104 Australian Geographic
itinerary becomes flexible. Being a
novelty to the people of Tawau – a
town of more than 100,000 people
and the third-largest in Sabah, the
eastern-most state of Malaysian
Borneo – marks, for me, the true start
of our expedition experience.
The following day the ship slips
into Indonesian waters, assumes a
drifting position off Kakaban Island
and we Zodiac ashore to snorkel in its
brackish lake among jellyfish that have
evolved to be stingless.
The mangrove-fringed circumfer-
ence of the 22ha nature reserve of
Birah Birahan Island is ripe for
exploration the next day, and the
ornithologist has to be practically
dragged away from it. We then have
the 2000ha Samboja Lestari wildlife
sanctuary near Balikpapan almost to
ourselves, and, across a narrow moat,
watch a magnificent male orangutan
observe us as he audibly destroys an
enormous coconut.
Our course criss-crosses the
Wallace Line – a hypothetical faunal
boundary Wallace drew in 1859
distinguishing Asiatic species from
those of Australian origin. He and
Charles Darwin co-discovered the
theory of evolution by natural selec-
tion, but Darwin was the first to
present supporting evidence. Wallace’s
book on the Malay Archipelago, still
in print, was originally subtitled
The land of the orang-utan, and the bird of
paradise. A narrative of travel, with studies
of man and nature.
But our journey feels far more
conducive to interaction than study.
We’re welcomed to Pare Pare, in
Sulawesi, by energetic dancers in
shiny red and yellow suits who
brighten up the concrete dock like
spilt lollies.
On Balobaloang-besar, in the
Sabalana Islands, someone invites me
to look inside their house and some-
body else gets annoyed when I don’t
give them my scarf. Lamalera whalers
on Lembata Island help land our
Zodiacs onto their beach in a heavy
swell, before the villagers share food,
dance with us, make rope and
harpoons, and demonstrate age-old
and still sustainably practised
whale-hunting methods. People are
constantly surprised at being greeted
in their own language.
In the town of Kalabahi, on Alor
Island, women with betel nut red lips
laugh openly at my height. When
I straighten up so my head and
shoulders are above the market’s
tarps, one of them nearly chokes.
That afternoon it’s like a time warp,
arriving at Latifui Village to find
people in traditional costume already
dancing the lego-lego in a circle,
muscular arms around each other,
with the metal rings on the women’s
ankles crashing on the beat like waves
on a rocky beach.
Snorkelling off Kepa Island laterthat day, I watch a green sea turtle
pass in the calm silence of submersion
then surface to an amplified call to
prayer. Local kids have paused their
beach soccer game for the spectacle of
many floating bodies draped across
colourful pool noodles; something
they don’t see every day. Someone
from the ship strikes up a conversation
with the kids. I buy a piece of fruit.
This constant exchange
continues until we arrive in Darwin,
and I’m left thinking about the
countless conversations I’ve had
with the many different peoples of
these varied islands – experiences that
will stay with me long after my bags
are unpacked.AGSeven Seas sights. Clockwise,
from top left: Orangutans steal the
show at the Samboja Lestari
wildlife sanctuary in Balikpapan,
Indonesia; local fishers simulate the
traditional practice of whale
harpooning at Lembata Island,
Indonesia; vibrant rice paddies and
rural dwellings on Flores Island; a
welcome dance at the dock in Pare
Pare, Sulawesi; traditional houses in
Ke’te Kesu, Sulawesi; expedition
vessel, MS Caledonian Sky.Snorkelling off Kepa Island, I watch a sea
turtle pass in the calm silence of submersion.
AUSTR ALIAN GEOGR APHIC SOCIETY
UPCOMING EXPEDITIONFISHERS/DANCERS: ELSPETH CALLENDER; BEACH: ALAMAY; OTHERS: APT /Pongo pygmaeus