the end of my stay on the island, the first rains in several
months arrived. It was a momentous occasion. And just a few days
later, the distal tips of the frangipanis turned green and burst
forth in tiny buds! A few days after that and they were full blown
leaves! |
Andrew
on the lumber pile
|
Andrew
and I are both looking forward to some forays into organic gardening.
It really is essential that the resort have a supply of fresh and
tasty veggies (recall the captain's concern over my consumption
of a raw carrot!). According to a Sorong-based dermatologist, Andrew
and Thorben's long standing battle with boils is a symptom of malnutrition
and accumulation of toxins. She told us that she treats many young
children who are finicky eaters and will eat only instant noodles
- all the additives cause boils!!
If you look carefully at the packaging of many Indonesian foods,
you'll see 'For Sale Only in Indonesia.' Similarly, you will find
pharmaceuticals which have been banned in the West for decades in
abundance in Indonesia. It's truly horrifying, though a screed on
this topic may be beyond the scope of this report. . . . |
Andrew
and I continued work on the turtle tagging project. If you recall
from previous posts, Conservation International is studying hawksbill
turtles, which are endangered in Raja Ampat. They've enlisted our
help to find a few turtles to be captured, tagged, and released.
As per their chief turtle scientist's instructions, we constructed
a 3m x 3m pen in the tidal shallows of the north bay and covered
it with palm fronds for shade.
|
building
the turtle pen
|
our
empty turtle pen
|
We
explored a number of different islands until we found a seriously
high-traffic nesting beach on nearby Warakaket Island. The place
was positively littered with turtle nests! We returned home to Batbimitim
very happy, with plans to visit the beach again at the full moon,
when nesting turtles are at their most active.
We
put the finishing touches on our turtle pen, packed up a night's
worth of hot chocolate, bamboo mats, and a turtle ID fact sheet
provided by CI. We headed east towards Warakaket at high tide, only
to find the waves absolutely roaring. The sea was far too rough
to safely anchor the boat for the night and we were forced to turn
back. We were extremely disappointed. We'll try again at the next
full moon. |
| Work
on the Dive Centre continues to progress steadily. Between the wet
camera area and the dry area, Thorben's made a very striking doorway
from natural driftwood posts. The platform you see in the photo corresponds
to area with the radial flooring in the drawing (I promise it will
make more sense if you open the bigger version of the drawing). This
area will all be under the roofline - the outdoor seating area will
continue for an additional 5 meters. The back wall of the Dive Centre
will be a natural stone wall. |
click
to enlarge |
the
Dive Centre from the back, looking Northwest |
The
labor involved in this project is just mind-boggling. Just to create
the foundation posts, the cement and iron armature are brought from
Sorong, and salt-free sand must be procured from a riverbank in
Misool. Fresh water comes from Yillet, and the little pebbles must
be fetched and hand sorted from the far side of Batbitim. There
will be 300-some foundation posts just for the walkways! |
collecting
pebbles used in the concrete posts |
Thorben
and Andrew scheming
|
I
was impressed by not only the complexity of procuring building materials,
but also by the quality of the designs. Thorben's diverse experience
in building is readily apparent, as is his sense of design and work
ethic. The quality of the construction is impeccable, and works in
perfect harmony with the surroundings (click here to read his new profile. This guy is such a star). |
It
was finally time to leave, and we headed back to the pearl farm
to jump on another cargo ship, Kenari 8. This one wasn't carrying
fuel, but it was full to the brim with passengers. There was also
an abundance of beautifully colored parrots in tiny cages, looking
rather beleaguered and destined for a life of captivity in Sorong
or beyond. The sea was flat as a lake, in stark comparison with
my trip down. The monsoon season was clearly finished. My heart
was heavy that day.. . |
on
the turtle nesting beach at Warakaket
|
And
if you've read this far in this rambling posting, you are well deserving of
the juiciest news of all- Andrew and I are getting married!
*
woooo-hooooo! *
Batbitim
was the perfect place for a proposal. It happened on a day when
the workers had gone home to Yellu to pray, and we were all alone
on this jewel of an island, suspended in a dream. We shouted the
news to the cockatoos overhead, and they squawked back at us!
-Marit |
| |
