Kananga, Sumbawa
Thursday, December 1, 2022
Sumbawa is in the Pacific Ring of Fire and it's Mount Tambora exploded in 1815 causing immense devastation. So much ash went into the upper atmosphere that there was a year without a summer in 1816. That's where we are now.
The village of Kananga is extremely remote, and gets no Western visitors with the exception of occasional National Geographic/Lindblad ships. The village serves as the main town for multiple tribes which live in the hills above, and they knew we were coming. It clearly was a holiday for them. All the citizens were waiting for us on the shore, and they had prepared a welcome which included multiple acts of song and dance by the villagers. Here we are going ashore on the Zodiac with the villagers waiting for us.
The elders were at the end of a long line of welcome:
They sat us in a shady spot:
They began the multiple demonstrations which they had prepared. Here’s a martial arts performance with live music:
There were weavers selling their creations:
We had brought many gifts for the villagers, and some for
the children had been hung at the top of a greased pole. They worked hard to get them:
We took a walk through the village:
And saw some unusual sights including a goat on a motorcycle
and a woman with four children on a single motorcycle:
We came across a boat builder—note how one plank is fit
to the one below:
It was an exhilarating morning! We went back to the ship for lunch, and in
the afternoon had a choice of activities.
We chose to view the reef from a glass-bottom boat, which was wonderful. It was like snorkeling with a naturalist
pointing out all the corals and fish.
Then, as in every day, at 6:00 PM there was a wine, hors oeuvres and a
recap followed by dinner at 7:00.
Wow, I had read (long ago) about the year without summer, but didn't remember the name Sumbawa. How wonderful that the local population have developed ways to interact productively with groups of visitors! It makes me wonder what Americans might think of doing if a group of Pacific islanders were to visit our town.... (We could do our favorite thing and stand around each staring at our cellphone! My own contribution would be to play Wordle while they watch and then applaud.)
ReplyDeleteI love that seemingly all the men in the town participate in the group drumming and know the complex rhythmic patterns. And that beautiful flute playing--is the person doing rotary breathing, so s/he never has to take an audible breath? Some Western wind players (oboists, especially) have learned how to do that.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with your landlubber friends!
Wonderful pictures. Were they using betel? Could grandparents speak to grandchildren?
ReplyDeleteWe've seen no betel chewing. There seemed to be no separation of grandparents and grandchildren--I'm not sure I understand the question.
Delete