Wakatobi to Labuan Bajo

We left Lembata and sailed north for the 2 day passage to Wakatobi.
The five boats we were joining had emailed us way points, invaluable in this part of the world.
As we left this volcanic part of the world for the small northern coral islands a small volcanic island impressed as it spewed smoke.
When we arrived at Tomia the first of the four main Wakatobi Islands we found the other boats anchored on a sea mount 40 feet deep which quickly dropped to 200 feet. We circled many times to find a spot and finally put down our anchor having decided that if it was not a safe distance from the other boats we would leave and move to a different island. Fortunately it was calm and it was safe for the two nights we planned to stay.
The following day we all went for a dive around a very pretty coral bommy. Once again we enjoyed vibrant coral and multitudes of pretty fish. We did see a large wrasse but again mostly smaller fish. We saw several fish we had not seen before, unfortunately my underwater camera does not seem to be set correctly and the colours in the photos were really bad.
As the other boats all had compressors we were able to fill our tanks after each dive.
They were planning on moving to Hoga Island on Kaledupa as they had been on Tomia for several days and we elected to go with them as the anchorage was very tenuous.
The 35 mile trip was an easy sail and we were able to follow the way points from the 101 Anchorage book which luckily were correct—not always the case in Indonesia. The anchorage was in a lagoon and offered a safe anchorage with room for many boats.
To attest how difficult negotiating these reefs can be, one boat somehow anchored too close to the reef and when they swung onto it they grounded their boat and fouled their anchor in the coral and were stuck solid.
Luckily for them there were about 8 boats in the anchorage at the time and in true cruiser fashion they were quickly assisted by everyone in their dinghies. They were freed by eventually tying a line from the top of their mast to the back of a nearby boat which managed to pull them sideways freeing the keel at the same time as others helped free the anchor.
We spent the evening ashore at a beach bar—beer is cheap once again as is the case in almost all of the countries we visit. We were joined by most of the boats in the anchorage. Fortunately we went in on Wasabi’s dinghy which is lighter than ours as when we were ready to go back we found that we had to drag the dinghy the several hundred yards across bumpy sand, sea urchins and sea weed to where the tide had gone out to. With only a small flashlight and Ken and Isabel with no shoes it was no mean feat to get back unscathed.
A research centre is located there where a large contingent of young English students had been studying for the various degrees they were working on. They had been there for two months and were leaving the next day.
Early every morning we were visited by canoes bringing various types of langoustines, lobster and squid from the nearby Bajo village across the channel on the main island of Kaledupa. These were all between $5 and $10 so we enjoyed fresh fish daily.
The next morning I went to shore for a walk with Isabel from Wasabi, Nori from Rogue and Chantelle from Sea Lance to walk the beach. We had made a booking for 19 of us to come in for dinner at a resort and as we passed they were busily building tables for the occasion. At $7 per head they would make a lot of money that night!!
They prepared a very tasty banquet—the biggest hit were the lovely French fries, probably cooked in palm oil which would do nothing for our cholesterol but after much gluggy rice were delicious. Most food in Indonesia is spicy and one must “spot the chillies”!!! Many a careless bite led to reaching quickly for the beer bottle.
We had a great evening, having anchored the dinghies further out we only had to drag them 50 yards this time. We were better prepared with reef walkers and flashlights.
The next day we had a great dive. Hoga Island is a pretty island surrounded by white sand and a shallow sand ledge which drops off hundreds of feet all along the island. There are a large number of buoys to tie your dingy to and drop down the wall. Once again multitudes of coloured fish and corals made for a lovely dive.
That night rather than another dinghy haul up the beach, happy hour was on Wasabi. As is normal with yachties lots of yummy food arrived and another lovely evening was shared.
The final day was spent diving around a pinnacle, once again lots of pristine coral and colourful fish.
The next day everyone was planning on leaving to head 25 miles northwards to Wangi Wangi, the capital of Wakatobi and the main centre where the rally festivities would start in a few days.
Ken and I decided to visit the Bajo village in Kaledupa before leaving and cautiously followed a fisherman who offered to lead us to the wharf as the tide was very low with the coral only inches under our dinghy.
The Bajo village was built by nomadic fishermen who settled at the edge of the island and built houses on stilts in the ocean from which they live and fish. Over time the communities have become established with wooden platforms and bridges to transit the village. Mosques and schools are present and they have constructed channels which offer shelter to the canoes and houses. Fish are sent to Sulawesi to export Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia. Fish prices are high so despite the poor appearance of the houses many have satellite dishes.
It was amazing to see the way the people lived, in what we would see as squalid conditions. They have one room which the families live in and have a platform outside where they spend a lot of their time. They have to carry water in their canoes from the main town nearby. The children once again displayed the happy smiles common to Indonesian children everywhere calling “photo photo” and all burst into spontaneous laughter as we showed them the photo on the display which they all love to see.
Unfortunately in contrast to the rest of the Wakatobi Islands they throw their garbage in typical Indonesian style into the surrounding canals.
We left for the easy trip to Wangi Wangi arriving at high tide. The lagoon entrance is narrow and shallow and stories abounded about boats having touched bottom as they entered. As we only draw 4 feet we did not worry and were led into the lagoon anchorage by Gino, the local organiser for the festivities.
The other boats with deeper drafts were not comfortable coming in so decided to tie up to the mooring buoys on the outside of the lagoon which had been set up for the rally boats.
The following morning the wind came up and suddenly they were all dragging the mooring buoys down onto each other. Ken rushed out to help and they dragged one buoy to another and tied to two. The local people have no concept of anchoring principals for yachts. Having so easily dragged the buoys they did not feel secure so at the highest tide they all came in---Wasabi and Curious, both 54 foot Oysters with a 2.5 metre draft had only one inch to spare but did not touch bottom.
That night was Ken’s birthday and we invited the boats we had been travelling with and Lady Kay and Gavia Arctica who were already there and had a great 61st birthday party for him. Last year he had a memorable birthday in Port Sandwich, Vanuatu. In years to come will have tales to tell of exotic locations for his birthdays!!
Lots of good food once again was brought and I made salt and pepper squid from the squid purchased in Hoga which was a great hit. Banana chocolate cake with slightly used candles completed the celebration.
The following day we went with Jackie and Michael on Lady Kay for a bus tour up to the old fort. We were accompanied by two guides.
They had hired twenty people, most of them young women to be government guides for our stay at the island. There appears to be great competition amongst them as they run to meet and claim each of us as we come to shore in the dinghy. They are lovely articulate well educated young people and try very hard to explain the culture and language to us. They are anxious to practice their English as many want to further their education which will require being conversant in English.
Our tour began with a visit to the local Bajo village which in this case is 4 separate adjoining villages with varying degrees of wealth and although quite fascinating we found it depressing. Once again at low tide the garbage is in the canals and everyone seems to be sitting around their porches with little to do. They do have piped water in these villages in contrast to the Bajo village in Hoga.
We then went up to the old fort which had been built by the Portuguese in the 17th century and was actually used by the locals to fight the Dutch when they came to occupy Indonesia. The Portuguese had formerly used Indonesia as a trading base. The fort is at the top of a hill and the local village built in the area has a mosque as the central feature.
When we were there a funeral was taking place and we were asked if we would like to watch the burial—we declined but it appeared that there would be no offence taken if we had accepted.
We walked around the walled paths of the village which had a very Mediterranean feel. There are views of the ocean and it was cooled with a breeze. Lots of flowers around the houses added to the ambience.
The next stop was to the seaweed farming area. Here they harvest seaweed with nets and dry it to export to Sulawesi and make a gel used in cosmetics and food. This is a renewable resource as they take small cuttings which they put on the nets to replant and harvest again. Many villages are supported by this and seem to manage to sustain a good life.
Our final stop was lunch at the Bajo village resort which was a great meal of chilli prawns.
Next day we rented motor scooters along with Curious, Wasabi, Rogue and Alexander 1V and our two guides; two sisters aged 15 and 17 who were delightful, as was the case with all of the guides we had.
We circumnavigated the attractive island and it was lovely and cool on the back of the motor scooter. Ken who hadn’t ridden one for many years managed very well and I pillioned on the back happily.
I felt a little like the Queen waving as we passed through the villages with everyone shouting hello and waving to us. If we stopped we were quickly surrounded by locals all wanting “photo photo”. We posed alongside them so they could take our photos too.
We stopped at one of the many fresh water springs on the beach to see the water bubbling up through. The aquifer is obviously just below the land so a lot of fresh water is available. There are grottos in various parts of the island where the locals bathe and do their laundry, unfortunately they are also strewn with garbage and we declined the offer of a swim.
Lunch was had at the fancy Patuno Resort where the menu was in English as well as Indonesian—a rare treat. The resort is geared for rich tourists and has fancy bungalows to rent and a dive shop. A sign at reception warned in English that if upon your departure items were missing you would be charged. It was with an itemised sign which listed every conceivable item that could be stolen including the queen size mattress and the mini bar fridge—I am not sure who or how one would abscond with such items??
We returned to the Bajo village on our way back as Nori wanted to buy some squid. We were led to a hole in the floor beneath which was a netted area with some fish and a large lobster which appeared to be floating upside down—dead??—we were told that it would cost the equivalent of $40 a kilo!!—not sure how that fits the local economy where we had bought three large squid for $5!!
We did go to the market before going back to the boats purchasing vegetables cheaply and Nori bought her squid there at a more reasonable price.
The next day I went ashore where two of the guides had a turf war over who would escort me to the central market to get some vegs. It is sad that there are more of them than us as they really want to interact one on one with us and like to practice their English and love to explain everything to us.
Ady won the privilege to take me. She was 24 and a little older than the others and is married to a teacher. She had a 4 year old daughter who had had a fever 2 years ago and as is the way in these countries had died—it is so sad to hear these stories from these lovely people.
She took me to her home which was large with ceramic tiled floors. The room as you entered the house had a very ornate couch and arm chairs which we sat on. Most of the other rooms had little or no furniture. The room with the TV and computer had a woven mat on the floor which obviously was where they sat. I had the impression that you saved and furnished one room at a time as you could afford it. She wants to be a teacher and is saving for the equivalent of $7500 to get on the list to be employed as a civil servant. Her husband had paid $5500 several years ago for the coveted government job from which you would be guaranteed a job for life and a pension to follow but the price has gone up. She told me that people sold their house and their land to get enough money to pay. The salary is then $100 a month so after 6 years you would start to go ahead but your salary would rise as time went on. The corruption in Indonesia is rampant and with this system I am sure it will continue as once you get your government job you are certainly not going to try and campaign for change.
She offered me tea but the Muslims are all fasting now for Ramadan and it is embarrassing to eat or drink while they sit not having anything. They can only eat and drink from sunset to sunrise for the month of August. The children are off school and the adults work part of the day and seem to spend the rest of the day sitting in groups talking, playing cards or sleeping. They cannot even drink water which given the climate seems almost dangerous and certainly is not conducive to productivity. The mosques play their recorded chanting starting at 3 30am which makes it hard to get a nights sleep.
Wakatobi Islands had apparently received a lot of money from the government for the Sail Indonesia Rally to showcase the islands.
We all get 100 liters of fuel when we arrive and the guides and rally festivities are free. We also got a bag and tshirts each but I am sure a lot of the money was pocketed by those in charge. The girls told us they have been promised $40 each for the 3 weeks they are employed. They have had $5 each so far and hope they will see the rest at the end—I sincerely hope so as they are so earnest and try so hard to make us comfortable.
Cats Paw 1V returned to the anchorage and we had a pleasant evening with them—it was great to catch up again.
Next day was the first of the festivities and we were driven to the village at the fort where we greeted by the older men as they paraded into the arena and then performed a dance which represents a heroic battle. It was followed by a weird kind of kick boxing. Here two men hold hands and as a team attempt to kick their opponents. It was accompanied by loud cheers by the local villagers who were out in force to watch. We were the honoured guests and after the performances the local women were at tables preparing their local foods which they explained to us. We were then invited to buy the dishes—dried fish, fish soup and cassava which was grated and sold in a pile. Unlike Vanuatu it is used as to dip in the spicy broth of the soup and is not as solid and gelatinous and unpalatable as theirs had been. There was also a sweet pastry where they wrapped rice flour around a coconut sugar concoction. . Each dish was between 50c and $1.
We were invited to try everything and were given a drinking coconut each.
The locals were fasting and the men who had been doing the kick boxing must have been dehydrated.
They eat a lot more sweet dishes than the countries we have previously been to where sugar is a rare commodity; much to the detriment of the children’s teeth which are rotting and often missing. The small corner stores seem to sell little other than candies.
That evening we were bussed to Patuno Resort for a welcome dinner as part of the Sail Wakatobi festival.
The dinner was nice although in contrast to the well organised events we had been used to we arrived at this one to find diners already eating and empty tables were scattered around the dining room. The dinner was nice and was attended by many ministers and dignitaries—beneficiaries of the Sail Wakatobi Rally funds?
Speeches followed with some dancing in very elaborate costumes.
The next morning was to be the underwater wedding ceremony. Some 30 couples would be married underwater and we were invited to participate. They had had a rehearsal where apparently there was an arch with plastic hearts and flowers on it.
Ken still had his cold so we decided to forgo it and leave the next morning with the 4 other boats we had been diving with to start heading south to rejoin the rally we had been with previously. We would stop over at a reef on the way where they would dive and we would snorkel unless Ken’s cold was better.
We set off at dawn to exit the anchorage at high tide and cover the 160 miles to the reef assuming we would get in some time the next day.
As we set sail the winds on our beam were steady at 15-20knots—the perfect conditions—but a 2 knot favourable current meant we were doing 10knots!! Normally we would have been delighted but this meant we would get arrive in the middle of the night—not a good plan for a reef anchorage!!
We all diverted to the north end of the reef system which would lessen the current and put the winds directly behind us which allowed us to slow down and arrive at the pass into the reef system after dawn.
We tentatively made our way through the poorly charted coral atolls to find an anchorage at 70 feet, these depths have to be acceptable here but are certainly much deeper than we are used to.
We were sheltered by an island with a small fishing village which appears to have a mosque and quite a large number of well constructed houses on it. There are many islands here obviously inhabited by fishermen with no cell phone coverage but they are well lit at night and must have water from an aquifer system?
Despite the constant 17 knots of wind and depth we all held fast and the swell was minimal. We headed into the village in the morning crossing the shallow reef which had obviously been dynamited to kill the fish and most of the corals had been destroyed and what was left was bleached with only tiny fish left.
We were welcomed to the village by the children who are obviously not used to yachts as they were happy to see us but unlike most villagers did not ask for anything.
We had taken some books with us to give to the school teacher but when we found the class they appeared to be well stocked with a lot of new text books for all ages. Once again as we have found everywhere in Indonesia the people were friendly and were delighted by the diversion we gave to their day. The teacher had a little English and some of the students were able to go as far as asking for our name but most of the communicating was done with smiles.
They knocked several coconuts down to give to us as we departed---teri mikasi—samu samu—thank you—you are welcome.
Happy hour was had on Curious where we enjoyed another tropical evening.
Next morning we set off south to try and find a less damaged part of the reef which was not successful so Ken and I decided to head off for an overnight back to Flores where we would rejoin the rally which had travelled along the Western route.
The others are going to persevere for one more day hopefully finding another dive site.
We arrived at Gila Boda in the morning to find a lovely calm anchorage beside a small sandy beach on an island and great snorkelling. At sunset the monkeys come down to the beach so it is a great place to be.
We are now back in the “main stream” of rally boats and renewing acquaintances with many old friends.
Happy hour on Atlantia with Curious as they both arrived that day.
It was Josie from Alexander 1V’s birthday the next day and the boats in the anchorage celebrated with a beach party for lunch.
We spent a couple of days enjoying the sun, sand and coral reefs before heading into Labuan Bajo our next stop. This is reputed to be quite a culture shock with backpackers, dive operators and even Italian restaurants.
Will be fun but we hope that we have not left the small villages which do not have swarms of tourists and are so delighted to see us.