Singapore, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea

 Wednesday, December 7, 2022 Misool   We’ve lost a day.  Yesterday morning they called us all into the lounge before breakfast to announce that we had changed course.  One of the passengers had taken sick and needed to get to a city with a hospital and air service.  We had changed course overnight and headed for the city of Ambon.  We docked there at mid-day, and were met by an ambulance which took the passenger to a local hospital.  We then departed and tried to catch up to our schedule.  In the meantime we had two great lectures, one on the birds of Australasia and the second on methods of photography.   Yesterday in the late afternoon there was a major cocktail party on the sundeck as sunset approached.  Here we are with a couple of women from Hawaii that we’ve made friends with:   And here is the sunset:    This morning found us even more remote again, off of the island of Misool.  Raja Ampat (Four Kin...

Monday, December 5, 2022 Banda Neira We are truly remote, now, in the northern portion of the Banda Sea, at Banda Neira, part of the Banda Archipelago, probably better known as the fabled Spice Islands.  Nutmeg and mace were once found exclusively on the Banda Islands, leading to the immense spice trade and the brutal colonization of these parts.   Few tourists visit here, and it’s a big deal when an expedition ship arrives.  We were met by a long boat:   Multiple boats joined in the welcome parade: We docked at the waterfront: The temperature was in the 90s and the humidity 100%.  We broke into small groups, each with a local guide, for a two-hour walk through the town and surrounding area.  Our group’s first stop was at the local museum, located in an old residence: The most dramatic thing there was a painting depicting a massacre of 44 chiefs of Banda on May 8, 1621 by Japanese mercenaries hired by the Dutch Governor General, Jan Pieterszoon Coen (s...

  Sunday, December 4, 2022 At sea in the Banda Sea   Today was a day at sea, with lectures, so I’ll use the time to describe the ship and life aboard.  The staff is uniformly lovely, and we are accompanied by numerous National Geographic specialists, from ornithologists to deep sea specialists, to photographers, and so on.  They are readily available to answer questions, and to join us on our adventures as we break into small groups, whether snorkeling or on a Zodiac tour of an area or ashore.  Today we had three formal lectures during the day, one on photography by one of the National Geographic photographers, one on the Komodo dragons and their place in zoology by a naturalist, and one on coral reefs by an undersea specialist.  All were remarkable.   Also aboard with us is Lawrence Blair, one of the two brothers who produced Ring of Fire, a documentary on their adventures in Indonesia, fifty years ago.  After dinner he gave a short talk an...

 Saturday, December 3, 2022 Flores Island We’ve moved east to Flores Island, where more than 50,000 years ago an ancient human, Homo Floresiensis lived.  These were tiny people, about three feet tall, and represent a different species from the Homo Sapiens (us).  See:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_floresiensis   We landed to visit the small community of Watublapi people in the village of Doka; they are known for their ikat weaving.  They are extremely remote, deep into the jungle, and high up the side of a mountain.   We were told we had the best buses available, but that wasn’t saying much.    We crammed 18 of us into each of these tiny buses, configured for people much smaller than we are.  Most of the windows opened, but the 90+ degree temperature and probably 100% humidity made it extremely uncomfortable, and that was before we started.  We drove about 30 minutes on a paved road along the coast and then turned inland, goin...

  Friday, December 2, 2022   Komodo   This is the day which started our interest in the itinerary of the trip we’re on.  Ever since learning about the Komodo dragon as a child, I’ve had an interest in seeing them, and I’m unaware of any in zoos anywhere.   Formally Varanus Komodoensis, the dragon is a lizard, which grows to an average length of eight to ten feet, and weighs about 150 pounds.  They are the largest species of lizard, and they mostly eat carrion but do also hunt and especially ambush prey.  It turns out to be a myth that they kill by injecting toxic bacteria into wounds:   Dispelling what one expert calls a scientific fairy tale, a new study shows that the fierce lizards ooze venom, not toxic bacteria, into bites to help weaken and ultimately kill their prey. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/komodo-dragon-venom   Komodo Island is quite beautiful from the sea:  We went ashore at the entrance to ...