We went snorkelling again. Diane is really enjoying this now. There is no stopping her. The ship had arrived at the Barat Daya Islands. This small and remote archipelago is located off the eastern end of East Timor. Most of the islands are barren, infertile and minimally forested. Another way of looking at them is to say they are perfect little tropical islands with clean, bright beaches ideal for a snorkelling trip. This is what we did. I think we had the island to ourselves.
The snorkelling here is extremely good. There is a wide variety of corals close to the beach. This attracts many different fishes. Big, small, brightly coloured, plain white. I have never seen such a variety of fish in one place. Not even in the Dubai aquarium. Diane is turning into quite the little mermaid. She will even let go of my hand occasionally. The water is warm and clear. Just the perfect temperature for some gentle swimming. The sun still feels hot but that just means there is no need to dry off and get dressed. We just hop back into a zodiac and go back to the ship.
Snorkelling in the morning and then we set sail for the island of Banda Neira. Late afternoon the bridge spotted a blue whale. I tried to get a photograph and managed a blurry picture of its dorsal fin. Even so, I was still pleased. My first Blue whale.
This is a small island, just 3 km long, in the centre of a caldera. For a while, it was the only place in the world where nutmeg was grown. The Dutch arrived there in 1600 hoping to monopolise the nutmeg trade. The fell out with the locals, the islanders revolted killing 30 Netherlanders. The Dutch came back with an army and began a campaign of genocide against the locals. The monopoly was broken in 1810. The invasion of the Spice Islands was a military invasion by British forces on and around the Dutch owned Maluku Islands also known as the Spice Islands in the Dutch East Indies during the Napoleonic Wars. The British attack on Fort Belgica, Banda Neira was a bit chaotic but they were aided by heavy rainfall which rendered the defenders cannons inoperative. By 1814, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Dutch once more took control but not before the British had spread nutmeg and cloves far and wide. Trees were transplanted, complete with soil, to Sri Lanka, Penang, Bencoolen, and Singapore. From these locations they were transplanted to other colonial holdings elsewhere, notably Zanzibar and Grenada. The Dutch finally relinquished control in 1949.
We arrived early the next morning. Some canoes came out to greet us. The Banda islands are the visible part of the volcano Gunung Api. Banda Api is the active cone that last erupted in 1988. Ash rose several kilometres into the air. One of the lava flows was clearly visible as we approached the island. Nearly 10,000 people needed to be evacuated from the archipelago. Most of the inhabitants of Banda Api have since relocated to Banda Neira.
The landing was done by zodiac to a small quay. We got divided into small groups and then herded around the island in different directions.
Our first stop was Fort Belgica. This has been restored and is in quite good condition. The top of the towers afford and excellent view across the town. The volcanic cone of Banda Api towers above the fort.
Next, we went to see a nutmeg plantation. This was in the shadow of the fort. As far as I could tell, it was still being run in a very traditional and manual way. The owner demonstrated cutting some cinnamon bark off a tree. I have since learnt that Cinnamon is the name for several species of trees and the commercial spice products that some of them produce. Typically, the trees are managed through coppicing.
The nutmeg fruit is a rather unassuming thing about the size of a plum and pale green or yellow. They are traditionally harvested using a bamboo contraption which catches the fruit as it is taken from the tree. This stops it hitting the ground. The fleshy part of the fruit can be used to make jam and sugar crystalised sweets. Splitting the fruit open reveals the nutmeg seed surrounded by a red covering. The covering is mace. A similar flavour to nutmeg but more subtle. Nutmeg and mace, commonly used as food spices, have been traditionally employed for their psychoactive and aphrodisiac effects.
Last event on the agenda was some more dancing and music. Everyone got together for this one. The major presented the captain of Le Soleal with a present and made a speech. We slipped out after the second round of dancing and wandered back to the ship. On the way, we noticed the street lamps had been fashioned to look like nutmegs.
It was late in the afternoon when we sailed from Banda Neira. I took a few photographs as we passed the islands. Eventually the sunset, we had a cocktail and retired for the evening ready for another early start at Kitikiti.
