Wangi Wangi, Wakatobi.
Fleck
Wed 11 Aug 2010 06:45
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Recent location, Wangi Wangi Lagoon, Wakatobi
region 05:19.96S 123:31.75E
Current position 06:16.8S
121:39.45E
Wednesday, August 11th
Wakatobi has a Star Wars ring to it, but Wangi
Wangi is right out of the past; though like the rest of Indonesia struggling
with the pace of modernisation. The local tribe are Bajos, reminding me
very much of the San Blas Indians. We were greeted one morning by two grinning
naked kids about 5 years old in their tiny dug out canoe, half waterlogged, and
hundreds of yards out to sea. Hannah, who was herself reluctant to dress in
anything at that age, was a little taken aback!
We put in here as the wind was dropping to nothing,
and there seemed no point in staying at sea. A very peaceful lagoon
anchorage within a protected bay, but only accessible at high tide over an
artificial cut in the coral. Shades of the Cook Islands, but actually plenty of
depth here, and room for about 15 of us inside. Ashore the Harbourmaster grabbed
our ships papers and introduced us to Nortea and Rian: Muslim
schoolkids whose grasp of English was amazing, and who were to be our
guides to the small Port. We found some basics: fruit, veg, and bread (though
the bread has turned out to be a sweet sort of bun, with black treacle in
it; keeps quite well, tastes yummy, but not with cheese). The Central Market and
Fish Market was the best thing, hundreds and hundreds of stalls crammed
together, paths deeply rutted by rain run off from the roofs, folk
asleep on their shop 'counters', and the pungent smells of fruit, spices, and
fish around every corner.Back at the dockside we arranged an evening meal at the
town's only eatery, returning at 19.00 to platefuls of freshly prepared
steaming hot food, only for Hannah to go deathly pale and anounce that she felt
unwell. Gulped down most of my fish, settled a surprisingly large bill, and took
H back to the boat where I diagnosed appendicitis, Dengue fever, Japanese
encephalitis etc, until she woke up in the morning as bright as usual, demanding
breakfast.
Promises of wind via the satellite phone
forecast saw us trying to check out, but the HM had other ideas: he didn't want
his charges wandering off before the Regional Mayor had made his Official
Appearance. In the event The Mayor never showed up, and the slight delay to
ourselves was of no consequence, as when we left yesterday afternoon, the sea
was like glass.
Wakatobi has fantastic coral, and
the rest of the fleet hope to spend time in the outer Islands and reefs
before moving on. We are headed straight for Bali, another 525 miles, and after
two hours of motoring yasterday, an evening easterly breeze sprang up, and
with a few fits and starts this has held up so far, and we have made good
progress with some current under us, and relatively flat seas. On a
large scale chart the route looks easy, but there are quite a lot of reefs, and
a fair few fishing boats to keep us on our
toes.
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