EAST INDIES EXPLORATION (KATHARINA)

This trip from Flores to the spice entrepot of Ambon in the Moluccas islands offers a fascinating look at the colonial history of and its role in the international spice trade during the 17th century. This 12-day tour travels in an eastward arc capturing the maritime route of the early colonials who traversed the Indonesian waters in search of the precious spices found within this small band of islands. As we cruise through the Lesser Sunda islands you will be transported back in time as you learn about historic outposts, visit the colourful native villages, experience the marketplaces, and smell the aroma of the spice orchards. These unforgettable on-land excursions will be matched by the sea as the Ombak Putih wends her way through stunning volcanic islands interspersed with stops at ITINERARY pristine beaches giving guests ample time to swim and snorkel in some of the richest and most magical waters in the world. Day 1 Maumere Note: As we would like to start early we suggest our guests Your tour leader will meet you and organise your transfer from Maumere Airport to the harbour where the Ombak Putih will be anchored and waiting. If arrive in Maumere (Flores) a day before the cruise starts in you have arrived the previous day, there will be time in the morning for a tour order to enjoy the full programme. A pre-cruise option visiting of the small village of Watublapi to enjoy a village dance and see a the Ende region in Flores and the famous Kelimutu volcano, demonstration of the local women’s traditional weavings. The 45-minute drive to the village is spectacular. Watublapi is a small community in the Sikka known for its three-coloured crater lakes, is available on district well known for its fine traditional ikat weaving. Whereas many other request. The price of this cruise does not include any domestic local weaving communities have switched to industrially spun yarn and chemical dyes for the sake of saving time and money, the weavers of airfares to and from our start and end points. If you are booking Watublapi still use the traditional, handspun yarn made out of local cotton, as by yourself, please check with us first to find out the best routes well as local natural dyes. When all the guests have arrived and settled in their to take, and to ensure that you arrive at your destination with cabins, we will weigh anchor and navigate the Cape of Flowers (Cabo de Flores), so named by a Portuguese expedition crew in the early 16th century, plenty of time to spare. In particular, do not book morning and head for the port of Larantuka. En route, we are certain to enjoy our first flights out of Ambon on the last day of the cruise. Except for swim and snorkel in these beautiful waters. Bali, transfers to and from local airports to the boat are Day 2 Flores included. In the morning we will moor close to the town of Larantuka, the capital of Flores Timur and a central hub for early colonisation and Catholic clerical activities. There we will see the five Catholic churches and the ‘Stations of the

0800 945 3327 (within New Zealand) | +64 (0) 3 365 1355 | 1800 107 715 (within Australia) [email protected] | wildearth-travel.com Cross’ built along the waterfront. Later we will cross the Flores Strait and visit Wallacea, a biogeographical designation for a group of mainly Indonesian the village of Lohayong on the island of Solor; a lot of the villagers here make islands separated by deep water straits from both the Australian and Asian a living by processing sea salt. The salt production is seasonal, but with a bit continental shelves. The islands of Wallacea have several species of mammals of luck we will be able to witness the process. After that we will visit the Ruins as well as a mix of flora and fauna from both Asia and Australia. The island of of Fort Henricus built by Dominican Friars in 1566 to protect their spiritual is only 10km by 10km, but has been active in recent geologic history, as work from their enemies. Early Portuguese sandalwood traders left this task to there are several uplifted sea terraces around its margin, with the highest the missionaries. The fort was later taken over by the Dutch East Indies being 120 metres above sea level. There is an old Dutch fort on the island Company (VOC). Back on the ship we will have a beautiful cruise through the which was abandoned in the late 1700s and some of the islanders are Solor Strait with the Lili Boleng volcano on the island of Adonara as the directly descendent from the 16 soldiers who manned the fort and the eight backdrop as we navigate to Lembata Island. As always, we will plan time to soldiers who remained on the island after the fort was abandoned. stop for a swim and a snorkel. Day 6 Island Day 3 Lembata This morning our destination is Romang Island, where we will go ashore to Our destination is the village of Lamalera, on the island of Lembata, which is witness the lives of villagers in this remote region of the archipelago. While the one of the few remaining places in the world where villagers hunt whales using island has recently been largely occupied with mining interests, most of the traditional methods. Bordering the Timor Straits, the village is in an area long people living on Romang are farmers. They plant corn, yams, cassava, sago, recognised as hunting-grounds for the 19th century British and American vegetables, and dry rice. Back on the boat we will have lunch while we cruise whaling voyagers. Since at least 1836 these villages have taken various eastward to the tiny island of Mapora where we will spend the rest of the species of whales and today, these traditions remain to support the village. afternoon snorkelling and beachcombing. On the beach we will see the small craft used for hunting the sperm whales and perhaps preparation for their hunt if whales are in the vicinity. This Day 7 Damar Island small-scale hunting (no more than 25 per year) is considered sustainable, and the local economy has some dependency upon it. We might join a short In the morning we will reach Damar Island, the next destination in our voyage trip on of one of the boats and admire the harpooners standing on the edge of as we track the volcanic string of islands known as Indonesia’s ‘Ring of Fire.’ the bowsprit. In the afternoon we will cruise further east, trailing this chain of This several-thousand-kilometre chain begins at Java in the west and ends at increasingly remote islands to Alor. the to the south of Ambon. Damar is volcanic in nature and was one of the few islands outside of the Bandas that produced . All Day 4 Alor the trees were destroyed by the Dutch East Indies Company in 1648 to further monopolise the spice trade. We will visit a small village consisting of simple In the morning we will reach the enchanting bay of Kalabahi on Alor. We will huts made from the leaves of the sago palm. Staple foods of the locals are visit a traditional village in the mountains where we may witness a war dance sweet potatoes (ubi), bananas and fish. Birds abound in the coastal around the mesbah, the ritual heart of the village. Here we will see the moko landscapes with the endemic Damar Flycatcher being the preeminent avifauna drums, which for centuries have been part of a wife’s dowry and are thought to species. originate from Indochina. Alor also produces Ikat cloth famous for its intricate patterns and bright colours. In the evening we will proceed further east and Day 8 On the Way to Banda Islands reach the western Daya Islands in the southern . Continuing on our way to the historically famous Banda Islands, we will pass Day 5 Moluccas four spectacular volcanic islands each standing alone and jutting from the clear blue ocean. Known as stratovolcanoes, they are steep-sided and built up Today, as we cross between the Lesser Sunda Islands group into the of alternating layers of lava and ash or cinders due to successive millenniums Moluccas, we will enter the region of Barat Daya, meaning ‘south-west.’ of periodic eruptions. For now, however, they express a quiet beauty for us to Known as the ‘Forgotten Islands,’ this group of islands is so far off the beaten enjoy. We will make a stop at Serua, the last in this extended string of path that it is largely isolated from the rest of Indonesia and from the rest of volcanoes, which is home to one of the few villages in the chain. If we have the world. The first island we will encounter is Kisar. Together with Timor, Nusa enough time, we will go to this rarely-visited village where we can observe the Tenggara, Sulawesi, and most of , the Barat Daya Islands are part of remotest of Indonesian cultures. Since the eruptions in the 1960s and 70s,

0800 945 3327 (within New Zealand) | +64 (0) 3 365 1355 | 1800 107 715 (within Australia) [email protected] | wildearth-travel.com many of these island populations have migrated to other parts of the back to the Ombak Putih for lunch. The afternoon will be filled with snorkelling Moluccas. Today, we will also reach the small island of , which is a bird the spectacular kaleidoscopic waters for which the Banda Islands are so and marine sanctuary, uninhabited by humans. Frigate birds, gannets and famous. other marine birds have their nests in the trees. If the tide allows, we will make a landing and go in for an up-close look at the birds and the wildlife. In Day 11 Banda Neira the late afternoon, we will proceed towards the Spice Islands. The morning is free to spend at our leisure in Banda Neira. We invite the fit Day 9 Banda Islands and ambitious to make an early morning ascent of the Gunung Api volcano. While this is a challenging climb up a narrow track to an elevation of about Should the breezes favour us, as we approach Run, the first of the Banda 600 metres, the reward when reaching the top of the ‘Fire Mountain’ it is well Islands, we will experience the delightful fragrance of nutmeg in the air. The worth the effort. Revel in a stunning and unforgettable view over the Banda islands have had a long and fascinating history, including being among the Sea, the surrounding islands, and the crater itself. When it is time to depart most expensive real estate in the world. Spices, foreign traders, wars and for our final stop in Ambon, we will navigate through the ‘Sonnegat’ (sun’s earthquakes have all featured heavily in their chequered past. An amazing gap) between Bandanaira and Gunung Api, most likely under the escort of one historical footnote is the fact that in 1667, under the Treaty of Breda, this or more ‘Kora-Kora’, which are long sea canoes, rowed by over a dozen small island was ceded by the English to the Dutch in exchange for muscled men and used in ancient times to attack the invading colonists. Manhattan. The Bandas have attracted regional and international traders for more than 3,000 years. Prior to 1500, no European had ever landed on their Day 12 Ambon shores, but there had always been Asian traders. Up until the middle of the 19th century (with the exception of Damar Island until 1648), this was the We will wake to find the Ombak Putih anchored in the harbour on the island of only place on Earth where the spices nutmeg and mace could be found and Ambon, where the Portuguese arrived in 1513 to establish their regional thus the centre of the spice world. After navigating Run, we will arrive at the authority. The Portuguese never managed to control the local trade in spices island of Ai. Here we go ashore on a beautiful beach to meet with the and failed in their attempts to establish their authority over the Banda Islands, villagers. A short walk brings us to Fort Revenge which was built by the English being driven out by the Dutch in 1605 when the Dutch set up the before being captured by the Dutch. Behind the fort we will explore our first headquarters of the VOC. Ambon therefore has a rich and colourful history nutmeg plantation, where the evergreen nutmeg trees will be identifiable by having been within the centre of the world-altering spice trade. After breakfast, the hundreds of ripening yellow fruits that hang from their branches. During depending upon flight departure times, we may have a morning programme to lunch, the Ombak Putih will move to the main Island of Bandaneira. This see the town, the markets and explore Ambon’s history. A timely departure in beautiful, quaint little colonial outpost on the island of Neira is the capital the provided transportation will transfer everyone to the Ambon Airport for town of the Banda Islands and is full of relics of the colonial era: forts, their selected onward destinations. cannons and beautiful Dutch-colonial homes. With the Ombak Putih moored in a quiet bay on Gunung Api, we will enjoy an afternoon strolling through the Please Note: old town viewing the restored planters’ mansions, fortifications and churches Itineraries are subject to change. and get a feel for its incredible history. We will find that Fort Belgica built by the Dutch East India Company was an early blueprint of the Pentagon. The population here is an interesting mix of Malay, Arab, Dutch and Melanesian. At the end of the day we will spend a quiet evening under the stars in the lagoon.

Day 10 Banda Islands Over the course of the morning we will cross over to Lonthor, the largest island in the Banda chain. We will visit the fortress Hollandia and the nutmeg plantation of the last ‘perkenier’ on the island. The perkeniers were the small land-holder farmers who managed the plantations for the Dutch; each land parcel was known as a ‘perk’ (plural: ‘perken’). By midday, we find our way

0800 945 3327 (within New Zealand) | +64 (0) 3 365 1355 | 1800 107 715 (within Australia) [email protected] | wildearth-travel.com YOUR SHIP: KATHARINA

YOUR SHIP: Katharina

VESSEL TYPE: Yacht

LENGTH: 40 metres

PASSENGER CAPACITY: 14

BUILT/REFURBISHED: 1995 / 2014

The Katharina is a traditional Indonesian pinisi, built in 1995 in Kalimantan using only the very best grades of ironwood. Her slim hull was originally being planned for commercial sailing carrying freight before we spotted her in the making. We bought her and fitted her out as a cruising vessel, and then again in controlled air-conditioning and storage space including a safe. January 2014, the Katharina was the subject of a major interior Led by Captain Iwan, the Katharina is catered to by an refit. Working with the unique heritage this vessel represents, all-Indonesian crew of 12, with each member dedicated to her transformation is a conservation exercise back to making your stay aboard truly memorable. authenticity, using only the best traditional materials, shaped by highly skilled Indonesian craftsmen. Yet, what goes on behind the scenes is the use of the most up-to-date technology and she is now equipped with a super yacht grade AC station and we are optimizing our systems to the latest safety standards. Not only is the Katharina very elegant on the water, she is also fast becoming a classic yacht, as very few of these original designs remain. Katharina's overall length is 40 metres, providing comfortable accommodation for up to 14 guests in six cabins located below decks. All cabins offer creature comforts and necessary amenities including double beds or twins, private en-suite bathrooms, natural light, safety boxes, individually

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