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///// home – travels - indonesia – sulawesi – togean islands ///// :: T O G E A N I S L A N D
S :: - a remote archipelago in Central
Sulawesi -
Kadidiri Island, Togian Islands, Central Sulawesi,
Indonesia – July, 2006 Have
you ever travelled for several days to reach a far-flung, unknown place? Have
you ever been stuck for one week in an amazing archipelago far away from
almost everything? If
you ever go to Sulawesi, e.g. to experience a funeral ceremony in Tana Toraja
or to dive the walls of Bunaken Islands – as most visitors to Sulawesi tend
to do – allow yourself to visit the Togean Islands. You will not regret it! The
Togean Islands, or just the Togeans, is an archipelago of 56 pristine coral
and volcanic islands and islets located in the Gulf of Tomini in Central Sulawesi.
The surrounding coral reef supports a rich, diverse marine life and life over
the surface, the people, consists of around seven ethnic groups. Anders
went there for one week in July 2006, primarily to do some diving and island
hopping. Actually, the Togeans are the only place in Indonesia where you can
find all major reef types in the same place; atoll, barrier and fringing
reefs. Getting there part 1: The trip from Manado to
Gorantalo The
islands are pretty difficult and exhausting to reach but really worth the
effort. First,
I had to go from Manado to Gorontalo. This might seem pretty
straight-forward, indeed, at least I didn’t expect any difficulty or
discomfort. But, my presumption turned out being false as good old Lonely
Planet was way out-of-date, i.e. 2 years. So as I arrived at the bus station
in Manado at 9 a.m. I was truly disappointed as I realised that the next bus
was to leave in “some” days - whatever “some” means around here. So, in
addition to my linguistic interpretation problem I had to find some alternative
transport as I had to be in Gorontalo the next day. Luckily enough, I found a
vehicle where I could stay in the truck bed, that is to say the platform at
the rear, during the 8 hour ride. Sure, why not? The next day my ass had
another opinion! Getting there part 2: From Gorantalo to Wakai in
the Togian Islands In
Gorontalo, which, by the way, has some very nice local warungs (food stalls),
I engaged the ferry, The Puspita, the next evening at 10 p.m.
A small river cutting
Gorontalo into two, Gorontalo, Northern Sulawesi
Near the harbour in
Gorantalo
Exploring Gorantalo –
most people live in tree huts
The M/S Puspita was my
“home” for 15 hours on my way fromGorontalo to Wakai in the Togeans I
found my spot in the lower deck and around midnight we started the 15 hour ferry
ride towards Wakai in Batu Daka Island in the Togeans. It was really windy
that night, especially for the first 6 hours in which I didn’t get any sleep
as we were packed like sardines in a tin and saltwater was momentarily
squirted in my face through the small porthole – without any closing device.
Later in the morning I finally managed to get some sleep, partly because most
of the crew went upstairs on the deck to cook.
Lacking space? No, just
packed like sardines in a tin!Lower deck at M/S Puspita Finally,
as I arrived in Wakai in Batu Daka Island two boats were waiting for
accidental tourist. They were from the Pondok Lestari and Black Marlin
Cottages, respectively. Apparently, the only two places to stay in Kadidiri
Island. I chose the latter one. Kadidiri island is only a short boat trip
away from Wakai. Kadidiri
Island – glassy waters and paradise beaches If
you want to dive you have to stay in Kadidiri Island. Hence, I couldn’t avoid
it, but Kadidiri would have been my choice anyway. The island has a perfect
beach, reasonable priced cottages and superb snorkelling just off the coast. Don’t
expect the wild culinary food experience or hot water. Pancakes are typically
served for breakfast, fish for lunch and, surprise, fish for dinner. And if
you are really lucky they occasionally serve fish for breakfast, e.g. if you
are diving! “Fish-o-file” people will really love this place. Electricity
run from around 8 a.m. until 9 p.m., so be sure to bring a headlamp if you
want to read before you go to sleep.
Glassy waters in Kadidiri
Island
Just in front of my
bungalow, Kadidiri Island
Another beach on Kadidiri
Island – You have to cross through the jungle for around 2 hours to get here
In front of Pondok
Lestari, Kadidiri Island
Boat bridge, Kadidiri
Island
Snorkel Bay, Kadidiri
Island Batu Daka
Island – departure center for transport from and to the Togean Islands This
island is the larges in the Togeans and a departure centre for transport from
and to the Togeans. In Wakai I did some basic shopping, e.g. noodles,
cookies, water etc.
Ferry from Waikai to
Ampana, Batu Daka Island
Arriving in Wakai on Batu
Daka Island Taipi
Island – perfect snorkeling This
little almost circle shaped island is exceptional for snorkelling. You can
snorkel around the entire island in approximately 45 minutes/1 hour. I saw a
lot of Bump Heads and a few turtles. On
land there are around 8 bungalows and a small restaurant. But, everything is
abandoned, probably due to economical and political turmoil and, sadly,
overblown news reports. Especially in wake of the Bali bombings (2002, 2004,
2005) tourist numbers have plummeted. So try to imagine remote archipelagos
which, as it is, only get visits from truly, independent travellers.
Sailing to Taipi Island
View towards Kadidiri
island (south) from Taipi Island
Taipi Island offers
superb snorkelling
Taipi Island Una Una
Island – remote volcanic beaches and superb deep-diving This
island is hard to reach. It’s around 30 km/18 miles away from the nearest
island in the archipelago. No public transport leaves for the island and
there is nowhere to stay. However, if you get a lift from a local fisherman
don’t hesitate to say yes – he will probably provide a place to stay and some
basic food. I
had to visit the island the expensive way, namely by speedboat from Kadidiri
Island. The purpose was to do two dives off the coast of Una Una which both
were great. Besides paying for the dives I had to pay 600 Rupiah for extra
fuel expenses, which is quite expensive in these parts.
Una Una Island, remote site in the Togean Islands
Black volcanic sand Una Una Island
Lunch in between two dives in Una Una Island Boliangga
Island – pretty beaches and ghost resort Boliangga
is a very small island. You can’t walk around it as it is surrounded by sharp
coral and pretty shallow waters. However, the view from the little hill on the
island is magnificent. Just like Taipi this island has closed its little
resort but the local owner still lives here with his family. I had some very
nice lunch here – fish, of course.
Arrival on the beach in
Boliangga Island
Beautiful low-hanging
skies, Boliangga Island
View towards the Togian
Archipelago from Boliangga Island
Our outrigger in
Boliangga Island Tomken
Island – good trekking This
island is a bit larger than Boliangga and it’s placed just next to Katupat Village
on Togean Island. Yet another ghost resort is placed here. It has a view
point offering great views of the Togean Archipelago. You can trek to this
point in approximately one hour. Furthermore, the snorkelling here was
excellent as well.
Kayaking in Tomken Island
Boat bridge in Tomken
Island
View towards Boliangga
Island from Tomken Island Togean
Island – Katupat village and magical beaches This
island is the second largest in The Togean Archipelago. I visited the main settlement,
Katupat Village, which has a small market and a couple of shops. Around the
large island are magical beaches, e.g. Carina beach which, perhaps, was the
best beach I saw in The Togeans – and in all of Sulawesi.
Katupa Village on Togean
Island
Katupat Village, Togean
Island
Vast and hilly Togean
Island Walea Kodi
Island – sleepy stilt villages I
visited the fishing village of Dolong. Apparently the diving should be good
here as well, but I didn’t do any. It was raining all the time, so it spent
some time reading and exploring the stilt village.
Dolong stilt village in Walea Kodi Island
Dolong village, Walea Kodi Island
Stilt village, Walea Kodi
Island Malenge
Island – The tarsier Malenge
is remote and secluded, and not many people go here.Initially, I wanted to
spend some days here but, apparently, the big attraction on the island, and
hence the reason to visit, was the tarsier – the world smallest primate. I
also saw the tarsier in Bohol in The Philippines in 2005.
Village on Malenge Island
Malenge Island
Malenge Island Diving in
the Togeans Diving
in the Togeans is, simply stated, amazing. I did 8 dives in five different
locations during my stay there. I
did 4 dives in Taipi Wall approximately 300-400 meters off the coast of Taipi
Island. The coral was quite good and in terms of fauna, there was a lot of
bump heads and dolphins. The most amazing, though, was the 100 meter/300 feet
visibility; something I have never experienced before in South East Asia. Furthermore,
I did two dives off the coast of remote Una Una Island. I should mention that
my effort to go there was due to rumours of local people spotting hammerhead
sharks some weeks before my arrival. So, obviously I hoped to come across the
magnificent, big fish. Lamentably, I didn’t encounter any. However, the fist
drift dive at Apollo Reef was great. The undercurrent was kind’ a crazy. When
I jumped in and went down 5 meters/15 feet I was suddenly being pulled down
to 30 meters/90 feet along an inclining sandy slope. At 45 meters/135 feet
there were a lot of octopuses. The strong undertow made it hard and
exhausting to reach the surface in the end of the dive. We had to keep on
swimming alongside the sandy slope to find a gap in the downward-going
current. The
second dive off the coast of Una Una Island was at The Pinnacle, one of the
top sites and an island drop-off. The upper section of the pinnacle was
mainly red and the lower section was mostly purple. The most amazing thing,
though, was the huge school of dolphins comprising around 20-30 friendly and
curious dolphins.
A school of dolphins near
Taipi Island Three things in the Togeans, which I really
loved… Firstly, the stilt villages In
the first place, I fell in love with the small stilt villages and fishing
huts you could se everywhere in small bays scattered around the Togeans. The
locals living in these primitive huts were either fishermen or pearl divers.
One day we paid a visit to a small stilt village across Kadidiri island and
bought 4 kilos of freshly trapped red lobsters – we only had to pay 250
Rupiah! The cook at our place boiled them for us before dinner. Delicious.
Stilt village on southern
Batu Daka Island
Stilt village in Kadidiri Island
Stilt Village in Batu Daka Island
Stilt village in Batu Daka Island
Family in a stilt house
in Kadidiri Island Secondly,
the sunsets and the atmosphere around nightfall Secondly,
I miss the laid-back, guitar playing, Indonesian love-song-singing islanders.
On Fridays the young dive boys make a bonfire at the beach, go to Wakai for
arac (the local booze) and start playing guitar and singing around sunset.
And you are more than welcome to participate. Headache the following day is
guaranteed.
Kadidiri Island
Kadidiri Island
Taipi Island
Fantastic rainbow vision, Togean Island
Sailing home from visiting a stilt village, Kadidiri Island Thirdly,
the coconut crab Thirdly,
I was keen on the coconut crab, the world’s largest terrestrial arthropod.
Once it lived on islands throughout the western Pacific Ocean, but now it’s
unique to the Togeans. Most references give a weigh of 4 kg/9 lb, and a body
length of 1 meter/3 feet. The front-most large claws are used to open
coconuts, and the claws can lift objects up to 29 kg/64 lb in weight. One
night a local fisher paid us a visit as he had captured a pretty large one in
the jungle. Yes, they live exclusively on land in the jungle alone in
underground burrows – they cannot swim and will drown in water. It was a kind
of odd sight but very cool. Facts from the road How to get there (July, 2006) From
Gorontalo the boat only leaves Wednesday evening 10 p.m. From
Ampana it leaves Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. I.e.
from Wakai you can go to Gorontalo only on Thursdays and to Ampana on
Tuesdays, Wedensdays, Fridays and Mondays (that is the following day in
reference to the above-mentioned). An
alternative option, albeit very expensive and if loaded with Rupiahs, is to
sail by speedboat from Marisa in North Sulawesi. Price to go there (July 2006) I
had to pay 300 Rupiah to go from Gorontalo to Wakai, and around 150 to go
from Wakai to Ampana. I didn’t have any cabin from Gorontalo, but slept one
the lower deck among the locals. Time schedule Expect
around 15 hours from Gorontalo to Wakai – depending on the boat boys ability
to unload different cargo along the way and, of course, local weather. Prices for diving Expect
to pay 25 UD$/dive. Generally, Indonesians prefer Euros. Furthermore, expect
to pay extra if you want to dive around Pulau Una Una. I had to pay 600
Rupaih on top of the ordinary costs due to extra gasoline for the speed boat
they use on rare occasions.
Lunchtime in Boliangga
Island; Rice, bananas, potato soup and red snapper
Local woman on the boat from Wakai to Ampana –
Leaving the Togean Islands
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