Thursday, April 10, 2008

POSTCARD FROM THE WETLANDS OF WEST PAPUA










AS I FLEW BACK INTO MERAUKE ON THE SOUTHERN COAST OF THE INDONESIAN PROVINCE OF PAPUA,I KEPT THINKING OF THE WORDS MY FRIEND MARCO FROM THE WORLD WILDIFE FUND TOLD ME ON MY LAST TRIP,"YOU MUST GO EXPLORE DOLOK ISLAND",AFTER SCOURING OVER MAPS AND GOOGLE EARTH,I HAD SET MYSELF TO TAKE HIS ADVICE AND FIND OUT WHAT THIS LARGE WETLAND ISLAND HAS TO TELL. GETTING THERE IS HALF THE STRUGGLE,WITH ONLY A WEEKLY SMALL PLANE FLIGHT ON MERPATI OR THE MONTHLY PASSENGER FERRY BOTH DEPARTING MERAUKE,YOU SOON REALISE THIS IS NOT A TOURIST PATH.THE 45 MINUTE FLIGHT ALONG THE COAST AND OUT ACROSS THE ARAFURA SEA GIVES YOU A GREAT IMPRESSION OF THE REGIONS REMOTENESS, WITH HUNDREDS OF RIVERS RUNNING ACROSS THE COASTAL DELTA AND OUT TO THE OCEAN. AS YOU SWING IN LOW OVER DOLOK ISLAND IT RESEMBLES A SWAMP WITH WATER COVERING MOST OF THE LAND MASS. OVER THE YEARS IT HAS ASSUMED VARIOUS NAMES; IN DUTCH COLONIAL TIMES "FREDERIK HENDRIK"AND WITH THE ADVENT OF INDONESIAN RULE, "YOS SURDASO". DOLOK ISLAND IS SIMILAR IN SIZE TO TASMANIA BUT WITH NO ROADS. MOST TRANSPORT IS BY CANOE OR BOAT THROUGH A MAZE OF WATERWAYS. I ARRIVED AT THE AIRSTRIP CLOSE TO THE MAIN TOWN OF KIMAAM, WITH NO DETAILS OF ANY ACCOMMODATION. MY FIRST STOP WAS TO CALL INTO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH FOR SOME INFORMATION. THE ADMINISTRATION BUILDING IS THE ORIGINAL DUTCH MISSIONARY OUTPOST BUILT IN 1932,INSIDE ARE PHOTOS OF THOSE HARDY MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARRIVED TO SPREAD THE WORD OF GOD. AROUND THE TOWN CENTRE MANY OF THOSE FIRST BUILDINGS STILL STAND STRONG,AS A FURTHER TESTAMENT TO THE INFLUENCE OF THE DUTCH. INSIDE THE CHURCH, I SAT NEXT TO AN ELDERLY PAPUAN MAN WHO WAS STILL READING FROM A DUTCH LANGUAGE BIBLE. WITH HELP FROM FATHER "NICCO",I WAS INTRODUCED TO A VERY FRIENDLY LOCAL FAMILY WHO RUN THE ONLY HOMESTAY ON THE ISLAND,"HOTEL FLORENT" WHICH WAS TO BE MY BASE FOR THE NEXT WEEK OF ISLAND ADVENTURES. MY NEXT STOP WAS TO PRESENT MY TRAVEL PERMIT(SURAT JALAN)TO THE POLICE STATION WHICH ALSO ACTS AS TRAVEL AGENT AND TOUR GUIDE HIRE CENTRE! THE ESTIMATED POPULATION OF DOLOK ISLAND IS 18,000 PEOPLE WITH FOUR LOCAL LANGUAGES IN USE. WITH ONLY FIVE DOCTORS TO SERVICE THE ENTIRE ISLAND THE EUROPEAN UNION IS FUNDING A PROGRAM TO ESTABLISH HEALTH CENTRES AND QUALIFIED LOCAL NURSING STAFF TO LOOK AFTER REMOTE VILLAGES. MALARIA AND INFECTIONS HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN A HUGE MEDICAL PROBLEM ON THE ISLAND. THE PROGRAM IS ALSO INSTALLING NEW WATER WELLS TO REPLACE OLD ONES SO THAT CLEAN WATER IS AVAILABLE. THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF DOLOK REMINDED ME OF THOSE OF THE COASTAL SEPIK REGION IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA,MANY CHARACTERISTICS ARE SIMILAR, GOOD NATURED LAID BACK PERSONALITYS,THE USE OF "RADIO AUSTRALIA" ON TRANSISTORS, THE HOUSING DESIGNS ARE THE SAME SHAPE(RECTAGANOL ON STILTS) ,SAGO AS A STAPLE FOOD DIET, AND THEIR LOVE OF PLAYING SPORT. AFTER SCHOOL THE PLAYING FIELDS IN THE TOWN SQUARE ARE FILLED WITH EVERYONE PLAYING SOCCER OR VOLLEYBALL,THIS GOES ON FOR HOURS UNTIL IT GETS TOO DARK TO SEE THE BALL! THE TOWNSHIP OF KIMAAM IS ONLY SERVICED BY ELECTRICITY FROM 6PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT EACH NIGHT,WITH NO TELEPHONES OR MOBILE COVERAGE THE COMMUNITY ARE KEPT UP TO DATE WITH ANNOUNCEMENTS OF COMMUNITY IMPORTANCE WITH A LOUD SPEAKER/PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEM ATTACHED HIGH IN A TREE IN THE MAIN STREET.I HAD HEARD OF AN AMAZING GROUP OF NOMADIC PEOPLE WHO MAKE SMALL ISLANDS ON TOP OF THE SWAMPS WITH SPECIAL MUD COLLECTED AND TRANSPORTED MANY KILOMETRES IN CANOES,ONCE THE MUD "ISLANDS"ARE CONSTRUCTED,THEY THEN START TO BUILD HOUSING AND EVEN USE THESE NEW ISLANDS AS BURIAL GROUNDS,THE AREA I WAS HEADING FOR IS CALLED YOBY,ABOUT SIX HOURS BY DUGOUT CANOE THROUGH SHALLOW WATERWAYS SOMETIMES ONLY A FOOT DEEP.HAVING SPENT LONG PERIODS ON THE SEPIK RIVER AND CONSTANTLY SUBJECTED TO MOSQUITOS I THOUGHT I HAD SEEN THE WORST,BUT THE RECEPTION THE"NYAMUK"(MOSSIE)GAVE ME ON THE TIDAL RIVER SYSTEMS ON DOLOK WAS INCREDIBLE,SOMETIMES SO THICK YOU COULD WIPE A HANDFULL OFF YOUR FACE OR NECK JUST BEFORE THE NEXT SWARM ARRIVED! AS WE PADDLED AND PUSHED ACROSS THE INTERIOR OF DOLOK,NATURE PUT ON GREAT SHOW,FISH STARTED JUMPING IN FRONT OF US,LARGE WATER BIRDS GLIDED OVERHEAD,AND THE SOUND WAS SO CLEAR YOU COULD HEAR AND SEE A QANTAS JET BOUND FOR AN ASIAN DESTINATION 30,000 FEET ABOVE. THIS SILENCE OF TIME WAS ONLY BROKEN WHEN YOU WOULD MEET ANOTHER CANOE COMING IN THE OTHER DIRECTION,THIS WAS THE MAIN HIGHWAY THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF AN ISLAND,BUT NO TRAFFIC JAMS OUT HERE,ALTHOUGH WHEN THIRTY FEET CANOES MEET ON A TWISTING CORNER ON A THIN PATH OF WATER IT CAN TAKE SOME FINE TACTICAL MOVES.TRAVELLING ACROSS A LARGE INLAND LAKE AND THEN INTO A THICK SAGO PALM SWAMP,WE ARE NOW IN THE YOBY AREA,SMALL CLUMPS OF ISLANDS WITH FINE BUSH MATERIAL HOUSES AND OUR FIRST SIGHT OF PEOPLE IN SIX HOURS,THE DAILY ACTIVITY IS CONSTANT WITH THE MEN BRINGING IN THE VALUED SAGO PALM WHICH IS THEN BEATEN AND PULPED BY THE WOMEN,TURNING THIS INTO THE STARCHY BUT FILLING SAGO,USUALLY BOILED IN WATER AND SPUN, THIS TURNS INTO A GLUE LIKE SUBSTANCE,ALONG WITH LOCAL GREENS FROM THE GARDENS THIS SERVES AS MOST MEALS,MOST DAYS.THE LOCALS TELL ME THAT THE MUD ISLAND IDEA CAME FROM THE NEED TO BE CLOSER TO THE SAGO PALM SWAMPS,SORT OF LIKE A HOLIDAY HOME NEAR THE BEACH!AS AN INDICATOR TO WHEN THEY CAN START BUILDING A HOME ON THE RAISED MUD,THEY PLANT A SMALL SEEDLING,WHEN THIS STARTS TO SHOOT,THE TIME IS RIGHT.OUT HERE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY'S ARE RARE,BUT RECENTLY MEN HAVE BEEN CATCHING YOUNG EXOTIC FISH AND TRANSPORTING THEM LIVE FOR EXPORT TO FISH FARMS IN ASIA.AFTER A WEEK OF MEETING VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE AND FORGING SO MANY IMMEDIATE FRIENDSHIPS,I TREKKED OUT TO THE SINGLE BUILDING AIRPORT AND WAITED FOR THE SOUND OF THAT CANADIAN OTTER PLANE TO DROP DOWN AND TAKE ME AWAY TO A WORLD UNAWARE OF THE CHARM AND CHARACTER OF THE ISLAND OF DOLOK.
DON FOSTER-JANUARY 2008