After some time in Australia, the Blue Planet Odyssey sailors are now making their way through the Indonesian archipelago, which with some 13,677 islands is the largest island group in the world. Sadly, Anne and Jeff Posner onboard Joyful remained behind in Australia for personal reasons, and so the BPO fleet loses one of its most enthusiastic participants.
The two month cruise will take the sailors to many different islands and a chance to experience the rich culture and varied countryside of this island nation.
The first stopover was on Tual where sailors were received by the Raja or King of Tual, followed by a visit to Bau Bau. A particular highlight so far have been the visits to local schools to meet with local students and exploration of some of the environmental issues facing Indonesia.
Janet (Chapter Two): We arrived in Indonesia to a King’s welcome reception. It was a fantastic day representing the Blue Planet Odyssey.
Zeke (No Regrets): Walking through the street, with our Tourist Board escorts in colorful garb, we attracted lots of attention. In fact, everywhere we go we attract so much attention that it is exhausting just to be around all the excited and friendly people!
We visited a school with over 1,000 students ages 15 to 17. If we attracted attention in the street, we were cause for complete disruption of a day of school! Students were peering/hanging out the windows as we arrived. We were led first to the teacher’s lounge, where we found ourselves in a photo fest with teachers wanting photos with us, students wanting photos with teachers and us, everyone posing for anyone.
Then we broke into small groups to visit individual classes. I walked into one, all eyes on me of course, and I said a robust “Hello!” An almost deafening “Hello!!” came right back at me. The students were very interested in us, but reticent to ask more than our names and where we were from. It was a science class, so we tried to understand what they were studying, and if they ever discussed climate change. It was difficult to determine any of this. Yes, we are told they cover climate change…but I don’t think the question was understood…
Zeke: Jesse and Tim did the scheduled activities — visiting a school to talk with students about climate change, and visiting a cave with a clear pool of water in the inner darkness, with glowing crystals all around. It sounds like the cave was pretty impressive. And the school-kids questions even more so. We have no money, so what can we do about climate change? What are YOU doing about climate change?
Janet: The Blue Planet Odyssey group was invited to “S MA 2 Bau Bau”, a local high school in Bau Bau, Indonesia to meet with students, exchange ideas and share our impressions of what we’ve seen firsthand in the countries we’ve visited this year. The Indonesian students were brought together from four different high schools and were genuinely concerned about the state of the ocean and how they can affect change. A short slideshow was shown to the students regarding the purpose of Blue Planet Odyssey followed by a panel discussion with students asking questions on how to inspire the Indonesian government to make changes to save their environment. We tried to impress upon them that as students they can make a difference simply with recycling, replanting trees and petitioning the government to take an active step to save their reefs. Our group shared stories regarding students on various islands who have succeeded in these efforts. After a very informative panel discussion, each BPO member met with a group of students to field additional questions on our efforts and experiences. The members who participated were Janet, John and Josh Hayes from Chapter Two, Jesse Holland and Tim Liveright from No Regrets, Klaudia, Martin and Merko Dobrovicova from Tahawus, Daphne Lyman from Tahawus and Ruy Rodriguez from Blue Wind.”
Coming next on the BPO route will be Selayar, Komodo National Park, Lombok and Belitung.
A visit to Kumai on Kalimantan has been cancelled due to the ongoing forest fires which have now been raging for some two months and covering a large portion of the area in a thick haze. The fires are lit due to the controversial slash and burn carried out yearly so as to clear land for new plantations.
The Indonesian cruise will finish at the end of November in Nongsa Marina on Bintan Island.