19th and 20th August - Waikelo (Sumba)

Monday 19^th August

A very brief bloggery tonight…

We are anchored at Waikelo (not at Waikabubak, where I had thought we were going…) at the northern end of Sumba.

It looks pretty.

But…it is SO rolly it is almost impossible to think.  Poor Marieke III is rocking MUCH more violently, being a monohull, and I think poor dear Ingvar and Seija are being thrown from one side of their little boat to the other.

To my surprise there is internet reception – always a good thing.  But…I can’t concentrate on writing because I am concentrating on not being ill…

If it is flat in the morning we have promised to go to a welcoming ceremony.  But neither boat will stay for the three days of festivities they have planned…we are hoofing it for Rinca, near Flores.

Sad but…we have no options, really.

And maybe at Rinca there will be dribbly slobbery Komodo dragons…

Tuesday 20^th August

The computer lied…no internet reception here after all.

And I lied – we stayed in Waikelo after all.

After a truly horrid evening…  Marieke II rocked and rolled all through the night; so did 2XS, to a lesser degree.  And I took some drugs and went to bed and stayed there, not well, for eleven hours!

This morning dawned sparkly and hot, and the sea was as calm and inviting as a big sheet of silk.

Our hosts here in Waikelo were very keen for us to come on shore even if only for a brief ceremony – PLEASE don’t scarper off into the blue, towards Rinca… So at 8.30 our intrepid team – Invar, Seija, Pete, me – went in to shore to face the paparazzi.  Seija and I now know what is is like to be royalty.  We know to move in a dignified manner, to keep smiling pleasantly, this way and that, and occasionally to wave, discreetly.  Pete says his cheeks ache from smiling…but he is enjoying it all very much.  In fact we are all quite overwhelmed with all of the kindness and hospitality… Being photographed so many times is a small price to pay.

We hung around at the wharf for a little while: Pete took the dinghy back out to 2XS and came back in a sturdy local boat.  So fascinating!  At least thirty trucks laden with bananas, on their way to Lombok and Bali.

The drivers called me over, desperate to be photographed.

A wild bunch!!

Our welcoming ceremony was, as always, delightful.  Dancers danced, drummers drummed; Pete made a speech.

We had very firmly said that we wanted to leave at 10.00 to get to Rinca before dark but…how could we resist a bus, a lovely guide (Ansel,) an entourage, led by Wonderful Odie??

and the opportunity to see a pesola, staged especially for our benefit at the edge of a glorious beach?

They staged this pesola especially for us – this is an annual event, where bareback riders ritualise old tribal conflicts as they battle one another with hand-carved spears.  So it was a practice run, with bamboo sticks instead of spears.  But very violent and fiery it was, with lots of riders hurtling around on fierce, nervy little horses, thwacking at each other most violently.  There is no winner…they just gallop and thwack.

Most of the horses are toey little stallions, but there was the odd mare with foal leaping along behind her, looking slightly bewildered.

We could see the village from the pesola ground:

Ratenggaro is truly spectacular.  These houses are SO high!  The underneath is for animals; the next level for humans; the upper immense loftiness for the spirits…

On the way we stopped to see a teak forest

And a beautiful cashewnut tree

And (my darling daughter Claire take note, you who so loved cashunas as a small girl…) this is what the fruit of a cashew tree looks like!  And…it is delicious!  Who knew??

Some small schoolgirls stopped by to be photographed and to watch us looking at the cashewtree in bewilderment:

We stopped at a small resort for lunch and I am afraid to say I never did catch the name correctly…maybe Newa??  There were lovely flowers:

cold bintang, a rice-y lunch in a pack, nice people to talk to.