Ah, it’s a tough life. Today we visited the tropical island of Pulau Mantanani (pulau means island) and were welcomed ashore by some ridiculously cute bubble-blowing kids who led us to a little area near the beach where we watched traditional dancing, including a rather fast dance involving bamboo stalks and blow-darts.
We walked along a sandy path to the local village where families were barbecuing fish for their lunch, accompanied by two cows and some chickens that were wandering around trying to avoid ending up like the Squirrel Fish. A sandy graveyard with both Christian and Muslim graves is no longer used and the area now has rows of shriveled fish drying in the sun – some are sold to be made into pungent fish sauce. We went to the local school as Orion II visited a few weeks ago and in the meantime passengers donated money (matched by the company) to buy the kids hockey kits, books and flashcards.
Back at the beach there was a delicious barbecue put on by the Orion team and an open bar (hello!), but I spent most of my time floating around in the warm sea with my sundress and hat on as the sun is baking here. There was a snorkel safari out to a nearby lagoon and although we’d been warned that most of the coral had been destroyed by dynamite fishing, there were still some colourful anemone and parrot fish out on the reef. Did I mention that it’s baking hot here? Sorry.
No comments:
Post a Comment