On the Spice Trail

Bamboozle
Jamie and Lucy Telfer
Tue 2 Aug 2016 02:11
04:31.420S  129:53.840E

We have arrived in the Banda Islands, the fabled Spice Islands of the East Indies where we have received a warm (and rather wet) welcome.  Four hundred years ago these tiny Islands were probably the most valuable real estate in the world, the only source of much sought after nutmeg which in the cities of Europe was worth up to 60,000 times its local cost at source.  This led to some of the the most violent and gruesome colonial excesses and the local population being reduced from around 15,000 to just 1000 by a particularly violent and sadistic Dutch governor.  Despite this, the Indonesians continue to be incredibly welcoming and we have been looked after wonderfully.  We have been exploring both above and below the water, touring, hiking and diving and getting to know our fellow rally participants over a couple of cold Bintangs.  This local beer seems readily available everywhere despite this being a deeply muslim area with Islam having arrived almost a thousand years ago with the early Arab spice traders, long long before the Portuguese and Dutch rocked up in the early 1600s. We have had some good diving with surprisingly the most extraordinary profusion of hard and soft corals growing on the lava flow that ran down in to the ocean from the still active volcano Gunung Api back in 1988.  The speed with which the reef recovered following this catastrophic event amazed scientists and marine biologists and offers some hope that coral does have the ability to recover far faster than had been previously thought.  Lucy also had the most extraordinary experience while snorkelling coming face to face with a full grown marlin…..it is hard to know who was most surprised Lucy or the Marlin (or indeed the local dive master who said he has never come across one like this before).

On a less positive note we have been horrified to witness the plastic rubbish that litters almost everywhere we have so far been in Indonesia, both on land and in the sea.  Sadly it is still perfectly normal here to just chuck your plastic straight into the sea which is tragic, not only for the damage it does to the marine environment, but also the damage it is doing to the prospect of tourism which is being targeted as the main future industry.  I fear this will be something that we will continue to see across the archipelago. At least here in Banda, Magga a school teacher has recognised the long term cost of this behaviour and is trying to change local attitudes and has even started a small scale recycling operation…..Indonesia needs a million more like him! 

Bamboozle (on the left) med-moored off the dock wall with other rally boats. As you can imagine it is a pretty social spot and I love it that our shore lines are tied to a palm tree and a rusting cannon!  We have been running our noisy cabin fans at night, not only to keep us cool but also in an effort to keep the mosquitoes and Islam (in the form of the early morning call to prayer) out of our bedroom.


On the Spice Trail up through the plantations of nutmeg, cloves, almonds and cinnamon with Gunung Api, the volcano behind us. It is still the wet season in this part of Eastern Indonesia so it is hot and very humid, in fact if you stand still for too long you will start to go mouldy. 

Nutmeg….in 1610 a single large sack of this carried home could buy you a country estate in Europe. These days 100 or so of these trees still will provide a family with a basic income. 


Cloves are still dried in the streets of the villages, the pungent aroma filling the air wherever you go. 


The panoramic view from  near the top of the volcano.  It was a steep, sweaty scramble up through the clouds but we were rewarded with a spectacular glimpse of the islands when the clouds parted.  During the descent we even spied a Java Hawk Eagle, a magnificent bird and the national symbol of Indonesia, a second rare wildlife sighting of the week.