Alor and Lembata

We left Kupang for the overnight to get to Kulabahi, Alor in the morning along with a large number of boats.
Once again our night passage was lit with other yacht’s navigational lights as we all made our way battling the one to two knot current which appears to be the norm for heading north in this part of the world.
We arrived at dawn at the narrowing of the channel leading into Alor to be hit with a wall!! We suddenly were doing 1 knot with a 4-5 knot current against us. Those boats lucky enough to have taken the east channel around Pulau Trewig had either no current or a favourable one. The others of us battled along at one or two knots to finally arrive in the afternoon.
We anchored in about 58feet of water being sure to keep clear of the shelf which apparently appears at low tide. A boat had ended up being stranded on it yesterday and as it is coral we definitely wanted to avoid that.
We were too tired to go ashore so had a quick celebratory drink on Atlantia and then an early night. Once again we were serenaded by the “call to prayer” –it is now Ramadan which means that the Muslims do not eat from sun up to sundown.
The island of Alor is predominately Christian but most of the coastal villages are Muslim, including Kalibahi, the capital city, which is our anchorage. Every small village appears to have either a mosque or church as the centre of the community.
Frustratingly we were not able to get internet here despite them selling the internet sticks on the wharf. When I mentioned there was no signal they said we would get it in the next place, and added “we hope”. We are not sure if the $90 three month “deal” we all bought will be of value in many places.
Upon awakening we were lazily having our morning coffee—tea for me—when Brian on Further came alongside to see if we wanted to on his boat for a dive. As we had heard that they were charging $90 for two dives it was an offer not to be refused.
Alor prides itself on being the second best dive area to the Caribbean and has dive sites all along the walls which drop off a hundred yards from shore all around the island.
We motored out to a dive site and dropped down the wall to 65 feet where many fish traps were lying. There were no fish inside—the Asians reap all of the fish as fast as they grow big enough—and often before—fish is an important part of their diet. The market is full of fish so I assume they are catching them somewhere.
The coral was very pretty and colourful but other than a small school of pelagic fish there were only very small coral fish. We did see a small moray eel and although it was not a hugely impressive dive the water clarity was magnificent and the colours of coral were lovely. We did hear reports from other divers that they dive find many large fish at other sites.
As we were returning to the anchorage we were hailed, telling us that there were whales just off our starboard. We motored closer and were entertained by a pod of three whales that were blowing as they swam along. We think they were pilot whales as they were not very big and apparently are found in Indonesian waters. It was a treat as we all love seeing them.
After the whale show we made our way alongside the wharf rafting on an old fishing boat while Brian tried to sort out the confusion of getting the 1000 litres of diesel he had arranged. Eventually they arrived with a pile of 45 gallon drums on the back of a pick up truck which they quickly pumped in using the small generator they had bought with them.
We were the entertainment for the locals hanging out on the various types of vessels tied alongside. All waved happily to us, the local people are incredible friendly.
The following morning was the welcoming ceremony which is par for the course on this rally. This area is remote for land travellers and we did not see any tourists other than ourselves. The rally is a huge boost to the local tourist market and we were asked at all of the ceremonies to tell our friends the wonders of the island.
After the speeches they had some more local dancing, the costumes are very complex and colourful and we are noticing that many of the dances include a small basket which rattle, apparently with betel nuts, I am not sure if this is just to create noise or if it somehow ripens the nuts.
As in northern Thailand the locals we have seen are severely addicted to eating betel nuts which are sold everywhere. They use lime as a catalyst to enhance the effects but unfortunately a side effect seems to be to destroy the teeth and many older adults have almost no teeth left and their gums are stained a dark red.
We explored the market which a mass of small stalls in a rats nest of small alleys—it reminded us of Zulutan in El Salvadore . Tomatoes, cucumbers, limes and bok choy seem to be in abundance all at very cheap prices. Many small and medium size fish were available but somehow unrefridgerated stiff fish do not appeal!!
Later in the afternoon there was yet another dance performance after which we wandered around as it cooled off watching the local volley ball games.
After dark as we wandered past the local mosque we were invited to share cakes and donuts. During Ramadan apparently they are obligated to feed passing travellers. We appeared to be the only travellers and they were remarkably generous, insisting we eat. They took Ken on a tour of the mosque while an old man came out and showed me how he beat the drum. It was all very lovely; we are finding the local Indonesian people as charming and welcoming as we have most countries we have visited.
Next was the Gala dinner at the Governors mansion which was a very classy affair where this time we were entertained by the local school children who danced and played various musical instruments. A highlight was to dress up a number of cruisers in intricate local costumes which had taken apparently two hours to don.
The food was spicy and we are becoming used to chewing the dry chewy tasty meat without questioning what it may be!!!
Next day was a bus tour to a traditional village where they had yet another dance performance. This one involved the women dancing with brass rings on their ankles making a noise synchronising with the beat of the drums. The men were the warriors complete with bows and arrows and danced around the decapitated head of their enemies. The people had a very warlike culture where they would bring the heads back to their village. The arrows were often laced with poison ensuring that if the arrow did not kill them the poison would.
They do wonderful weavings using several traditions. They are all absolutely immaculate on both sides and could be worn on either. They had them for sale along with some jewellery, carvings and bows and arrows.
We bargained for a couple of lovely scarves for $5 and $10 and Ken got a very cool bow and arrow for $5.
We snorkelled on our way back and it was lovely to finally get in the water and cool off. The corals once again were clear and pretty but few fish.
Unfortunately around the villages the water is strewn with garbage which appears to be the way of life here. This does not make us want to swim in the anchorages. With daytime temperatures at 30C it is very sticky and hot.
We all stopped at the local harbourmaster’s store for cold beers and then headed back to the boat for happy hour with The Road, Peregrina and Atlantia—social times are once again in force.
Every morning local children come out to the boats in canoes to see what they can get. They appear well dressed and we suspect that we will come across much poorer villages as we travel. Unlike Vanuatu they do not come with anything to trade they want hand outs.
We did trade with one man with his two children as he arrived with mangoes, bananas and some home made local treats. We gave the children a t shirt, balloon and a pencil each and found a shirt for him. He badly wanted one with Canada or sailboats on it but the best we could do was an old Flames shirt Ken had. We explained that it was a wonderful shirt and showed him the flame on the C. He decided that that meant the flame of life—we hope it will inspire the Flames with this interpretation!!
The next day was time to move on and made the 80 miles to Lembata with a night or two stop on the way.
A number of boats were leaving to go north to Wakatobi which is 140 miles north and is reputed to have incredible diving. We will go there after we have been to Lembata.
We timed the passage to coincide with the flood tide and were able to make reasonable time arriving at a lovely lagoon beside a village later in the afternoon along with a number of boats which had elected to leave with us. As we left at dawn the next day the local village was awakening with fishermen coming out in their canoes and children were all outside on the dock.
We were going 50 miles to anchorage number 10 in our guide book which apparently is lovely.
As we travelled I baked what is no doubt the first of many banana bread loaves—once again too many ripening at once!!
We motored along—no winds in Indonesia!!!---passing villages perched on impossible hillsides which were very volcanic in origin. As on Alor each village had either a mosque or church as its centre.
Ken was trolling as we went and managed to catch a nice mahi mahi. We called the boats we had anchored with the previous night inviting them to share it on Cop Out at the next anchorage. Shortly after he was ecstatic to catch a 11kg wahoo. It was the first time he had managed to hook the prized fish so we now radioed ahead to invite whoever was in the anchorage.
Much to our dismay when we pulled in there were 11 boats in the anchorage!! This translated to 20 adults and 2 children aboard for dinner—our record number for dinner!!! Luckily our cockpit is large and everyone bought food and there was lots of fish!! We had a great time and we still had some wahoo left over.
The following morning we took advantage of the lovely anchorage to snorkel, the coral was pretty dead but we did see a pipe fish which we had not seen before. There was a small sandy island which we went ashore and it was very idyllic surrounded by volcanoes.
Later that day we travelled the 10 miles into Lembata in time for the welcome ceremony and dinner.
We were all greeted at the dock with dancers chanting and singing and giving us a traditional welcome pouring wine on the ground and offering us betel nuts and cigarettes they make from their own tobacco rolled in a palm leaf.
We were led by the dancers down the road to the venue where they would entertain and feed us.
We sat through many dances; most here involved celebrating or hoping for good harvests. Time means very little to them and once they start dancing they seemed to go on for a long time.
Several children’s groups performed and were quite delightful. They wore skirts done in the traditional ikat woven style which were beautiful but less elaborate than the previous locations we have been at.
We were warmly welcomed and the as the performances ended we were invited to join in.
The next day was a visit to a local village. As we dismounted from the bus we were greeted once again with dancing which led us to the gate where we were formally welcomed. I seemed to be at the front and was obliged to sample the betel nut which they showed me how to dip in the lime. It was very bitter and within a few minutes my saliva turned red. It had no narcotic effect at all and I suspect you need to have a lot to have any effect. Luckily I have no desire to ever try it again and so will save my teeth for my old age.
They then showed us how a young man’s family will approach a young woman’s to ask for her hand in marriage. He will come with an ivory elephant tusk; there are no elephants in Indonesia so are presumably traded from Thailand, also presumably passed around as I cannot think there would be one for every bride. The women balance baskets of fruit on their heads and proceed to the bride’s house. After some chanting from first the groom’s father and then the bride’s father the proposal is accepted and they enter her house to celebrate. They have amazing balance and both in this procession and in many dances would easily move and dance with baskets on their heads.
Next we were taken to see the ikat weaving. This is an amazing process where they warp the loom with dyed cotton which they have spun and tie small areas off. They then take it off the loom and dye it again—the principal is much like batik and will set the pattern for the final weaving. The weft is done with either traditionally died cotton or they will often use commercially bought colours which brighten it up. The traditional weavings take many days and are very expensive—sadly beyond our budget.
They also showed us how they make palm wine using similar processes to those we had seen from Kupang. It was followed by lunch and then many more dance performances. We were also encouraged to join in and Ken caused great hilarity when he tried to master jumping between the poles which were systematically opened and closed in rhythm.
Finally it was time for us to leave and they genuinely were sorry to see us go as they waved goodbye.
They were a lovely warm happy people and we envy their simple happiness.
That night wahoo on board with Atlantia and Pegasus who had not been with us for our large dinner.
We spent the following day regrouping where Ken got a haircut in the local style which is very short and will not need another for a long while!! For $1 50 it was good value!! Lunch was $6 including beer. We then jumped the back of a motor cycle for the 50 cent ride to the market where $6 bought eggplants, garlic, tomatoes, lemon grass and carrots. I thought the $2 asking price was a little high for a cucumber but when he put them in a bag I realised I had bought 5—shades of Fiji.
We are leaving this sector of the rally which heads west to go north to Wakatobi to join friends who left previously to experience the apparently wonderful diving. We will rejoin this rally in Komodo in a few weeks.
We have three months in Indonesia which seems a long time but we are realising how short this is for so many wonderful places to visit so once again are feeling that we need to move often.