In the Bolivian lowland – on a mission in the missions

The magic continued during the following three days, which the six of us – Marjolein and Edward, Carito and Luis, Marin and I – spent in the sparsely-populated cattle-ranching area northeast of Santa Cruz called Chicitos. Luis was originally from San Javier, and his family owns a hacienda and a house there, so that he kindly invited us to come for a visit and get to know a part of Bolivia that none of us had been to before. The Chicitos region is famous for its beautiful Jesuit churches in former mission towns, which were built during colonial times. In the 17th century, the Spanish missionaries succeeded in converting the indigenous population to Catholicism and getting them to settle in small towns and practicing agriculture. While the mission towns themselves have not really survived, six of the ten Jesuit churches have been restored and declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We visited the churches in San Javier and Concepción and were even given a tour by one of the conservators, which was very interesting and demonstrated how much effort went into the restoration process of these churches. The bell towers and courtyards especially were very pretty and the intricate and rich paintings quite intriguing. Besides the churches, however, the towns of San Javier and Concepción did not have any other real attractions except for their laid-back atmosphere and their location in the middle of fast-disappearing tropical forest and grassland.

We enjoyed a particularly beautiful day and night together at Luis’ family’s hacienda near San Ramon, which was a bumpy jeep ride away from the main road and surrounded by a savannah-type vegetation. On our way to the farm, we stopped at a natural pool formed by a river that allowed us to take a plunge and sit underneath a small waterfall. All very picturesque, even though the sky was overcast and the water more than refreshing! I enjoyed picking and tasting small pakai fruits in the nearby vegetation, and we all squeaked when we felt little shrimps or gobies or some other animals nibbling on our toes in the muddy water! At least we did not have to worry about piranhas!

When we reached the hacienda in the late afternoon, we were welcomed by Luis’ family and farm hands and took a good look around: This dairy farm with its many happy cows and calves, with its free-range sows and cute sucklings, its goats, horses, nandus and wild tropical birds seemed like the perfect organic farm to me! Apparently only natural food and farming practices were used; every morning the cows were milked by hand for five hours, and it was made sure that the calves still had enough milk for themselves; the milk was then sold to a cheese dairy. I will always remember the one morning when we came to watch the milking of the cows and were surprised with a special wake-up treat by Luis and his mum: They brought glasses with concentrated coffee and filled them up with warm, foaming milk straight from the cow’s udder! What a delicacy! Of course I had to try to squeeze some milk out of the poor cow’s udder myself but then realised that I needed a bit more practice… We also went horseback-riding on the farm, cuddled the kids, had warm home-made cheese bread and saw very colourful birds – all very idyllic but surely lots of work for the farmers!

In the evening some of the men put a recently slaughtered goat over a fire, while we girls prepared some other food or made ourselves comfortable around the fire. Edward and Marin had brought a guitar and started to beautifully play and sing. We all joined in a bit later but also had to keep an eye on a cow named Ñeco, which was tame and wanted to be around us all the time. Ñeco was born with a harelip and thereby had to be raised with a bottle; this harelip now caused him to dribble; sometimes it got dangerously close to the fire or drooled on someone; we therefore had to push the cow away numerous times. Another funny situation near the fire happened when a huge insect flew towards the light and dropped to the ground. My biological curiosity was immediately awakened, and so I inspected the moth-like animal, found some false eyes on its hind wings and discovered a huge projection at its front that resembled a crocodile head. I had seen these “lantern bugs” in documentaries and zoological drawings and started to get super excited when suddenly my study object was crushed by Luis’ shoe! While he insisted for days that he had saved my life at the time, I couldn’t help but be disappointed that this beautiful insect had died for the wrong reasons… For the rest of the evening Luis told me that this Vibora cuco (it turned out to be Fulgora laternaria, a planthopper) was the most dangerous animal in the area, that it was aggressive and could kill me within 15 min after being stung and that I was very lucky that I survived… My biological gut feeling told me that he couldn’t be right, and I tried to carefully set this straight. But only when we had an Internet connection again and found out that the dangerousness of Vibora cuco was a myth particularly in the Santa Cruz area of Bolivia did we make peace about this subject again. What a laugh!

After our truly wonderful time together in Chicitos and Santa Cruz, Marin went back to Cochabamba, while the rest of us continued our journey in Tarija in southern Bolivia. Marjolein, Edward, Carito and Luis were invited to a wedding of another Dutch-Bolivian couple there, and we were hoping that I could join them as well. I could, and the wedding party was good fun, even though there was not much of a local aspect about it except for the guests and the music. Besides that of the others, I enjoyed Cecilia’s company very much, she was a common friend from Cochabamba, and we would spend more time together over the next few weeks.

Tarija is a charming city set in a fertile, agricultural region that felt very Mediterranean on account of its many vineyards, arid mountain scenery and warm climate. The valley is also the site of numerous fossilised bones of Pleistocene megafauna, which apparently were quite accessible but not easily found without a guide. I tried my best to organise a tour to these fields but, unfortunately, didn’t succeed since it was Sunday and no guide was available. Next time! So instead I joined my friends on a tour to a bodega in the Valle de Concepción outside Tarija, where there were supposed to be wine tastings and a fiesta and a beautiful countryside. The taxi ride to the valley was already an experience, as the driver was quite talkative for a change and played absolutely great local music – together with the wind in my hair, the sunshine on my skin, the pretty scenery and friends in the backseat a reason for much happiness! Our day out at the bodega included lots of grilled pork (of course), very sweet (red) and very sour (white) wine (which, when mixed, is called a rosé and quite bearable, I learned), dancing to lively local bands on a Sunday afternoon and a bit of sentimentality, since this was our last day together and I would travel on my own for the next little while. But one door closes and another one opens…

Bolivia – the Perfect Start into the New Year

Having my own little flat and becoming a “couchsurfing” host for travellers passing through has already paid off in so many ways! Joint sightseeing tours and intensive talks over dinner or breakfast have facilitated new friendships and, in one case, even caused me to expand my travel radius to a completely new-to-me continent! It was Marjolein and Edward, a Dutch-Bolivian couple about to move to my city and visiting me twice in 2012, who made me more and more curious about Bolivia in South America. “Very authentic”, “highly diverse”, “not touristy” and “cheap” were some of the trigger words I needed to decide that my next big holiday was going to be spent in Bolivia. And as soon as I found out in November that I was going to get the whole month of January off work, I booked my flights and started looking forward to backpacking through this seemingly magnificent country and visiting Marjolein and Edward, who were there on holidays at the same time.

Altogether five flights (via the USA) and thousands of kilometres later, two mornings before New Year’s Eve, I arrived in the city of Cochabamba, where I was met and kindly welcomed by Marjolein and Edward together with their friends Carla and Marin. Due to a three-hour stop-over at La Paz’s El Alto airport, situated at an altitude of approx. 4000 m, I was already feeling the first signs of altitude sickness (faster heartbeats, headache, nausea) by that time. We therefore took it easy in the beginning until I recovered; luckily Cochabamba was “only” 2500 metres above sea level. Worse, however, was the fact that my checked-in backpack didn’t arrive – and wouldn’t do so for another five days! The subsequent daily phone calls to the airline staff at unearthly morning hours were becoming exercises of our patience. But without being able to “properly” arrive, change clothes and take photos (my battery recharger was in the bag), you do tend to feel a bit uneasy at some stage… especially since we were moving around in Bolivia and I didn’t want to be stuck somewhere waiting for my backpack. Fortunately, my belongings did arrive just before the delay would have become really complicated for my travel plans. And luckily this lost luggage incident ended up being the only major drama throughout my trip.

Marjolein and Edward had arranged for us to spend New Year’s Eve and the first few days of 2013 together with their friends in the Santa Cruz area. Before moving on, we therefore spent one and a half days in Cochabamba, getting me started with local customs, going to the local markets, trying the wonderful local specialties api (thick maize juice), salteñas (pastries with a juicy meat filling), trucha (trout) and chicha (beer made of fermented maize) and deciding whether to buy yellow (for wealth) or red (for love) underwear for our upcoming New Year’s party. We also spent some time with Edward’s family in Quillacollo outside Cochabamba and cruised around in Marin’s car in the rain to explore the surroundings. My first impressions of Bolivia: surprisingly many similarities to the Asia I knew, such as bustling market stalls offering all sorts of products and services, yummy street food, chaotic traffic and smelly exhaust fumes, red-cheeked children and wrinkly old ladies carrying heavy burdens, tile floors and kitschy decorations. On the other hand: no staring or pestering at all, which was very common in Asia and Morocco, plus surprisingly many indigenous faces and women in their traditional dresses and hats. Altogether lots of positive impressions that made me look forward to travelling and photographing both country and people.

One day after my arrival in Cochabamba, we took a plane to Santa Cruz. Bolivia’s biggest city, located in the eastern lowlands with a much more tropical climate, is the country’s commercial centre and seemed quite different in character and more wealthy compared with the rest of Bolivia. It boasted quite a few huge American-style supermarkets with processed food and American-style suburbs with fenced-in houses and lawns and was renowned for its good night life. We were met by Marjolein and Edward’s friends Carito and Luis, who we stayed with, and during the following two days also got to know their friends and family. Marin from Cochabamba joined our group a little later as well, so that I felt perfectly integrated in local social life, just as I had initially hoped for! Our time together in the Santa Cruz area also allowed me to gain more insight into local eating and drinking habits: Bolivians love their meat! During my first week in Bolivia I must have eaten more beef steaks, chicken wings and inner organs than in the whole year before! Also, Bolivians seem to drink until the last drop of alcohol in the house is finished and no more hidden bottles can be found! In which case the party continues in a pub somewhere else… holy moly! Our year 2012 culminated in a posh New Year’s party at a private home, filled with karaoke, DJ music, dancing, roasted suckling and lots of bottles on the table. It lasted until 6 a.m. and ended with the traditional New Year’s breakfast: fricassee (spare ribs with corn and potatoes) – a hearty start into 2013! I felt so lucky to be able to take part in and get to know all these traditions and was particularly happy that I had chosen the right colour of underwear for that day… and hey, the magic worked!

Bat Behaviour – A Day in the Life of My Little Furry Friend

After a rather long gestation period of five to six months, Indian Flying Foxes, the only native mammals in the Maldives, give birth to single pups in May and June. The little youngsters tightly hold on to their mums, as the latter search for food in the trees, and get carried around until they become too heavy, at about one month of age. From that time onwards the mothers start leaving their offspring in the roosts for increasingly longer time periods and return to the pups to feed them with milk, to toilet and caress them. I have noticed particularly during this summer that, while the juveniles hang motherless in the trees, they often get harassed by crows that peck at them and scare them so much that the little bats eventually let go of their secure grip and fall off the tree. This, I reckon, could actually be the main reason why so many flying fox pups get separated from their mothers and why we have continuously found little “orphaned” bats in past summers. This season alone I have rescued four juveniles and reunited them with their mums by giving them a little milk boost for the night and by hanging them up on higher branches. One baby, however, was not so fortunate. It was found by our gardeners, crawling on the road, no mother in sight, doomed without help. Our head gardener Ali then adopted it and fed it with fruits for two weeks before he informed me he had a bat. On 8 August 2010, the little furry winged animal, estimated to be about six weeks old, and I were introduced to each other – and it was love at first sight.

Due to previous bat adoptions and the research I conducted about flying fox biology, I now feel quite confident about raising young flying foxes. Just like other mammalian babies, what they mainly need is warmth, milk and tender care. Unless they can fly, which they only start at an age of three to four months, flying foxes have no access to fruits (their regular diet during adult life) and only their mother’s milk as food. As I can’t milk some mother bat, I need to make do with full cow’s milk, which I dilute with a bit of mango or guava juice to make it tastier for the choosy fruit-eater. I feed the little one with a syringe every three to four hours and increase the rations every day. In between it gets soft pieces of banana, papaya or melon, which it chews on to extract the juice. The pulp it spits out. As its second set of sharp teeth get stronger, it also likes scraping off pieces of apple and seriously working through chunks of other fruits. I always stimulate good digestion by rubbing its belly and eventually get treated with a bat that turns upside down, hanging on its thumbs, to urinate and defecate on my floor (seldom shirt) as can be seen on the photo above. It is hilarious to look into its big moist eyes and to hear its crackling noises during the process… During the day my little flying fox has its quiet times when I can just hang it from my shoulder or onto some branches to sleep; however, it can also put on a real show when completely content, scurrying about, flapping his wings to train his flight muscles, exploring his world a little bit more every day, and patiently allowing me to explain bat biology and anatomy to inquisitive guests, for who this little flying fox is a true highlight of their vacation. I take it with me on my bicycle, it sleeps on my shoulder while I sit on the computer, and when I am busy with other things, I leave him hanging on some branches. A “pet” very easy to handle! During the night the little fox sleeps on a coat hanger in my bathroom, nicely wrapped up in his wings with his head tucked under and the tip of the tongue sticking out. There will come a time very soon, though, when I will keep it outside more regularly, so that it becomes more independent and gets to know the real life in the jungle, with all its smells and sounds and shadows. The re-introduction into the wild will still take a few more months, however, as the bat wouldn’t be able to survive without my feeding and warmth and still hasn’t learned to find fruits and shelter on its own. I sincerely hope that this story ends happily and we will have provided a good start into a (literally) fruitful flying fox life!

By the way, it’s a boy, as can be clearly seen in real life. After many weeks of guests asking about and suggesting names, it seems we have now settled with Robin, even though I continue calling him all sorts of affectionate and ridiculous German names. The three pictures above were taken by visiting photographers Antonina Gern as well as by Kyu Furumi.

Maldives Underwater #2 – Cruising around the Southern Atolls and Discovering New Reefs

A similarly titled blog entry about 12 months ago ended with my wishful thinking of possibly being able to dive in the Maldives’ southern atolls one day. Well, as so many other travel dreams in the last few years, it came true! Thanks to dive colleague Jörg’s well-planned dive schedule and my boss Laurie’s generosity of letting me take leave before the busy Easter holidays, I was able to sign up for a two-week cruise from Addu in the south to Male’ in the centre of the archipelago.

Once again, Jörg had rented the comfortable “MY Mariana”. All the rooms were booked and occupied, which was great for Jörg’s business and fine with me too, even though it meant that I had to camp on the deck just like the year before. A much better choice than sleeping in an air-conditioned cabin anyway! Every evening I would pitch my bed before the eyes of my dive companions, who I would chill out with until my eyes became heavy, and then enjoy a few pages of the excellent book “Eat Pray Love”, the quietude of the Maldivian night and the sea breeze. Sometimes, however, there was no breeze at all, and it became a sweaty night. We were just so lucky with the weather during the entire cruise, though: not a day of rain, and no waves or swells even in completely open ocean! Very good for the sensitive stomachs on the safari boat! Those same stomachs were regularly and generously filled by the Maldivian crew as well as Rattana, Jörg’s partner, who helped prepare excellent Thai cuisine. Thanks to the bacon and cheese that our caring diving guests had brought from Germany, Switzerland and Luxemburg, I enjoyed wonderful breakfasts and evening snacks that I had been missing here at the resort for so long! What I also immensely enjoyed was the relaxed atmosphere on the boat. I got used to the rhythm of diving, eating, resting – all of them three times a day – very quickly and therefore completely regained my mental and physical strength during this holiday. Scrabble, Yatzee and Bubble Breaker games, Jörg’s constant teasing and reading and snoozing sessions worked perfectly as entertainment!

Our dive trip started in Addu Atoll, south of the equator, on 22 March once all 14 guests had come onboard the ship. We began at a dive site that was familiar to me: the “British Loyalty” wreck, which was still leaking oil from its tanks and which was still inhabited by beautiful table corals and a pink Leaf Scorpionfish. This was also the test site for my new underwater camera, a Canon Powershot G11, which was a last-minute buy in Male’ after my little Lumix camera had broken down the day before I was flying down to Addu. That it worked very well can be verified when clicking on the photo link on the right. Most other dives during the cruise took place in the channels and along the eastern outer reefs of the southern atolls. I was particularly pleased about these arrangements, since we don’t have the same opportunities in Baa Atoll. The most stunning and unusual location of all was probably the shelf off Fuvahmulaku in the middle of open ocean that is not commonly dived and that represents a migratory stop for Giant Manta Rays, Grey and Silvertip Reef Sharks. I missed the Tiger Sharks in 40+ m depth, though, that were attracted by Jörg’s bottle-crackling. The Giant Mantas got me very excited, since they were recently described as a new species and not much is known about their biology yet. I took lots of photos for my manta researcher friend Guy Stevens. Other current-swept atoll channels in the south also boasted sharks, eagle and sting rays, barracudas and big snapper shoals, which once again made me realise what marine life healthy seas should contain and how many species have already become decimated in the more populated areas of the Indian Ocean. We also dived in lovely coral gardens in more sheltered corners, of which the large Huvadhoo Atoll was outstanding. The coral cover in some areas must have been close to 100 %; the species diversity most probably also exceeded that found in other Maldivian atolls. As a biologist, I really appreciated being able to see all these different locations in order to understand spatial variations, to see unique species with Jörg’s help and thereby to share my knowledge with guests and journalists at Soneva Fushi.

While stopping over at Fuvamulaku in the south, all diving guests had the chance to set foot on the island for some sightseeing – another familiar place for me, as last year I had already spent three nights on this largest Maldivian island. I was particularly happy about the fact that my friends on Fuvamulaku, Wasyf, Mausooma and Riuman, took the time to meet me again and catch up with the happenings of the previous year. Riuman especially had big news, as she had been elected to attend the youth climate change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 as one of only four 12-year-old students in the Maldives. I was very proud of her achievement and her interest in environmental issues. In her own beautiful way, she told and showed me everything about her week in Europe, and I couldn’t help thinking that with smart children like her, there is still hope for the future of the Maldives. It is up to them to prevent environmental destruction in their country, to bring about change to old habits and to empower other Maldivians to protect their islands.

All in all, my two-week dive cruise had been super both over and under water, and I am happy to share with all “critics” that it is worthwhile to go on a Maldivian holiday even if you already work on one of the islands. There is so much more to discover, and the relaxation comes automatically when you have the sun, sea and different people around you.

Bioluminescence – Nature’s Magical Lights

When I conduct my weekly night-snorkelling trips in the house reef, one of the highlights for my guests and I is always the sheer abundance of bioluminescent plankton organisms. We switch our torches off for a minute and stir the water up with our fins and hands, making crustaceans, polychaetes and jellies produce tiny bright lights. The atmosphere becomes magical when you see all these stars below you in the water as well as the stars up in the sky. But even if you don’t go into the reef at night, you can witness bioluminescence. During many nights of the year, bright-blue spots can be seen on Maldivian beaches, lighting up when the waves hit the sand and fading after a few seconds. Some evenings are so spectacular (as was the case last night) that entire beach sections are aglow with millions of tiny lights that seem to brighten up even more when touched or walked on. Last night was truly a special night that was appreciated by everyone: All resort guests returning from our weekly General Manager’s cocktail party on the sandbank were playing with the glowing beach sand, taking lots of photos and generally being all in wonder of such rarely seen beauty. Luckily the moon was in its full glory too, so that its light helped expose the photos I took and contribute to the overall atmosphere.

The bioluminescence around Soneva Fushi is mainly caused by microscopic benthic crustaceans, Ostracoda. They are about 1 mm in length, flattened from side to side and protected by a bivalve-like calcareous shell. At night, the ostracods rise from the sandy sea floor, where they spend the day, and feed on planktonic algae. When the animals get disturbed, either through predators or the movement of waves, a light-emitting substance is ejected that deters predators. It is this light that makes our beaches glow. I collected Ostracoda samples today and looked at them under my microscope. They were all drawn to the light and seemed sensitive to the slightest changes in light direction. I also wanted to see whether they were possibly all getting ready to mate and therefore occurred in such large numbers last night. However, the animals contained eggs of different developmental stages, even fully developed embryos, so that I had to discard my little hypothesis of a mass mating event... If only I had more time to investigate all these exciting events happening around Soneva Fushi throughout the year, I am sure we could stumble on some interesting explanations of our observations! It is for these kind of experiences that I love being a marine biologist on this island!

Coral Trays and Stonefish – Expanding my Marine Biological “Feet-on“ Experiences

A strenuous month of work at Soneva Fushi lay behind me when I went to Soneva Gili a few days ago to continue the maintenance work on its artificial reef structures. These so-called coral trays were designed by a contracted local company, and as Soneva’s Area Marine Biologist, I was put in charge of the trays last year – and of fulfilling a lot of expectations. What the management wishes to achieve is the beautification of Soneva Gili’s shallow, sandy lagoon through localised coral- and fish-rich patches for guests to enjoy, especially under the spa’s treatment rooms and over-water guest villas. Due to the lack of light in those particular locations and the controversy about artificial reef growth in general, I have always been very reluctant to engage in a coral transplantation project, but after some discussions with different people was willing to at least experiment a bit and try.

For more than one-and-a-half years now, colleagues and I have been collecting broken coral fragments from different colonies in the nearby reef and lagoon, hammered them into smaller pieces, attached them to the rebar metal structure with a cable tie, scrubbed the trays if overgrown with algae and started the whole process again and again, if the corals didn’t grow as anticipated. Unfortunately, even in coral nursery areas set aside in sheltered locations out in the bright sun, the fragments often didn’t prosper, as they were negatively affected by the resort’s sand pumping, bad water circulation or other unfavourable conditions. It has been quite disheartening to see dark-green algae smothering the corals and many of our efforts in vain. On the other hand, I have also discovered lots of new-to-me species hiding amongst the algae and coral branches, as if the coral trays are an oasis for many planktonic organisms in a desert full of sand and currents. And some of the coral colonies have developed into extensive branches over many months! It was these well-developed coral trays that I moved under the spa’s treatment rooms on different occasions to see whether they would survive there. Sadly, it didn’t take long for the tiny polyps to feel stressed and bleach due to the lack of sunlight needed for their symbiotic algae. A few times I could save the remaining colonies, but most often I was too late, and the transplantation process had to start all over again. I am still unsure whether we will ever be able to keep viable coral trays in those shaded locations, even with a stringent rotation system in place, but will try once more just to have made the effort and be sure.

So how does the stonefish enter the story? Well, here it comes. My time at Soneva Gili was nearly finished, I had only the rotation of some coral trays under the spa left to do before leaving the country for a new adventure, when during the wading in the sandy lagoon at extremely low tide yesterday and the moving of one tray, I felt a fierce sting in my foot. At first I thought of a sharp coral piece but then saw blood emerging from two tiny pricks in my sole. The pain was unusually intense, too, so that I had a foreboding and checked the ground for a scorpionfish. At first: nothing; only algae and some dead coral rubble; but then a little lump that looked like a rock but felt soft, with eyes at the top and a grumpy mouth pointing up – a juvenile stonefish, the most venomous fish in the world! The pain grew more and more intense, and when I reached the spa and asked for my foot to be put in hot water as a first aid measure, I felt my body become quite weak and tense. Within the next hour, the spa team, the resort doctor and the management were up and running, gave me injections and organised a speedboat transfer to Male’ for better medical treatment, while I was in agony. Luckily, the painkillers started to work when I was at the hospital two hours after the incident, so that I didn’t suffer too long. A tetanus refresher, painkillers, antibiotics, antihistamines and some other antis have saved me from further infections, inflammations and worse problems ever since, but I must admit that I was lucky only to have stepped on a juvenile stonefish and not a fully-grown monster, as that could have turned out to be highly unpleasant. And even though I didn’t ask for the experience, it is in a way good to have a real-life story to pass on to my resort guests from now on!

Addu – Continuing my Dives in Beautiful Reefs

Once my superb dive safari with Jörg on board the “Mariana” had finished and we had reached the safe harbour off Hulhumale, I waved goodbye to my fellow divers and embarked on the second journey of my holidays – 10 days in the southernmost atolls of the Maldives, Addu and Fuvammulah! Both are situated south of the equator and are about an hour’s flight away from Male’. When crossing the 0° meridian, I was handed a certificate by the flight attendant and made aware that we are now in a different hemisphere. And when looking out the scratched windows glistening in the sun, I could see very long outer reefs stretching from north to south, but also the most beautiful string of little islands in Huvadhoo Atoll that appeared like a pearl necklace from above! I was definitely looking forward to experiencing the south!

Gan, the airport island in Addu and a former British naval base, was my home island for the first two days in Addu, which I wanted to use for scuba-diving. The coral in the south was said to be the best in the whole Maldivian archipelago and boast a diversity and growth similar to pre-bleaching times. Just as background information: A severe El Niño event in early 1998 with a subsequent rise in seawater temperature had caused the reef-building corals’ symbiotic green algae to dysfunction, consequently killed most of the shallow-water species in the Maldives and left the white, “bleached” limestone skeletons to crumble. In many areas in the Maldives, the live coral cover is still poor (15-25 %), but some reefs have recovered remarkably well and give reason for hope. As I had never really dived in pristine reefs in the area, I was excited about being able to see some coral-rich underwater sites in Addu. On Gan, I stayed at Equator Village, a budget hotel with very basic rooms and food. It had a busy dive centre with many German and Russian guests, though, and I was pleased finally being able to meet the base leader Axel Horn, who has developed a good reputation over the many years he has worked in the Maldives.

The three dives I made in Addu were wonderful. The first one was at the “British Loyalty”, the largest ship wreck in the Maldives, which was beautifully covered with table, soft and black corals, had a pink leaf scorpionfish and a curious octopus sitting on it and lay on its starboard. The “British Loyalty” was an oil tanker torpedoed in 19944 and still has black oil drops emerging from its interior! Nothing has been done so far to rectify the situation, even though this leaking of oil has certainly been a threat to the environment… The other two dives happened in the northern and eastern reefs of Addu Atoll. Particularly the cave systems, the enormous drop-offs and the reef top in the north were amazing! Nurse sharks, Indian Butterflyfish and lots of bluish soft corals inhabited the caves, while the shallow top reef was 100 % covered by diverse hard coral stands! I didn’t want to come up to the surface anymore, there was just so much to discover!

Hopefully this won’t be the last time I saw the reefs of Addu Atoll! It would probably be great to join one of Jörg’s two-week safaris and then cover the southern atolls with its beautiful reefs and big fish.

Maldives Underwater – Cruising Around the Atolls and Discovering New Reefs

Even though I have the opportunity to go scuba-diving free of charge at Soneva Fushi, I hardly ever use the chance because I am so wrapped up in other projects and have my regular guest snorkelling trips anyway. The only time I can really add more entries in my dive logbook is during holidays – Palau and Indonesia last year were perfect for that purpose and offered so many highlights! During this year’s spring break, however, I wanted to explore the Maldives further and thus signed up for a one-week dive safari with a former colleague and dive instructor friend at Soneva Fushi. Jörg now runs regular dive trips through different atolls on his liveaboard “Mariana” and must have about 20 years of experience diving and living in the Maldives – very impressive!

Once we had picked up the 13 other diving guests, who happened to be all German speakers, Jörg, Marco and Ratana as the leaders of the dive safari took us by local wooden dhoni from Male’s International Airport to the liveaboard vessel, which was parked in the lagoon off Hulhumale’. The “Mariana” was a beautiful boat, had comfortable double rooms and a wooden interior. I lived on the outside deck, as all rooms were occupied by the full-paying divers, and did not mind that at all: the air was fresh, the temperature was perfect for sleeping, and the 6 a.m. sunrises above the still ocean gave me an extraordinary start into the day. Our days were packed with three dives, sunbathing, reading, eating, sleeping, and I also gave talks in the evenings for interested guests… ah, what a holiday! We all got along really well and often spent quality time together in the salon on the main deck; we had many laughs and good discussions about bio food, investment funds and books to read, apart from the fish and other sea life we saw.

The diving itself was superb. The “Mariana” took us from Male’ to different reefs in South Male’, then northern Felidhoo and then southern and central Ari Atoll before heading back to Male’. I had never been to these places before and was excited being able to see so many new islands and reefs. As the diving in Baa Atoll, where Soneva Fushi is located, mainly concentrates on the local thilas and giris, it was particularly thrilling for me to dive on the atolls’ outer rim and seeing sharp drop-offs, current-swept reef communities and “charismatic megafauna” like Hawksbill Turtles, Grey Reef Sharks (even one Hammerhead Shark!) and several ray species. Jörg, Marco and Ratana were wonderful guides and great at also pointing out smaller fish and invertebrates: Longnose Filefish, Leaf Fish, Halimeda Ghost Pipefish, lots of Honeycomb Morays, nudibranchs, flatworms and crustaceans definitely made the trip more than worthwhile for me! And even though we didn’t see any real Whale Sharks in southern Ari Atoll but I instead was fooled by a real-looking “stranded” Whale Shark made of sand on a picnic island, it was great being out on the water for this week! Thank you to Jörg, Marco, Ratana and the rest of the boat crew and divers for such a great experience!

Watching all these wonderful animals once again made me realise, however, how obvious the rapid decline in shark and turtle populations in Baa Atoll has become. When I started working at Soneva Fushi about four years ago, in March 2005, there were several dozens of juvenile Blacktip Reef and Lemon Sharks in our lagoon, Grey Reef Sharks would inhabit a lagoon at Anga Faru, Green Turtles would come and lay their eggs on our beaches, and spiny lobsters would be plentiful to see during night-snorkels or -dives. When walking around the island this year, you would be able to see neither sharks nor turtle nests, and only occasionally some lobsters! Instead, finned sharks would sometimes be found on the sea floor, staff at Soneva Fushi would tell me about their latest turtle or turtle egg meal in their home island, and the number of local, wild-caught fish purchased by resorts would continue to be unsustainable. Despite my presence and continued efforts to make our hosts and guests more aware of good environmental practices, the natural environment of the Maldives just seems to be in constant decline, which is personally very frustrating. The government of the Maldives has started a Baa Atoll conservation programme a couple of years ago and currently looks at potential marine protected areas, better waste management facilities and sustainable income opportunities for the local communities, which are all of great social and environmental importance for the atoll. There is even talk of making Baa Atoll a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve for its unique natural features and community engagement! All of these plans sound promising, and I will maintain my optimism and drive to make this small world a better place; on the other hand, I fear that many of these efforts will come too late in this quickly changing environment and culture…

Singharaja – Endemic Birds and Inquisitive Young People

I wanted to spend the last full day of my Sri Lankan holidays in one of the many nature reserves to learn more about the country’s biodiversity and to take photos. I would have loved to visit Yala National Park with its incredible wildlife again, which I had already been to with my brother just before the 2004 tsunami. However, the distance to get there was too great, so that I preferred to settle for something easier to reach. Singharaja Rainforest Reserve in the southwestern part of Sri Lanka sounded the most tempting, as it was said to be the last pristine stretch of rainforest on the island and to host many endemic birds and plants. I had arranged a car and driver, who would safely take me from Nuwara Eliya to Singharaja’s western entrance, and had also booked my accommodation in Martin’s Lodge, a simple but very popular place right next to the park entrance, which I reached after 7 long hours in the car and a steep climb up from the rangers’ office. The guide taking me there used his chance efficiently and persuaded me to book him as a guide that same evening as well as on the following day. He was nice alright but annoyed me by flicking his cigarette butts on the ground and being a bit too curious. Since my time was limited though and I didn’t want to argue, I settled with him. That same evening we went out on a quick birding tour, we saw and heard several species, and I gained a better feeling for the rainforest.

The next day was packed with nature experiences. In the morning we climbed up one of the peaks in Singharaja, allowing me to see the unlimited rainforest canopy from the top, as well as little frogs, colourful lizards and huge spiders. In the afternoon, we went bird-watching and again saw and heard several species: drongos, flycatchers, magpies, sunbirds, parakeets, mynas, junglefowl etc., many of which can only be found in Sri Lanka. The giants of the forest mainly comprise the Dipterocarpaceae, a tree family I had already encountered in Vietnam’s rainforests. One of the species was a Nawada tree, which also reached great dimensions and was said to be hundreds of years old. Singharaja was unusually dry, however. It hadn’t rained for a few weeks, many leaves were dead and the undergrowth sparse. “Normally you can’t see very far, as the vegetation is so lush and dense”, my guide explained. Hopefully the rain starts setting in soon again, as the ecosystem with its intricate network of relationships wouldn’t function properly without it anymore.

The dearest memories I have of my Singharaja visit do not involve the beautiful birds and reptiles, however, but incredibly interesting people. During my two nights at the lodge, I became acquainted with a local tour guide, Amila, and his Swedish guest, Andreas, who just seemed to know every living thing in the forest and ticked off the birds they had seen on a long list. It was a joy to see them so devoted to their bird species, and I was reminded of a hilarious newspaper article I once read about super-keen birders and their excitement when seeing a rare but dull-grey-brown bird (an LBJ, a “little brown job”)… Rahula was another great inspiration. Based at the Zoology Department of the University of Colombo and as part of the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, he conducts regular field trips and rainforest interpretation sessions for local school children and has visited Singharaja many times. It was wonderful discussing environmental awareness programmes with him, as a lot of our interests overlapped and we could share some experiences. At the time when I was in Singharaja, he and his colleagues were conducting a three day field trip with children from northern Sri Lanka’s Polonnaruva – the first time for the young people to be in a rainforest and see pitcher plants, Blue Magpies, tree ferns and orb spiders. It was also one of the first times for them to be with a “tourist”, so they all inspected me from a distance, watched silently as I ate my dinner and secretly took pictures of me. A brave young girl finally took a deep breath and approached me, asking me all sorts of questions about what I do and where I come from and, having received the answers, acknowledged them with the typical headshake that always makes me smile. This made the others more confident, too, so that by the time we were ready for departure I was being interviewed by several inquisitive youths.

Rahula and his colleagues kindly offered me a free ride back to Colombo this morning, he showed me his workplace and made sure I got on the right taxi to the city centre. A wonderful acquaintance! Because of the political instability in the region, all car passengers got frequently checked along the road by policemen, but luckily I never had to show them my passport or other documents. It is sad to see so many armed men in the streets and to recognise that the tourist flow to this beautiful corner of the world has almost ceased because of the war in the north. I do hope that Sri Lanka finds its way out of this crisis soon and continues to attract travellers to its many natural and cultural wonders.

Nuwara Eliya - Cold Nights and Hot Tea

Colombo has a number of pretty shops with local handicrafts, fabrics and clothes, all for rather little money, which I wanted to explore on my second full day in Colombo. Luckily I didn’t have to go by myself. Felicia, another Soneva Fushi friend, offered her wonderful company and saved me from a lot of confusion and rip-off. With Felicia’s help, the tuk-tuk drivers charged reasonable (local) prices without a lot of discussion and safely drove us from one shop to the next. Having a local companion also gave me a much better overview over Colombo; Felicia was the perfect tour guide and, as usual, made me laugh so many times. After our successful shopping trip, we treated ourselves to afternoon High Tea at the Galle Face Hotel, which included tea and cakes and short-eats without end and which left us with nothing else to wish for.

As expected, my new temporary passport was ready to be picked up on Wednesday (after only two working days and no bureaucratic hurdle, great!), so that I was able to leave the capital and travel towards the high country in the interior. Unfortunately, all trains going towards Kandy and Nuwara Eliya (my preferred mode of transport in Sri Lanka, as the countryside you get to see is just stunning) had already left in the morning, so that I was obliged to hop on a bus. I was assured that there are many air-conditioned busses available for only a little extra charge, but when the taxi driver dropped me off at one of the huge public bus stations, all I could find were rusty, smelly, crowded busses… My backpack and I had no choice but to squeeze into one of them and be stuck in it for about 6 hours all the way to Nuwara Eliya, my next destination. Even though there really was hardly any space, my neighbour would fall asleep on my shoulder several times and I could not understand, why salesmen would offer plastic drawing boards, torches or dusty handkerchiefs to the bus passengers (and actually get them sold!), I had a good and safe and cheap journey. Travelling as the locals do opens your eyes to the real life in a country, offers you a look behind the façade, sometimes even establishes great contacts and makes your day. After having passed numerous scruffy little villages and towns on the way to Kandy, the landscape now opened up a bit more and gave way to tea plantations and green hills before reaching Nuwara Eliya. I arrived in the city centre when it was already dark and was prepared to be immediately surrounded by touts. Luckily only one was quite pushy trying to convince me of the qualities of his own lodge but I stayed firm and asked him to get taken to a guesthouse I had chosen based on guidebook recommendations. When I arrived at the guesthouse, I made immediate contact with two other travellers and decided to join them for dinner at the Hill Club, a preserve built for the British colonial elite, which until 1970 was only open to men. The food was alright, the prices steep and the rooms grand but a bit shabby and very old-fashioned. I preferred my little cheap hotel and spent a cold night under a cosy thick blanket.

The following day was dedicated to my favourite drink, tea. Camellia sinensis, the tea plant, grows in both low and high altitude regions of Sri Lanka and has become one of the country’s main export products. The tea around Nuwara Eliya and Hatton in the cool, misty mountains grows slower than in the warm regions and is therefore said to be more aromatic. A short drive out of the city centre, Pedro Estate’s tea factory allows visitors in and provides them with valuable information about the journey of the tea leaf from tea bush to tea bag. I had visited this processing plant previously, in 2004 together with my brother Henrik, and was therefore surprised to find that the education facilities had improved so much – and that no photography inside the factory was allowed any longer. I was greeted with a steaming cup o’ tea and invited for a private show-around of the facilities. Here a quick overview of the tea processing stages: picking of the youngest tea leaves (the three top-most leaves) in the plantation, withering (air-drying) to remove water, rolling to oxidise the cells and release the tannins (“fermentation”), sifting to separate twigs from leaves, baking to completely dry the leaves, sifting again to grade the tea according to its quality, packaging, and quality control. When my tour was finished, I saw some German guests just starting their show-around and decided to join them once more; this time we were a bit naughty and took some photos of the factory.

In the afternoon, I joined a group of tea pluckers and followed them into the tea plantations, which was a wonderful opportunity to get in contact with the colourfully dressed ladies and take many photographs. Everybody was very friendly, tried to speak English, asked me about my family and job, described their daily routine and was happy to be included in photos. I left them a good tip, which was much appreciated considering that each woman only earns about USD 2 a day for 8 hours in the field. I was very happy about this relaxing day and returned to my lodge in the late afternoon in order to make arrangements for my next travels.

Colombo – Catching up with Cultural Highlights, Colonial Architecture and Café Lattes

After having spent many consecutive months on tiny Maldivian islands it was time again for a short break – on a bigger island! I chose to go to Sri Lanka mainly for the purpose of renewing my passport but since I hadn’t visited the country for about 4.5 years (my brother Henrik and I were in Sri Lanka last just a few weeks before the tsunami shattered the region), I was looking forward to spending some more time in the cool high-altitude tea plantations, in rainforests teeming with wildlife and amongst the welcoming locals. I have arranged to be here for one week, from Sunday to Sunday, and hope that the good times continue in the same fashion as they had started yesterday and today.

After a perfectly-timed flight by seaplane from Soneva Fushi to Male’ and a short connecting flight from Male’ to Colombo, I found myself stretching on the hotel bed for a minute and immediately receiving a welcoming phone call from my friend Dilhani. She is a Colombo-native and had worked in my Maldivian resort for a number of years before moving to Australia, marrying Adam (another Soneva Fushi colleague) and getting pregnant with their child. They are now back in Colombo, which is great for me, as I can enjoy their wonderful company and get to see things I would otherwise miss. Such as the huge Buddhist celebration that took place in the city centre last night right after my arrival! “Duruthu Perahera”, a colourful and cheerful parade of hundreds of dressed-up, acrobatic and musical religious followers (and dozens of elephants!), apparently takes place once a year before a full moon public holiday and attracts hundreds of visitors. This year I was one of them and, together with Dilhani, her mum, Adam and their friends, sat on the roadside and admired the different groups that were passing by with whistles, whips, fire wheels and drums. In between all these human bodies and loud sounds there were beautifully dressed elephants that belonged to different temples in the country. One of them transported a highly meaningful temple item and was only raised for the purpose of carrying this statue once a year; it was only allowed to tread on a white lane of cloth, never directly touching the road! I wondered how all these elephants could stay so calm, slowly trotting down the main street, but then saw the chains between their legs and the sharp hooks the elephant keepers carried… This whole parade went on for quite a few hours and only finished around 10 p.m.!

Today I focussed on getting my temporary passport sorted out and visited the German embassy in the morning. If all goes well, I will be able to receive the updated version within two days, which means that I can then leave Colombo and travel around the more attractive Sri Lankan interior. Dilhani was again a saviour when she helped me with money changers and phone cards – a public holiday, as it is today, means that almost everything is closed, the streets are rather empty and life almost stands still. After a nice South Asian lunch with Dilhani and her mum I strolled through the very picturesque and historic Galle Face Hotel and treated myself to three (!) café lattes and a piece of cheesecake while reading a book in a very comfortable corner of the hotel’s Tea Lounge. I may spoil myself tomorrow again and attend the official High Tea ceremony in the afternoon! It is certainly a great experience being in such cultured and sophisticated surroundings again after so many months of “deprived” island life!

A Stranded Whale and a Missed Opportunity

A few days ago, I received a phone call from a colleague telling me that a “big dolphin” had been found dead on our neighbouring island Eydhafushi. People were getting ready to take the carcass to an uninhabited island next door to bury it on the beach – which meant that no time was to be wasted to get over there by boat and inspect the animal. As I was in the middle of meetings, I couldn’t leave straight away, but managed to get in touch with colleagues in the Marine Research Centre in Male’, who informed me about the details they would need about the stranded dolphin. After another hour of meetings, I could hop on a speedboat with a friend, enjoyed the sun and the flying fish the boat disturbed during its speedy trip, and already saw from afar that the animal had luckily not been buried yet.
When I arrived at Maadhoo, about 20 men from Eydhafushi were busy pulling the animal ashore using ropes and sticks. The skin on the back was already damaged and bleeding but otherwise the “big dolphin” seemed intact. And a big animal it was! With a length of 5.15 m and a circumference of 3.05 m, it was clearly not a dolphin, and a look into its mouth confirmed that it was not. It had only two tusk-like teeth in the lower jaw, as opposed to many teeth that dolphins have in both jaws, and was a member of the Beaked Whales! We are still not sure what species of Beaked Whale exactly we had in front of us but a Cuvier’s Beaked Whale seems like the most probable candidate, as it is common in the Maldives. I took some skin and blubber samples and froze them for further analysis by the Marine Research Centre team. Hopefully we will also be able to secure the skeleton in the future. As to the cause of death: I could not see any external injuries and found no items in its mouth, it may well have been a natural death at sea. Hopefully.

Interestingly, very little is known about these deep-diving, squid-eating whales. In retrospect, I am therefore upset with myself that I didn’t take the chance to cut the recently-dead animal open and inspect the stomach contents for food remains or parasites. It may have been a welcome bonus for biologists studying whales. However, since my visit to the carcass was a last-minute activity and I feared that the “dolphin” had already been buried, I guess I did not fully anticipate the opportunities. I have learned something and next time will be better prepared.

Happy New Year!

Whoa, we made it into another year, time just flies! If you haven’t received any lines from me by email or letter yet, please accept my best wishes for 2009 via this route – Happy New Year to all of you! As in the previous year, Christmas and New Year’s at the resort were just normal working days for me, pampering the guests with snorkel trips and writing up some environmental information for different journalists. We did, however, have some turkey in the host canteen for Christmas Day and a great party on the newly opened host bar dance floor, which lasted well into the New Year. Many of the palm trees on the island are currently beautifully decorated with lights, and red ribbons and green branches complement the natural Christmas look of Soneva Fushi. It is quite hard for me to get into the right mood, though, as the sun keeps shining, the tropical sea is lukewarm and I haven’t had any days off in the last three weeks. But anyhow, a new year with lots of new opportunities and adventures is lying ahead, which I’m looking forward to!

Mantas Rays - No End In Sight

Just a single one is already a sight to behold but imagine having nearly a hundred manta rays swimming around you! It is an absolutely wonderful experience and something that always makes me realise how lucky I am to be in the Maldives doing what I am doing. As in the last few days, the conditions this morning were just right for the presence of the large filter-feeders, with the currents bringing in plankton-rich water and the tide being almost at the highest level. The sky was blue and the sea was calm, so that my snorkelling group of 11 guests and I were in a good mood and looking forward to seeing a few manta rays at Hani Faru, the place where the animals regularly aggregate to feed on plankton soup. What we didn’t expect was to see sooo many mantas! When we jumped off the boat and swam towards the feeding animals, we encountered only around 10, but when we kept waiting at the surface, more and more mantas would arrive in amazing formations, perform somersaults to capture plankton, and gently move around us passive observers. There must have been nearly a hundred individuals! Then they went out of sight again, possibly feeding at the end of the bay and filtering the water along the way, only to come back again 10 minutes later to impress us with yet another body-after-body appearance.

While my guests were happy watching or photographing the many manta rays, I was busy trying to get good photos of the animals’ ventral and dorsal patterns, as these are used just like fingerprints to identify individuals. I always forward these photos to my colleague Guy Stevens of the Maldivian Manta Ray Project, who has been working on a photographic database since 2005. The sighting history and locations will help him gain a clearer picture about seasonal migrations, localised daily movements, population size and cleaning and feeding behaviour. So far he has identified around 700 individual manta rays, and he estimates that there are at least 1000 in Baa Atoll alone.

The manta rays in our area of eastern Baa Atoll are abundant during the southwest monsoon season between June and November, when the water is teeming with plankton. They are best observed either hovering above cleaning stations, where cleaner wrasses free them from parasites or dead scales, or feeding in the bay of Hani Faru, where we saw them today. Because of the manta rays’ regular appearance at Hani Faru, the bay seems to be a significant habitat for the animals – but it has also become really popular with the resorts in Baa Atoll, as well as amongst dive safari operators. With many boats, snorkellers and divers in their main feeding area, however, the natural behaviour of the animals may be disturbed. We are therefore working towards making Hani Faru a Marine Protected Area and have already implemented strict guidelines for the boat captains, snorkellers and divers. Hopefully the need for protection is also recognised by our new government, which could really make a difference and ensure the continued existence of all these wonderful fish in the Maldives.

Komodo – Eye to Eye with Huge Lizards and Tiny Nudibranchs

The island of Komodo in central Indonesia, part of a cluster of small, dry islands situated between the big islands of Sumbawa, Sumba and Flores, is famous amongst nature-lovers for two reasons: for its Komodo dragons and for its rich marine life in the park surrounding it. I had always been aware of the super-sized lizards and the tales surrounding them, but not so much of the pristine coral reefs in the area. When two colleagues of mine came back from their trips to Komodo, they were enthusiastic about the diving, the abundance of coral life and the islands themselves. I therefore really wanted to visit the Komodo National Park and see for myself healthy and colourful corals, as well as the unique lizards on the islands.

Several airlines fly from Denpasar in Bali to Labuan Bajo on Flores, and I took one of them on July 11. Labuan Bajo, a small fishing town on the west coast of Flores, is the entry point for the Komodo National Park. It sees quite a hustle and bustle during the tourist season in July and August, when live-aboard vessels, divers and adventure-seekers like me visit the area – to my surprise, as I did not expect much tourism in the area except for a few curious herpetologists visiting the dragons… Four dive centres, a few guesthouses and hotels, restaurants and even internet facilities (with an unbelievably slow connection, though) were available in Labuan Bajo, and it looks as if more are to come. Compared to tourism hotspots on islands such as Bali or Java, however, Labuan Bajo was still a remote, undeveloped, charming little town with very cheap guesthouses and restaurants. Its inhabitants were mostly Muslim, lived in small, wooden houses and were obviously not used to seeing foreigners walking down their street. I was frequently greeted with “Hello Mister!” and involved in some strange conversations. The Lonely Planet had a short text about this phenomenon, which I not only encountered in Flores:

“Few places in Indonesia have so many ultra-keen English-language students desperate to help tourists in return for conversation practice. They pop up everywhere. This can result in delightful friendships or infuriating feelings of being pestered, depending on your outlook (and good fortune).”

Very often these constant greetings were tiring and even annoying, as I could never be undisturbed and by myself, and being a woman travelling alone “so far away from her husband” also didn’t help. But then again, I luckily never felt unsafe or got into a very unpleasant situation; the locals were mostly just curious or trying to be friendly – a different culture I just had to be aware of.

More to come...

Bali - Hiding in Retreats and Diving on Black Sand

Despite its charms to most other visitors, I had never really planned to go to Bali and much rather wanted to concentrate on other Indonesian islands during my summer holidays. Why? It just always sounded too busy and touristy to me, and I thought there wouldn’t be much pristine nature left, neither on land nor in the sea. After having spent two weeks there from the end of June to mid-July, it is now safe to say that I was completely wrong about my preconceptions of Bali. The island is indeed beautiful, diverse in landscapes, great for diving and full of traditions. I am therefore thankful to my Palauan Neco Marine team, who recommended a few good places for diving to me and opened my eyes.
Denpasar’s airport is probably the most conveniently located airport in Indonesia and the busiest next to Jakarta’s. It served as my port of entry into Indonesia (flying from Koror via Manila), and from there I was hoping to get to the Komodo area as soon as possible. Unfortunately, all flights to Labuan Bajo near Komodo were full until about two weeks later, so that I was obliged to spend some considerable time of my holidays on Bali. I was not too disappointed about this change of plans, though, as I had deliberately kept my schedule very flexible and desperately needed to have some quiet times to myself, read and write and watch and sleep. The last few weeks at Soneva Fushi had been terribly busy, and Palau with its packed dive schedule and sights and sounds hadn’t quite given me the rest I was longing for. I therefore chose to take it easy for a few days and to first travel to Bali’s northwestern corner, where I would stay in one of Jubawa Homestay’s pretty bungalows in a village called Pemuteran. This area was said to be remote, with little tourist facilities, but spectacular reefs and a few other interesting dive sites. I very much enjoyed spending some time on my porch in the sun, chatting to some other travellers and catching up with my friends at home… until the hiking and diving bug caught me again and I felt restless to go out and put my head in the forest and water.

A lovely Hawaiian couple, Jean and Lou, staying in the same hotel was planning to go on a day hike in West Bali National Park on the next day, which I had hoped to do with someone anyway. We therefore agreed to take a guide together and were looking forward to each other’s company. The seven-hour hike in the park was quite strenuous but exposed us to some very fine rain and monsoon forests with lots of jungle inhabitants: grey macaques, a giant squirrel, a defensive wild boar, rainbow-coloured beetles and spiders en masse. If we had had more time, I am sure we could have found even more bizarre animals in this park. The drinks after the hike – Bintang for Jean and Lou and a non-alcoholic energy water for me, thank you very much – tasted so good! It was also great getting to know Jean and Lou and their views of the world, and should you ever read this: thanks again for taking me along!

Natascha was a great inspiration, too. She stayed at the same resort as I and dived with the same dive centre, Jubawa Divers. We started talking and soon found out that we both work in the Maldives: she as a dive instructor at a Four Seasons resort and I as a marine biologist at Soneva Fushi. We both knew common people there; small world. Natascha was crazy about diving, despite her diving routine at the resort, loved all small and hidden animals, especially nudibranchs, and had worked in places before that I was still hoping to see. We were therefore a good buddy team and spent a few days together on Bali. We started diving in two places, called Puri Jati and Secret Bay (Gilimanuk’s harbour), both of which apparently resemble the sandy bottom topography of the Lembeh Strait in northern Sulawesi. This was all new territory for me, and I was hugely excited when we found such weird and wonderful camouflaged creatures as dragonets, frogfishes, sand divers and snake eels as well as a few octopi, nudibranchs and shrimps on or in the dark volcanic sand. Perfect places for keen divers, photographers and biologists! Not so funny was, however, that I got stung by one of those black Diadema sea urchins while trying to get out of the shallow water. I cursed those long needles, as they broke off in my thumb and inflicted a pain that would take one month to disappear… Remedies immediately offered were fresh pee, papaya or alcohol. I chose the latter but should have maybe gone for the warm pee… The island of Menjangan close to the volcanoes of Java offered diving highlights of another kind: It was surrounded by some of the most beautiful coral reefs I had ever seen in my life! Lots of colourful soft corals, pygmy seahorses hiding in sea fans, ribbon eels sticking their head out of holes, and drop-offs that are steeper than in the Maldives. There was a lot to see and take photos of, and you are welcome to have a look at my photos in the Bali Underwater slide show. On a pinnacle and on an artificial reef in Pemuteran itself, Natascha and I went on a night dive with her dive instructor friend Hugo, and together we found “everything” – from all sorts of nudibranchs, sepias, decorator crabs and shrimps to electric clams, nettling anemones and delicate pipefishes. I was completely blown away by the area’s diversity of marine life!

After my week in Pemuteran, I took the public bus to Sanur in the south and during the five-hour journey met a lovely girl named Mae with her little daughter, who I have stayed in touch with while I was in Indonesia. In Sanur I met up with Natascha again and planned two more diving days in Bali. We first went to Nusa Penida in Bali’s southeast, where the water temperature was much lower (and the visibility much better) than in other places due to the cool Indian Ocean water pushing its way through the channel between Bali and Lombok. Nusa Penida is famous for its pelagic fishes that include the sunfish Mola mola, manta rays and sharks. We were keen to see the sunfish but sadly were not lucky, despite three drift dives in the area. The reefs were good, but hell, it was cold! On the next day we went out to Tulamben, one of the very famous dive places in Bali. The most popular site is the beautifully over-grown “Liberty” wreck close to Tulamben’s shore that boasts pygmy seahorses, sharks, leaf-, anemone- and jackfishes but also big barrel sponges and nudibranchs. The Drop-Off was a great dive site, too. What will always stay in my memory about Tulamben, though, are the tiny local women carrying everyone’s dive gear on their heads across the dark beach pebbles to the entry point – sometimes two sets at a time! Unbelievable!

I have a feeling that this was not my last time in Bali. The reef and mud inhabitants were truly amazing, so that a diving holiday seems most likely. However, I haven’t really seen the interior of Bali yet and would like to get to know the Ubud area next time. With so many Balinese friends on Soneva Fushi, there must be a good way of visiting this gem of an island again!

Planning my Indonesian travels

When I took a took a course in conservation biology during my year at the University of Victoria in 2000, a book titled “The Song of the Dodo” by David Quammen was highly recommended to complement the lecture material. It was a book about island biogeography in an age of extinction, a thick volume about patterns in natural history, evolution and species distribution in the world. I must admit: it took me quite a long time to finish reading the book, as it was so intense. However, I became immediately intrigued by one of the “main actors” portrayed in the book, an extraordinary naturalist named Alfred Russel Wallace, whose name and influential works were mentioned repeatedly in the course of the book. Wallace had extensively travelled through the Indonesian islands 150 years ago and – by concentrating on the distribution of beetles and birds, and independent of Charles Darwin – had discovered the process of natural selection, through which evolution happened. He also found that the fauna of the eastern islands of Indonesia was more closely related to that of the Australian region, while the animals on the western islands were more similar to those on the Asian mainland. The imaginative Wallace Line between Bali and Lombok as well as between Sulawesi and Borneo is still valid today and indicates the border between the Asian and Australian biological realms. Interestingly, Wallace was not only an enthusiastic naturalist but also a culturally sensitive anthropologist, who had a wonderful talent for describing the peculiarities of the many different peoples in the many different islands.

I was hooked. I also wanted to get to know some of the animals, plants, landscapes and peoples that Wallace had seen 150 years ago, and I wanted to see how much had changed since then. Two months of free time were all I had – compared to his seven or eight years of exploring the natural wonders in the archipelago a tiny fraction. But a start! Instead of trying to cover a huge area, though, I decided to concentrate on a few regions only and leave room for later discoveries. My previous travels had taught me that, to get the full experience of a place, it was better to spend as much time there as possible, absorbing the smells, tastes, sounds, local stories etc. With enough time for a great holiday at hand, I was happy to just take it easy, not to plan too many details, and to be able to change routes according to the weather, other travellers’ recommendations and my own instinct. Komodo and Sulawesi were on the short list of islands that I really wanted to visit, with the option of going to Borneo, if time allowed. But options I had plenty of:

“There are, in round figures, 17,500 Indonesian islands – making up 1.3 percent of the total land area of the earth – with more than ten thousand species of trees, about a tenth of the world’s flowering plant species, about an eighth of all mammal species, nearly a sixth of all reptile and amphibian species, a sixth of all bird species, and about a third of all fish species. In almost all plant and animal taxa, Indonesia has levels of species diversity and endemism that rank with the highest in the world. And among humans, Indonesia has the world’s greatest ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity.”

Before leaving for my summer holidays, I had read a beautiful nature and photography book called “Archipelago: the Islands of Indonesia” by Daws and Fujita, which was a great inspiration for my own photography and from which the above quote stems. My constant travel companions, however, were the following books:

“The Malay Archipelago” by Alfred Russel Wallace, apparently still one of the best travel books on the region
“The Song of the Dodo” by David Quammen
“Indonesia” in the Lonely Planet series