We went to the airport and stopped by several travel agents to see what we could find out regarding flights and ferries around the area. It was shocking to discover just how big Papua really is. Getting a flight somewhere could easily involve trying to make four different connections, and traveling anywhere by boat would take days. When we worked it all out, it just wasn't worth it to try to get to Biak, Nabire or even Jayapura or Wamena. So we decided to stay with what we knew and loved: back to Raja Ampat!
But, what should we do there? It covers an area of 46,000 km2 it is the size of East Java! It comprises 1,500 islands, though most of it is sea. From the limited information we could collect, and thanks to advice from friends on Twitter, we decided our next destination would be Misool, far to the south of Raja Ampat, and we were luckily able to hitch a ride there on a speedboat owned by The Nature Conservancy.
In Misool there are only two places to stay. The first is a western owned resort in Bibitam that would cost us thousands of euros, the second was a local homestay at Desa Harapan Jaya that would cost us hundreds of thousands of rupiah. You can guess which we chose! It is an island area, so the main means of transport is by motor boat. Fortunately we had enough money between the three of us to rent a decent boat fuel is expensive and only available in limited quantities in Papua. So, every day we would take a speedboat out in search of an island to explore, or a beach we liked the look of. When we were out at sea, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was here.
Sumalelen was even more stunning than Wayag, but there was no hill to climb to capture what must be an incredible aerial view. The karst islands, completely covered in trees, were tightly packed together so it was like going through a maze if I had been driving we would never have got out. The islands were shaped like Christmas trees with layers of rocks that became narrower the higher they went. Even more amazing were the ochre paintings on the walls of the islands, similar to the aboriginal paintings in the Kei Islands in Maluku. And the water was so inviting!
One day we stopped at an island with a fresh water pond. Pak Yellu, the head of the village, used it to keep milkfish, carp and tilapia and offered to grill us some for lunch. Seriously, it was the best bandeng411 have ever had! It was about the size of your hand, had no tiny bones, and smelt amazing. It was the same with the carp and tilapia which were sweet and delicious, even without salt or any kind of seasoning. Pak Yellu told us that behind the hill there was a prehis toric lake full of stingless jellyfish (like at Derawan and Pa lau), but they had not cut a path through to get there, so you would be "setengah mati*2"trying. I hope when they do open it up to tourists, they make sure to look after it.
The beaches in Misool were absolutely perfect. To me that meant shady trees, white sandy beaches that are long and wide, and gentle waters with sand underfoot (no seaweed or coral). Twenty five metres out there were beautiful reefs full of fish just waiting to be explored. So, you could take your choice: relax in the shade, run around on the beach or go snorkelling to see some amazing aquatic wildlife. It got even more fun when the "ABK43 babes" arrived: Eastern Indonesian boat men with sixpacks! Swimming on a beautiful beach was all more fun with such a tantalizing view!
We managed to go diving a few times at Saonek Monde (I always thought it was called Sonic Monday) which was excellent, but the currents were pretty strong. We also had time to rent a boat, take a look around, and do some swimming. The best was Kabui. Like Wayag and Sumalelen, it was made up of karst islands, except here the canyons were much taller. There was even a cave with stalactites we could enter by boat and a graveyard with skulls lying around. We felt like pirates! Hidden Bay was amazing, a tightly packed group of islands with dense mangrove forests and brackish water. We went snorkelling with manta rays near Arborek Island, then visited white sandy beaches and spectacular tiny, barren desert islands.
Raja Ampat may be home to some of the most amazing marine life anywhere in the world, but above ground it was made up of thousands of hilly karst islands, dense and lush forests, and white sandy beaches. It was so unspoilt that places like the Phi Phi Islands in Thailand and Halong Bay in Vietnam simply pale in comparison. Another thing I experienced only in Raja Ampat was swimming at the beach to the sound of birds singing. Brightly coloured cockatoos and birds of paradise everywhere! It didn't matter what time of day it was or what the weather was like it was so beautiful nothing could stop us from enjoying the beaches.
When it rained, we saw rainbows at least twice a day. Not only could we pick out every colour, but we could also see the rainbows clearly from one end to the other. This was the first time I was actually brought to tears by the wonders of creation. If the natural world on offer in Indonesia makes it a paradise on Earth, then Raja Ampat is seventh heaven!
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