Australian_Geographic_-_December_2015_AU_

T

AWAU ’ S fishmongers now

have our faces on their

phones. A sea of heads

had already turned before

we reached the shade of

the wet market and – with the smell

of fresh seafood in my nose and a few

Bahasa Malaysia phrases to exchange

• the next hour was spent posing and
  holding prize catches.
  The 25,000-island region of the
  Malay Archipelago, also known as
  Maritime South-East Asia (or, to
  European colonials, the East Indies),
  has been explored, exploited, travelled
  and traded with by outsiders for
  centuries. So when I began my cruise
  aboard MS Caledonian Sky from the
  Philippine port of Manila – a capital
  region with a greater population of 12
  million – I didn’t expect anyone to be
  surprised to see us.
  Days of pinballing through the
  islands of the Philippines, Malaysia
  and Indonesia, however, has spawned
  experiences to rival those of British
  naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace
  during his 1854–62 research for his
  book The Malay Archipelago (see AG 96).

Odyssey

Experience the little-explored island

archipelagos of the East Indies on

this special AG Society and APT

expedition cruise.

Story by Elspeth Callender

SOUTH-EAST ASIA ADVENTUR E

And actually, formal meals, elegant

service and plush cabins aside, we’re

technically on an expedition too.

At only 90.6m long and 15.3m wide

with a draft of 4.2m, MS Caledonian Sky

can sail minor channels and pull up

alongside small ports. Its fleet of

Zodiacs allows easy access to beaches

and to the small jetties that jut out

over shallow reefs surrounding the

region’s many coral islands.

The ship’s passenger capacity is 114

and our crew of about 75 includes a

team of ecologists, naturalists, an

ornithologist, an archaeologist and

expedition leaders. Daily onboard

lectures range from an introduction

to sea life we might encounter while

snorkelling to the more weighty

migratory history of the Malayo-

Polynesian peoples over the past 5000

years and the unique burial practices

of Indonesia’s Tana Toraja ( just before

we overnight there).

After a few days of bustling ports,

central city markets, popular tourist

sights and animal sanctuaries in the

Philippines and Malaysian Borneo,

the Zodiac ties are loosened and the

November–December 2015 103

Seven Seas

of the

AUSTR ALIAN GEOGR APHIC SOCIETY

UPCOMING EXPEDITION

Ocean escape. Beautiful Coron
Island in the northern part of the
Philippines’ Palawan province is
managed by the Tagbanua tribe.