Leaving' Larantuka

August 21, 2013

Today marks our 3rd and final day in the super cute little town of Larantuka, where instead of taking endless photos we signed endless autographs for the kiddies.  

The King of Larantuka drank some palm alcohol for himself and then poured some out for his dead homies.  (He may have called them ancestors, but same difference!)

Fish are friends not food.

The Jr. High School marching band paraded us into town...

…with traditional dancers of course!

Nothing like dragging a foreigner into the traditional dancing for a good laugh!  The foot work here blows Kevin Bacon's dancing out of the water anytime.

U.T.I. in Indo??  No problem!  The staff love us and thanks to our celebrity status our health care and antibiotics were free!!!

Yatchies at the welcoming gala dinner.

Check out the combs in their hair … apparently it's for decoration.  Take a good look at the skirts . . . they take over 2 weeks to make!

Here is cotton getting spun into yarn.

And here is cotton getting woven into fabric...

...with sweet patterns!

I finally tried my chance at the bamboo dance of death.  This was the beginner version - the poles didn't close on your ankle as they just went in a vertical fashion.  Wendy still wiped out though!

I finally got to visit a school!  I checked out the first grade classroom of course.  In this regency, the parents have to pay for school, but the government offers scholarships to those who can't afford it.

Don't Eat Whales

August 20, 2013

Although Omar and I are in the town of Larantuka, I need to catch you up on our last stop of Lembata, where I had a terrible time of deciding whether I should visit Lamalera, a traditional whaling village.   Lamalera is 1 of 3 of the only places left on earth that UNESCO allows to continue to hunt whales as they have been doing so since at least the 16th century.  Although I absolutely do not agree that they should be allowed to murder whales, I did decide to visit as there were no whale carcasses around and I was interested in the culture.

The town of Lembata as seen from our boat.

Traditional dancers for our welcoming dance.  They only look fierce but they smile just as much as every Indonesian does!  

Why doesn't America have motor scooter trains for children to ride in?

After the dance, all the locals and Sail Komodo participants paraded to the town square.

And at the town square we did some more circle dancing.  My new favorite dance craze!!!

I can't convey to you enough what it is like when I say we are CELEBRITIES.  Omar and I stood for over an hour taking photos with the locals, till we finally snuck away.  People started pushing their babies onto me so I would hold them. (My face hurt for hours!) (And what the hell are all these people going to do with my photo???)

Omar was a teen heart throb here!  That punk hammed it up for the young ladies with his new hair cut.

The dancers are beautiful.  Made especially so as we get multiple free welcoming dinners with the government in every town we stop!  

Omar and I opted for the motor scooter taxi on the way back from the local market.

No boogie board? . . . 

… no problem!!!

Jeffrey, the local high school teacher of Lamalera, explains how the locals harpoon whales and fish and how to them, whales are the same as cows to us.  He explained the whole whale is used, everything except the teeth, and that they never hunt females or babies.  (Not that that makes it OK in my book.)

This is a picture of a picture.  Jeffrey says, that everyone believes, himself included, that the spear throwers have magical powers.

Yum whale meat!  Needless to say no one opted to try any for lunch.

Thankfully they were only harpooning the sea . . . no animals were murdered in the taking of this picture.

Hola Lembata

The port of Lembata was our next destination. Although it was slightly more disorganized than the other ports it did provide a couple of unique experiences that I hope never to forget.

Lembata received us with a beautiful sunset at our anchorage.

The next day there was a parade. We were part of the parade and the local residents wore their best clothes.

Folkloric dancer at Lembata.

School transportation is a little different over here. Would love to see this happening back home!

For the Indonesian Independence Day we were invited to dinner at the Regents office. Top brass from the police navy and army were part of the event. After speeches and a great meal we all danced together, top brass and politicos as well as cadets and employees. I was very impressed to see that they have not forget their humanity behind their uniforms and titles.

For our guided tour we went to the fishing village of Lamalera. Fishermen catch their fish by using harpoons.

The harpooner is a special place on the boat and is considered to have almost magical properties.

Sailing and rowing are the only means of power. The sails are made from weaved palm fibers. This guys can power row like an olympic team.

The past, present and future in Lembata.

Adventure in Alor Part 2

 

August 15, 2013

So long Alor!  It was a sad morning yesterday leaving our new home of Alor and all our new friends.  We truly can't walk through the town without running into people we know at this point… both locals and new sailing friends.  We arrived at the next island, Lembata, where we anchored next to a smoking volcano…  certainly less appealing after the volcanic eruption near Flores Island two days ago that killed 6 people!  But it was the best night watch I have had so far . . . moonlight reflecting off the water, stars in the sky unlike anything you have seen in America, and lava running down the sides of volcanoes all as we sailed past.

We spent a day on a local boat snorkeling at the best sites I have ever laid my eyes on!!!  Now you just have to get off the boat without falling to ask the local chief for permission before snorkeling.

The locals weave their own fish baskets out of pond fronds and sink them in the reefs.  Fish swim in, but they don't swim out.  :(  I thought about freeing them while snorkeling… but wasn't so sure the chief would look kindly upon that.  

The women weave baskets which are used in the community and traded with other villages.

And what about the rest of the palm?  Fear not!  The fruit gets used to make alcohol - sopi.  We had to drink some with the chief whether we wanted to or not!!!

Life on the snorkel boat - eating rice and vegis with our hands like the locals already!

All the local children swam out to an empty boat near us to say hi!  Not one parent in site - this is the opposite of the helicopter parent phenomen.

Jealous yet?  Here's where we went for our picnic with our new friends!

No beach experience is complete without a small child using a large machete to open a coconut for me!

It was a picnic feast!!!

I don't think words convey what I mean by the fact that we are celebrities here.

Omar opted to ride back from the beach picnic like a local.  Our new friend Peter, directly above Omar, sang with the band Taj Mahalo.  He has the most amazing voice ever!

No trip is complete without renting scooters to tour the island.  Where is my go GoPro when I need it?

We explored the northern part of Alor and found beaches to swim in along the way.

And no scooter trip is complete without a break down.  Orla had to ride her flat through dirt/gravel pits aka roads for more than 20 mins before we stumbled upon a village in the middle of nowhere with a man sent from God himself, who not only had an air compressor, but an extra tube and fixed the tire single handedly in a jiffy!!!!

A vegan in the making.

We made it back alive!!! Nothing short of a miracle.

Also nothing short of a miracle…. eating part of a staple I found in my food.

Some more traditional dancers at our welcoming ceremony.

Here are all the Sail Komodo participants (and some officials) in Alor.  You can find us easily as we are the ones without grey hair!

When in Rome ...

They call this the punk style hair cut and most of the locals rock it!  It's like I have a new boyfriend!!!