The menu is French with North African flair, just like the owner, who makes his own pastas, breads, ice cream and chocolate. Meals are served in a marvellous open-air dining room (mains from $US5).
It has trail maps for hikers, and village visits can be organised. Diving must be arranged well in advance.
Rates include breakfast.
Nihiwatu ResortRESORT$$$
(%reservations 0361-757149; www.nihiwatu.com; bungalows & villas from US$550; aWs)
Hefty price tag notwithstanding, you can certainly understand the draw of this place. There's a virgin beach crashing with head high (or higher) surf that folds into turquoise barrels on the rugged, beautiful, tribal, raw west coast of Sumba. Every detail is posh, and junket-seeking glossy magazine writers can't seem to stay away. Few luxuries are excluded.
However, what is excluded are nonguests. The current American owners maintain strict restrictions on who can access the beach and breaks.
Amenities are myriad – it even has its own freediving pro. Accommodation is limited to 30 units and there is a multiday minimum stay. Guests are hauled around West Sumba in African safari vehicles; as one local said to us: 'I guess we are the zebras'.
8Getting There & Away
A few buses run between Waikabubak and the many villages, but by far the best way to visit the area is by car or motorbike. Most roads are sealed and traffic is light. The hills south of Waikabubak are a taxing yet exhilarating ride for cyclists.
Pero
Pero is a small Muslim fishing village, with a natural harbour inlet sheltered by a sand bar and mangroves. The village does tend to waft with the scent of drying squid, but the all-natural beach just north of town has blonde sand, a palm and scrubby grass backdrop, and a sneaky good left-hand break just offshore, as well as ideal side shore wind for kitesurfers. From here you won’t hit land again until Africa. The long-running Homestay Stori (%0813 3755 7272; per person incl all meals 250,000Rp) is run by a hospitable family, and has eight rooms in a rather frayed concrete home with peeling linoleum floors and shared unpleasant mandis in the backyard. But, hey, it's the only surf crash pad in the area and it's cheap. It's on the main drag in town, on the right side of the street as you head toward the sea. To visit traditional kampung, go north or south along the coastline.
From Tambolaka there are frequent bemos and trucks to Pero.
Ratenggaro & Around
One of Sumba's best villages is close to Pero. Take the paved road from Bondokodi, or go off-road for about 3km along Pantai Radukapal – a sliver of white sand along a pasture – and you'll come to the kampung of Ratenggaro, framed by a low rock wall. Rebuilt after a 2012 fire, it is a remarkable place. There are 11 houses supported by intricately carved columns, one for each cardinal point. The tall, peaked roof homes are situated on a grassy lawn on a bluff above the mouth of Sungai Rateboya (Crocodile River), with an absolutely breathtaking view along the coconut-palm–fringed shoreline. You can easily pass hours watching the waves of Miller's Point (a famous surf break) pound the rocks, with the high roofs of Wainyapu, a collection of 12 kampung and more than 40 homes, peeking out above the trees across the river. On the near side of the river mouth – where the mocha river meets the turquoise sea – Wainyapu's unusual stone tombs occupy a small headland. Visitors are asked to contribute a donation (20,000Rp will suffice). The villagers here are full of life, and after a few minutes you'll realise that you're not here to check them out, or to inspect another exotic culture. Rather you are here to be inspected yourself. To get to Wainyapu, you’ll have to wade across the river at low tide.
On the way to Ratenggaro, look out for the thinner, high-peaked roofs of Kampung Paranobaroro through the trees, about 1km inland. The best of these have enormous timber columns intricately carved and cured by an almost perpetually smouldering cooking fire in the centre of the raised bamboo platform. Stone statues decorate the public space. During the day only women and children are in the village. Women are often weaving and are happy to chat. During ceremonial times you may see pig jaws and buffalo horns displayed on the front porch.
PASOLA: LET THE BATTLES BEGIN
A riotous tournament between two teams of spear-wielding, ikat-clad horsemen, the Pasola has to be one of the most extravagant (and bloodiest) harvest festivals in Asia. Held annually in February and March, it takes the form of a ritual battle – not so much a quarrel between opposing forces as a need for human blood to run to keep the spirits happy and bring a good harvest. The riders gallop at each other, hurling their holas (spears) at rival riders (it’s not permitted to use a spear as a lance). Despite the blunt spears, there will be blood, and sometimes deaths (of riders and horses) still do occur. Accidentally, of course.
Pasola takes place in four areas, its exact timing determined by the arrival on nearby coasts of a certain type of sea worm called nyale. Two days before the main events, brutal boxing matches called pajura are held, with the combatants’ fists bound in razor-sharp local grasses.
Before the Pasola can begin, priests in full ceremonial dress must first wade into the ocean to examine the worms at dawn; they’re usually found on the eighth or ninth day after a full moon. Fighting begins on the beach, and continues further inland later that same day. Opposing ‘armies’ are drawn from coastal and inland villages.
In February, Pasola is celebrated in the Kodi area (centred on Kampung Tosi) and the Lemboya area (Kampung Sodan); in March it’s in the Wanokaka area (Kampung Waigalli) and the remote Gaura area, west of Lamboya (Kampung Ubu Olehka). Exact dates are known two weeks before Pasola. Check with the guides and hotels in Waikabubak and Tambolaka, as well as NTT expert Edwin Lerrick at Lavalon in Kupang.
Maluku
Maluku Highlights
North Maluku
Pulau Ternate
Pulau Tidore
Pulau Halmahera
Pulau Ambon
Kota Ambon
Southern Leitimur
Eastern Leihitu
Northern & Western Leihitu
Lease Islands
Pulau Saparua
Pulau Molana
Pulau Seram
Masohi, Namano & Amahai
Northern Seram
Banda Islands
Bandaneira
Pulau Gunung Api
Pulau Banda Besar
Pulau Hatta
Pulau Ai
Pulau Run (Rhun)
Kei Islands
Tual & Langgur
Pulau Kei Kecil
Pulau Tanimbar Kei
Pulau Kei Besar
Maluku
Pop 2.6 million
Why Go?
Welcome to the original Spice Islands. Back in the 16th century when nutmeg, cloves and mace were global commodities that grew nowhere else, money really did ‘grow on trees’. It was the search for the Moluccas' (Maluku’s) valuable spices that kick-started European colonialism and, thanks to a series of wrong turns and one auspicious land swap, shaped the modern world. When the islands' monopoly on cloves and nutmeg was broken in the 18th century, Maluku settled into gentle obscurity.
What remains is a scattering of idyllic islands where the complex web of cultures envelops visitors with an effusive, almost Polynesian charm. While transport can prove infuriatingly inconvenient, with flexibility and patience you can explore pristine reefs, stroll empty stretches of powdery white sand, book idyllic over-water bungalows, scale 16th-century fort walls, snap endless photos of perfectly formed volcanoes, and revel in a tropical discovery that seems almost too good to be true.
When to Go
ANov–Mar The dry season is the best time to visit, with consistently spectacular diving (although the Banda Islands are rough in January).
AApr–May & Sep–Oct The shoulder seasons are a good alternative, especially for the Banda and Kei Islands.
AJun–Aug Monsoons prevail during the wet season, upsetting transport schedules and shuttering dive shops.
Best Places to Eat
A Flor
idas
A Cilu Bintang Estate
A Delfika Cafe
A Savana Cottages
A Beta Rumah
Best Places to Stay
A Cilu Bintang Estate
A CDS Bungalow
A Bela International Hotel
A Coaster Cottages
A Maluku Divers
Maluku Highlights
1 Snorkelling and diving some of the world’s finest accessible coral gardens in the historically fascinating Banda Islands.
2 Unwinding at Ohoidertawun or Pasir Panjang in the Kei Islands, two stunning sweeps of the purest white sand.
3 Finding a beachside homestay with coral at your doorstep on Pulau Hatta.
4 Staying at one of the offbeat getaways on Pulau Saparua before mainstream tourism discovers the island’s white-sand beaches, friendly villages and extensive diving potential.
5 Plunging into the muck with Maluku Divers, Pulau Ambon's finest dive operator and most appealing resort.
8Getting There & Away
Air
Ambon and Ternate are the region’s air hubs. Both have several daily connections to Jakarta, some direct and some via Makassar, Manado (Sulawesi) or Surabaya. There are several connections from Ambon to Papua.
Sea
Four Pelni liners visit Ambon on biweekly cycles from Bau Bau (22 hours), Makassar (40 hours), Surabaya (70 hours) and/or Jakarta (four days). The Tidar handily continues east via the Banda and Kei Islands, as does the infinitely slower Kelimutu, which is reportedly infested with roaches. These ships, along with the Nggapulu, continue on to various ports in Papua. The Sinabung instead swings north via Ternate and Bitung.
8Getting Around
Air
Garuda and Xpress Air fly major routes within Maluku, including a new daily Ambon–Langgur service and connections from Ternate to Halmahera and Ambon. Smaller routes are handled by Wings, Susi (which currently has the Banda contract), Lion and Merpati. Bad weather, low passenger loads and engine trouble make cancellations quite frequent.
Boat
Pelni's patchy North Maluku services change each month, but you can count on the routes that connect Ambon with the Banda Islands and onward to the Kei Islands. Some medium-range hops are served by uncomfortable ASDP ferries or by wooden boats known as kapal motor. Perintis cargo boats are bigger but not at all designed with passengers in mind (bring waterproof clothes). Speedboats link nearby islands and roadless villages.
Locals use very specific terms for boat types: if there isn’t a spid (covered multi-engine speedboat) to your destination, there might still be a Johnson (outboard-powered longboat) or a ketingting/lape-lape (smaller, short-hop motorised outrigger canoe).
Regular speedboats connect short and midrange destinations (eg Ternate–Tidore, Ternate–Halmahera, Ambon–Lease Islands, Ambon–Seram). The longer rides are only available in the dry season and are best early in the morning when seas are calmest. Chartering is widely available.
Road Transport
In mountainous Maluku, the few asphalted roads can be surprisingly good, but some areas have only mud tracks or no roads at all. Shorter routes are generally operated by bemo (minibus), also known as mobil. On Halmahera and Seram, shared Kijangs (fancy seven-seat Toyotas) predominate. Renting an ojek (motorcycle taxi) can be a pleasant, inexpensive way to travel.
North Maluku
North Maluku’s historically and politically most significant islands are the pyramidal volcanic cones of Ternate and Tidore. These ancient Islamic sultanates were once the world's only source of cloves, enormously valued in medieval Europe as food preservatives and 'cures' for everything from toothache to halitosis to sexual dysfunction. Funded by the spice trade, these islands' sultans became the most powerful rulers in medieval Maluku, yet wasted much of their wealth fighting each other.
In 1511 the first Portuguese settlers arrived in Ternate. Tidore quickly responded by inviting in the Spaniards. Both islands found their hospitality rapidly exhausted as the Europeans tried to corner the spice market and preach Christianity. When Ternate’s Muslim population – already offended by the Europeans’ imported pigs and heavy-handed ‘justice’ – rebelled in 1570, Ternate’s Sultan Hairun (Khairun) was executed and his head exhibited on a pike. The besieged Portuguese held out in their citadel until 1575 when the new Ternatean sultan – the same Babullah whose name graces Ternate's airport – took it over as his palace.
The Spaniards, and later the Dutch, made themselves equally unpopular. In a history that’s as fascinating as it is complicated, they played Ternate off against Tidore and also confronted one another for control of an elusive clove monopoly. The Dutch prevailed eventually, though the sultanates survived, remaining well-respected institutions to this day.
Ternate is still today the main hub of North Maluku (Maluku Utara, or 'Malut'), though in 2007 Sofifi on Halmahera was named the province’s official capital, and many government kantor (offices) have relocated there. Few islands in North Maluku have any real history of tourism, so visits beyond Ternate will often prove to be something of an adventure.
Pulau Ternate
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The dramatic volcanic cone of Gunung Api Gamalama (1721m) dominates Pulau Ternate. Settlements are sprinkled around its lower coastal slopes with villages on the east coast coalescing into North Maluku’s biggest town, Kota Ternate. The city makes a useful transport gateway for the region and has fishing harbours filled with colourful boats and a few remnant stilt-house neighbourhoods.
Kota Ternate
Pop 172,000
Ternate is gorgeous, swathed in jungle and wild clove trees. However, when you first land here, in the looming shadow of Gamalama, with several more volcanic islands dotting the deep blue channel beyond, you may be shocked by its frenetic pace. Traditionally the bureaucratic heart of Malut, Kota Ternate is grudgingly relinquishing some kantor to the new capital, Sofifi on nearby Halmahera. It's the transport hub of the region, but it's worth a visit in its own right for its 16th-century forts, thronging markets and superb seafood.
Kota Ternate
1Sights
1Benteng KalamataA7
2Benteng TolukkoB2
3KeratonB4
4Royal MosqueB4
4Sleeping
5Bela International HotelA6
5Eating
6Rumah Makan Popeda GamalamaB4
1Sights
Kota Ternate’s three fortresses were rebuilt by the Dutch between 1606 and 1610. They've been over-renovated since falling into decrepitude by the 1990s, but moves towards more sensitive restoration are afoot.
Benteng TolukkoFORTRESS
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; admission by 10,000Rp donation)
A tiny, beautifully situated fort surrounded by a vivid tropical garden, Benteng Tolukko was the first Portuguese stronghold on Ternate (1512). It's better-preserved that the town's two other benteng, inviting a stroll on the battlements for yet another stunning view across to Tidore and Halmahera. If it's locked, knock on the door of the family home next door; they'll have the key.
KeratonMUSEUM
(Istana Kesultan; MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %0921-312 1166; admission by donation; h9am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 3pm Sat, to 1pm Sun)
Built in 1834 and restored in semi-colonial style, the Sultan’s Palace is still a family home. There's a museum section with a small but interesting collection of historic weaponry and memorabilia from the reigns of past sultans, whose lineage dates back to 1257. Unfortunately, the Keraton is sometimes closed during advertised hours, and an adjoining purpose-built museum was two years behind schedule at the time of research.
You need a special invitation from the sultan to see the famous mahkota (royal crown). Topped with cassowary feathers, it supposedly has magical powers such as growing ‘hair’, and keeping the volcano in check. The mahkota is only worn at coronations and during the Legu Gam, or 'People's Festival'. Ternate's main festival is held in April, culminating on the late sultan’s birthday (he passed away in early 2
015) and involves traditional performers, the Gam Maracahaya (a torch-lit flotilla) and a ritual scaling of Gamalama.
Royal MosqueMOSQUE
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Jl Sultan Babullah)
On the 27th evening of Ramadan, Lailat-ul-Qadr celebrations see the sultan’s procession arrive to a mass of flaming torches at the Royal Mosque, which has impressive heavy interior timber work.
Benteng OranyeFORTRESS
( MAP GOOGLE MAP )
Known to the Portuguese as Fort Malayo, the Dutch-built Benteng Oranye, which dates from the early 17th century, is a sprawling, largely ruinous complex inhabited by goats, rusted cannon and…the army. Once home to the Dutch governor, it's now overgrown, neglected and (in parts) unsympathetically concreted. You can still wander some sections of cannon-topped bastion, accessed through a restored gateway arch, and its current tenants (the army, not the goats) are aiding efforts to restore some of its former grandeur.
Lonely Planet Indonesia Page 79