Playful fish and rowing grannies in Wakatobi waters<\/p>\n
Ati Nurbaiti, The Jakarta Post\/Wanci, Southeast Sulawesi<\/p>\n
Too little time, too much to explore around the sparkling
\nwaters and white-sand isles off the tip of Southeast Sulawesi. In
\nno time it was farewell to the Wakatobi National Park, and
\nclinging memories of pretty darting fish, trips to interesting
\nsites by boat with either utmost basic comfort with thin
\nmattresses -- on deck or in cute cabins with a view of the ocean
\n-- or yucky dinners of noodles and rice, compensated by star
\ngazing on the deck. And all that fresh fish!<\/p>\n
Our group of travelers were journalists invited by the
\ninternational organizations of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
\nand The Nature Conservancy (TNC), to expose issues in the
\nnational park.<\/p>\n
Tourism has only recently been encouraged here, in part
\nbecause Wakatobi -- an acronym for its main islands of Wangi-
\nwangi, Kaledupa, Tomea and Binongko -- has just become a regency
\nwith a regent seeking the best means to raise revenue.<\/p>\n
So the only crowd we saw on one of these islands, Hoga, were
\nresearchers working with Operation Wallacea, an environmental
\nprogram to assess and help preserve the ecosystem. Embarking on
\nthe remote isle populated by many foreigners, one recalls scenes
\nfrom the Beach movie minus the lovely waterfall.<\/p>\n
That many of the visitors were mostly from the United Kingdom
\nmay or may not have anything to do with the Englishman who the
\noperation is named after, the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace.
\nHe is famous for discovering the \"biological zones\" (the \"Wallace
\nline\") differentiating the animals of western and eastern parts
\nof the archipelago.<\/p>\n
Wallace evidently passed these islands in late 1856, as he
\nmentions Wangi-wangi on his way south from Makassar. The crew,
\nhis journal reads, caught a shark for breakfast and another for
\nlunch! We were thankfully safe from sharks when snorkeling and
\ndiving -- but that's sadly because the predators have either been
\nwiped out by overfishing or have fled further south.<\/p>\n
Wakatobi is famous as one of the world's best diving sites.
\nEven the snorklers among us were grinning after sighting their
\nfirst funny fish and bright corals in shallow water. I saw my
\nfirst small stingray and first \"Nemo\" orange clownfish here!<\/p>\n
On shore, the beams and doors of the Hoga Lodge, comprising a
\ncanteen and library for the researchers, are painted with playful
\nsnakes and romancing sweetlips. Near the kitchen a humorous mural
\ndepicts life on Hoga; sunbathers and divers, fish flying up to
\ncoconut trees and a fridge full of sausages and bacon! Whether
\nfact or fancy we weren't sure. \"There's a lot of jokes in that
\nmural,\" says the painter, Olga Miksche, who must be Hoga's grand
\ndame, having been a virtual resident in recent years.<\/p>\n
A walk round the island leads to souvenir stalls and the art
\nshop of Pak Safar, the only other painter here. He's busy
\ncatching up on commissioned paintings featuring all manner of
\nfish on paper, wood and bamboo, for the young things who were
\nabout to return to England as summer ends. He also owns the
\nturquoise lodge nearby, which is among some 40 homes on the
\nisland rented for the researchers, apart from a few others for
\ntourists.<\/p>\n
The lodges have basic, clean showers and toilets with just
\nenough water as long as you stick by the rule: Shower only in the
\nafternoon. No one wants to bathe in the morning anyway at the
\nsight of the white sand and seawater!<\/p>\n
A few minutes away by speedboat is the community of the sea
\ngypsies, among the very few left in the world, we're told.
\nThey're called the Bajo and the ones nearest to Hoga are called
\nthe Bajo Sampela, after the area where they built their stilt
\nhomes. As we neared the area children were maneuvering boats and
\ngrannies were carting firewood before parking the boats under
\ntheir homes.<\/p>\n
Some women were roasting sea slugs -- they were yummy! A big
\nturtle and a sea eagle were among their \"pets\" as we trudged and
\ntripped on the planks like flat-footed fools.<\/p>\n
On the island of Wangi-wangi lives the supposedly more
\n\"modern\" Bajo people. But the waterways and boats are still
\ncentral to their lives just like streets and cars are to us. In
\nthe late afternoon Bajo women sail in a convoy to the nearby
\nmarket in Wanci, the capital of the isle, to sell fresh catch.<\/p>\n
Like kids anywhere, their children screech delightfully at the
\nsight of a cameraman -- but unlike most of our metropolis
\ninfants, they easily plunge and slither under the water.<\/p>\n
The Bajo are still gypsies at heart, the researchers here say;
\nthey could just leave and roam the sea when they see fit, even if
\nthe trigger is irreconcilable differences with a neighbor!<\/p>\n
Also on Wangi-wangi island is the popular Pasar RB market; RB
\nis short for rombengan or cheap second hand items, reportedly
\nfrom Singapore. Maybe this explains the cool T-shirts on people
\nhere -- apart from big Italian-made motorcycles sold for only
\nabout Rp 6 million, which are illegal the minute they're spotted
\noutside the island.<\/p>\n
Another \"RB market\" is on Bau-bau, among the last boat stops
\nbefore the remote islands and the last chance to get essentials
\nlike flashlights, just in case the Hoga outlets run out of them.<\/p>\n
The markets also sell big multi colored sarongs, hand made in
\nButon and the Wakatobi islands. On Hoga they claim the cloth is
\nso strong that they make it into hammocks for two people!<\/p>\n
I just bought a couple of T-shirts, one with one of those
\nbright blue fish swimming just under the surface. It's the least
\none can do to blend a bit around here -- the Ts here suggest
\neveryone's been checking the corals or swimming with sharks (or
\nso it seemed)! Most of the domestic tourists among us were
\nneither reef checkers or deep sea divers -- but all agreed we
\nneeded to come back another time to these waters, and to these
\nstars.<\/p>",
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