Bugs Abroad: November 2013

We found paradise on the Togean Islands, a small archipelago in the Gulf of Tomini about 13 hours south of Sulawesi's north peninsula. Coconut palms, sandy beaches, rustic bungalows and colorful coral kept us captive as we slowly whiled away three weeks on various resorts around the islands. Our hammocks and kindles combined with cool breezes, stunning sunsets and turquoise waters kept us company, as well as the flock of tourists that came to spend their European holidays in this tropical oasis.

The long slog to the islands started with our attempt to get from Tentena to Ampana, a transit town in the south of the bay where the ferries to the islands depart. We caught our first ride with a truck from Tentana to Poso. We shared the truck bed with some women who were terribly sick from the winding roads as their husbands sat in the cab chain smoking kretek cigarettes. Amanda caught a sample of one of the women's breakfast in the face as we were stopping to hop out of the truck. A quick ATM stop and a moto ride into the "bus station" of Poso brought us face to face the transport mafia. Moto drivers and other transport touts had corralled a crowd of tourists at a station devoid of buses to pressure them to take their private transport to Ampana. Unfortunately this is a common hustle in Sulawesi and we decided to decline their services, although all of the other tourists agreed to shoehorn themselves into a minuscule van for over double the normal cost of a private car. We walked up the road to try to flag another ride and got invited into the house of a banker who offered us some Fanta and assorted treats left over from the recent Ramadan celebrations. He stood with us on the side of the road as we tried to flag a ride onward. We finally found ourselves in a seemingly well-to-do families SUV who had driven all the way from Makassar early that morning. They called all their friends and talked to them for about an hour about the boleh they had picked up and asking them advice on how much to charge us for the ride. It was awkward, but it got us to Ampana relatively fast.

After a couple nights in Ampana gearing up for the Togeans (the islands don't have any ATMs or shops so you must be prepared to bring in anything extra that you need) we caught the ferry to Poya Lisa, a tiny island no larger than a football field. The resort was across from the small village of Bomba, which is on one of the larger islands in the Togeans. Poya Lisa resort has about 12 bungalows scattered around the beaches and coral cliffs at various price ranges and comfort levels. We opted for one tucked back on a cliff with a view of the expansive turquoise sea that stretched out to the volcanic island of Una Una and beyond. We slung our hammocks on the balcony and for $25 a day had three meals, a sunset snack, unlimited tea and coffee and a bed in our rustic bungalow in paradise. That's $25 for both of us. We stayed 11 nights.

During that time we took two snorkel trips out to Bomba atoll and Taupan Islands, both of which had beautiful, vibrant coral reefs teeming with colorful tropical fish. We saw parrot fish, clown fish, angel fish, puffer fish, barracuda, trumpet fish and many more varieties that we could not name. The coral was spectacular, with so many different shapes, sizes, colors and textures adorning the various anemones, sea cucumbers, starfish, and urchins clinging to and lurking underneath the coral it boggled the mind.

We also spent some time tooling around the island on a small outrigger boat that was best suited for one Indonesian child. Our combined weight made the boat ride quite low in the water. Throwing caution to the wind, one day we attempted to take it around the small island. After getting around the point and into the open sea we immediately realized we were doomed. The waves were too big for our low riding vessel and came sweeping into the boat at an alarming rate. We looked for something to bail with and after coming up short tried scooping the water out with our hands. We had to abandon ship as it slowly sunk under the pressure of the waves. Our hearts were racing as we pushed and pulled the half submerged boat back around the island, trying not to get too close to the sharp coral cliffs as we rounded the point to safety. In the end all was well. The only loss being Amanda's hair tie and a small piece of our dignity. The whole situation definitely help complete the Robinson Crusoe experience.

We also took some motorbikes around Batu Daka, the main island in the south of the Togeans. We passed through coconut plantations, cocoa trees and tiny villages on roughly paved roads. We ended up at the top of a incredibly steep road that went down to an old jetty that was being rebuilt. After parking our bikes at the top we carefully walked down to a bustling beach. We had some stunted conversations in Bahasa Indonesia with one of the many guys loitering about in the shade and watched the men and women work as the children splashed about in their outrigger boats.

While at Poya Lisa Colin's permanent retainer broke, so we decided to take a trip back to Ampana to get it fixed. There are also no public boats between Bomba and the rest of the Togean's, so we either had to go back to go onward or charter a boat, which typically is not our style. Going to a practitioner of the dental arts in such a backwater of the world is a bit scary, especially when coming they are coming at your face with a drill, but in the end she was very professional and did a decent job. It was a little strange when she left the job half finished so she could go to the mosque and pray, however.

While back in Ampana we met Ulfa, aka "Mrs. Harbor", a woman who works at the tourist office and is quite the character. She gave us a free ride into town and offered to find us a dentist. When she dropped by our guesthouse unannounced the next day and we told her we had already taken care of it she switched gears and decided to take us to the hospital to meet a pregnant family member. We didn't have much to do, so we went along with it. Amanda was lead through the maternity wards touching bellies and meeting new mothers as Colin waited outside with the nervous soon to be fathers. Later that day we ran into her again and before we knew it we were drinking arak in her tiny room in the tourist office with the karaoke blasting on her small TV. She ended up taking us to a beach side karaoke joint where we sang The Beatles "All You Need is Love", after which we were quickly ushered off the mic and back to the hospital to meet the newborn baby. It was a very strange, but interesting encounter in small town Indonesia.

Heading back to the islands we took a long and scenic ferry ride out to Malenge village, in the northern part of the Togean archipelago. Upon arriving in Malenge village we were rapidly whisked into a small boat to Malenge Indah cottages on the other side of the island as the sun set over very rough waters. The white sand beach was picture perfect with palm trees jutting out over the water and only 5 cottages, which made it feel more like a private paradise. Malenge island is known for it's hiking trails and wildlife so we went for a jungle amble, winding up on another deserted beach home to many hermit crabs. We didn't catch any glimpses of the famous horn bills or tarsiers (aside from the illegally captured horn bill that had it's wings clipped thereby forcing it to spend it's flightless life near the dock), but we did see the tail end of a giant monitor lizard as he quickly scampered through the bush.

After a few days boating, lounging, eating coconuts, and watching the ants take over our hammocks (we saw them make a fully supported ant ladder made of ants - incredible!), we decided to change scenes and move to another resort. Malenge Lestari had a deep lagoon on one side and a nice beach with the perfect dock for jumping into the water and swimming on the other. Across from the beach was a Bajau village which was connected to the main island by an extremely long wooden bridge that was broken in many places. The houses were built on stilts and clustered around a couple large rocks that stood tall in the sea. The setting was yet another tropical paradise in this large archipelago.

There was a great group of people staying at Lestari and we had many late nights sitting around beach bonfires fueled by arak, music and a starry sky that you couldn't take your eyes off of. We swam, read, played a very exciting but intense game of volleyball with a bunch of local guys from a nearby village, tried our hand at fishing and tooled around on the canoe. We paddled over to the Bajao village across the bay which was incredibly interesting. The Bajao people are sea gypsy that continue to live a nomadic maritime lifestyle around Southeast Asia.

We decided to leave Lestari after some awkward situations between the owner and his main employee. We took a small boat across the open water to the next island, Walae Kodi, and stayed one night at Sifa cottages, which was situated on yet another beautiful beach. Tall palms reached into the bright blue sky and hammocks were slung all over the yard. Sifa herself was an incredibly nice owner and took good care of her guests. We stayed at her homestay in Malenge village to catch a very early 6am ferry to Wakai, the capital of the Togeans, where we could catch the boat to Gorontalo on mainland Sulawesi later that day. As relaxing and entrancing as the Togeans were, we decided it was time to get back to the real world Indonesia and eat something other than fish.

The locals getting comfortable on the boat from Ampana to Bomba.

There was a lot of this going on in the Togeans. Colin gets comfortable in his hammock at Poya Lisa.

A fishing boat illuminated at sunset, Poya Lisa island.

Taking an outrigger boat to the Bomba atoll for some snorkeling.

Cruising around Batu Daka (the main island across from Poya Lisa) Colin and Phillipe think twice before bringing the motorbikes down this incredibly steep hill.

At the bottom of the hill we found men hard at work building a new jetty, boys fishing and playing and women cooking and gathering forest products.

Poya Lisa Island. All the food and water was cooked in Bomba and brought to the small island by outrigger boat.

Watching sunset was a very serious activity on the Togeans - Poya Lisa.

Back in Ampana we took the Puspita Sari to Malenge village, a 7 hour boat ride.

Arriving in Malenge village we were quickly taken to Malenge Indah resort on this small boat. As we were rounding the island the sun was setting and the waves were incredibly choppy. Amanda suffered a small heart attack.

Basking in the last rays of sun at Malenge Indah resort.

Two of the last "basic" huts at Malenge Indah (ours on the right), which were torn down shortly after we left in the name of development.

Taking the canoe around the headland to explore some other beaches.

We found this crazy hermit crab with a strange choice of home.

Colin helps himself to a mid-day snack

A picture perfect sunset in paradise.

Colin dives off the jetty at Lestari resort, Melange, with the Bajau village int eh background.

A lone house on the long wooden bridge between Melange and the Bajau village.

A young boy playing in his small dugout canoe, Bajau village, Malenge.

On our way to the village for a very intense game of volleyball with the locals there were many children who were excited to get their photo taken. This girl was particularly sweet.