Selemat Hari Raya Kemerdekaan’

17 August 2008

Indonesians celebrate the proclamation of independence from 350 years of Dutch colonial rule.

The Indonesian Declaration of Independence was officially proclaimed at 10.00 a.m. sharp on Friday, August 17, 1945. The declaration marked the start of the five year diplomatic and armed-resistance of the Indonesian National Revolution, fighting against the forces of the Netherlands until the latter officially acknowledged Indonesia’s independence in 1949.

Its Indonesia's' Independence Day today. The people of West Papua are celebrating their Independence The main festivities will be at the parade field. All around town for the past few weeks preparation and practice has been taking place for today. A mass cleaning and painting has occurred along the main pot hole studded route that the President's motorcade will travel to the main event. Indonesian Red and White flags have been placed every where. Festivities abound in cities and villages alike, organized by the government, neighborhood community associations and organizations.


I am stoked for a great photo outing. I do my prep the night before clean my lens , charge my batteries, set everything out so I can get up early and get out there and get some good "behind the scenes" shots of West Papua at its best.
I arrive at 0703 and the area is packed already with about 50 different parade troops all assembling in their various areas. Every branch of the military is represented, police honor guard troops, dance troops and schools are represented. Important military and government officials are taking there front row seats under the only covered area. Many High Ranking Military, with weathered faces and chests full of medals take the prime seats.

I am clicking away, the photo ops are every where. I am wandering through a troops of military cadets all with automatic rifles (I am pretty sure they are in safety lock mode) and getting great close up shots as they march in formation right by me. I am grabbed by two guys...one on each side, each with a firm, squeezing grip on my arm, steadily increasing their grip to get my attention. They are swiftly ushering me out of the street and telling me I cant take pictures.

I react calmly and cooperatively to the plain clothed Secret Police's control of the situation...wisdom gained from leaning the hard way how to react in a situation like this.. About ten years ago in Cancun, Mexico, I was grabbed from behind, and with a much more aggressive reaction I turned with a round house punch. The punch landed squarely on a 300 pound Mexican Federalie's jaw. What happened after this is a 24 hour very uncomfortable and unpleasant story...This scene flashed though my mind as I was being ushered off the parade staging area street.

So the parade is starting and so is my drama with the Indonesian secret police. Who am I, why am I taking pictures, what agree the pictures for.... To make matters worse I forgot my passport on the boat. Now I am detained behind a fence with four guards on me. I am told I need to wait until immigration officials arrive. In the mean time I call our local, ships agent "Whaid" She can vouch for me and help translate to me what is going on and what I can do to diffuse the situation.

Fast forwarding four hours after being taken away in a immigration police vehicle, missing the ceremony, I am questioned, forced to delete all of my photos, and had to sign a statement that said "I am sorry for taking pictures and forgetting my passport, I will not do it again"! Seriously, this is what I had to say and sign a statement before they would let me go.

I was waiting for the Immigration chief to ask me to write it out 500 times on the black board.

When in Indonesia, do as the Indonesian's do...

I am driving back from my morning detention with the Indonesian Immigration and Secret Police. All around town festivities and Independence day celebrations continue on. On the left I spot a very large gathering at a Police/Military post. The attraction is two greased telephone poles, each with a prize carousel at the top. Men from two competing villages are trying to reach the top and score the prizes by building a human pyramid. As if having the pole covered in grease was not challenging enough, he poles are set in the middle of a mud pool.

I spent about ten minutes watching and photographing this. Keep in mind I am the only white person in town so I am getting a lot of attention. I watch these guys try and fall, then pick themselves out of the mud, rally and try again, only to fall in a heap of grease, mud covered bodies.

For some reason I got the urge to do this, I actually thought that with my help we could do it!

This was much harder than it looks. First of all you can barely breath because of the body order of your team mates, then you can barely get your footing in the mud, then you get the first guy on your shoulders, his feet are covered in a coarse sand/mud mix that immediately starts to work your skin like 60 grit sandpaper. Now you have to plant your self, wrap your arms around the grease covered pole, like a wrestler going for a single leg take down and hold on, block out the pain in your forearms and shoulders, forget your legs trembling as the third layer of people go up.

Then it happens, a weak link gives out, with out warning, and everyone comes falling down on top of you.

Well by the third go of this, I had the battle going in my mind should a quit or stick it out. I quit, I could not do it! I was sore, my skin was shredding and I was afraid that someone was going to fall on my neck and that might be the end of the day.

Covered in mud and grease I do walk of defeat off the field. I have not quit many things that I have started, but I am pretty sure I made the right decision here!


Now time to find a hose and rinse down. I am out behind the Military Police barracks grimacing in pain as I rinse the ground in sand out of my shoulders and clean off all of the mud.

Walking out of the office door next to me strolls the same Secret Police guy that grabbed me in the morning. Both with complete suprise, I look at him, he looks at me...and we both just start shaking our heads and laughing!

Great Barrier Reef coral in crisis

Global Warming, more acidic oceans cited; 'pretty scary' findings, one expert says
By Miguel Llanos

The rate at which corals absorb calcium from seawater to calcify their hard skeletons — and thus grow — has declined dramatically in the last two decades and signs point to manmade greenhouse gas emissions as the culprit, according to a study of samples from Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
Researchers with the Australian Institute of Marine Science looked at the skeletal records of porites corals collected over the years at 69 reefs along the 1,600-mile-long Great Barrier Reef. Those corals, some 400 years old, showed that calcification declined by 13 percent between 1990 and 2005.
"The data suggest that such a severe and sudden decline in calcification is unprecedented in at least the past 400 years," the researchers stated in the study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Science.
A reef expert not involved in the study described it as "very important." In a commentary posted on newsvine.com for msnbc.com, John Bruno added that "the findings are frankly pretty scary."
"Slower growth might not seem like a big problem, but reef scientists are concerned that this will exacerbate the impacts of other threats to coral reefs," said Bruno, an associate professor of marine ecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "For example, it will slow the vertical growth of corals, making it harder for them to keep up with rising sea levels.
"It could also slow recovery from other disturbances such as coral bleaching episodes and destructive storms," Bruno added. Bleaching occurs when corals expel the organisms living inside that create the colors found on reefs.
The study's authors themselves wrote that "precipitous changes in the biodiversity and productivity of the world's oceans may be imminent" given how central coral reefs are to marine ecosystems.
Changes tracked via skeletal ringsThe researchers sampled porites coral, which can grow over centuries into massive boulders. Porites also lay down annual growth rings, making it possible to compare specific years to water temperature records and other data.
Several potential causes were ruled out by the researchers, among them sewage and other runoff since many samples were originally far from the coast. Disease was also ruled out because the samples were all from corals that had been healthy.
That, they wrote, left "two most likely" factors, both tied to carbon dioxide emissions: warming sea temperatures and more acidic oceans as CO2 raises the pH levels of the seas.
The researchers noted that their findings confirm lab experiments and computer models predicting negative impacts of rising carbon dioxide on corals.
"If temperature and carbonate saturation are responsible for the observed changes, then similar changes are likely to be detected in the growth records from other regions and from other calcifying organisms," they warned.
How fast can coral adapt?Bruno noted that "we will almost certainly see this problem grow over the next few centuries" due to greenhouse gas emissions. "The only questions are by how much, how quickly corals can acclimate to climate change and what the broader impacts will be."
Bleaching has also been tied to warming waters, and adds to the pressure on corals. The Great Barrier Reef saw severe bleaching in 1998 and 2002 — the two hottest summers on record there — and officials warned that the northern end of the reef could see severe bleaching again over the next few months during the Southern Hemisphere's summer.
Bruno warned that while corals are not widely visible their role is critical. "Corals create the physical structure that thousands of other species depend on," he said. "They play a role analogous to trees that create forests. When corals die, so do the fish and invertebrate animals that live on reefs."
© 2008 msnbc.com Reprints

Back in Time...Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea in general gets a bad rap, for its crime and various very harsh issues in the cities like Port Moresby. In general the cruising in Papua New Guinea is like nothing you can experience any other place in the world. When you are a custom to a world of Starbucks, ATM's, on line shopping, SMS, blah blah blah...It is simply amazing to see such insular and primitave living.

Their really are not any cruising guides for this area. You come here and you are on your own. You need to be self sufficient, 100%. Most areas are not even surveyed or charted. Charted areas the GPS Datum's are way off (GPS shows you about two tents of a mile off your actual position!) Daylight navigation in the coastal areas is critical to see the reefs.


As soon as your anchor hits the bottom near the villages you are greeted by dug out canoes. Many just want to have a look - very few yachts come this way. We may be the only big sailboat this year. For some of the children we may be the first white people they have seen. The stares of curiosity are unnerving.Papuan villages are so insular that 750 different dialects are spoken in PNG. Backpacker and traditional tourism is non-existent without any road infra structure. The only way around the country is by boat or by air. In general PNG only gets about 15,000 tourists a year. Mostly coming to trek or dive.

Very few private yachts make the effort to cruise these areas. In a way, I hope it stays this way. Their are not may places in the world where life goes on as it did 1000 years ago. Can you imagine a culture where money has no real value...a place where neighbors live cooperatively, working together to exist off the land and sea. As monetarily and creature comfort deprived as the Papuans are these are some of the most kind, innocent and proudly contented people I have ever come across.

Making the effort to cruise PNG is incredibally rewarding....

The Betel Nut Rage

The first thing that you notice about the people of Papua New Guinea is they all have red mouths. A bit strange at first until you discover the major addiction and favorite past time of incessant Beetle Nut chewing (and spitting). You really have to watch where you walk so you don't step in Betel nut slop or get spit on...

The stimulant combo is Betel Nut, Coral Lime powder and Mustard plant. These are all chewed together and apparently they get a super caffeine like buzz from this! The three ingredients are the most readily available thing in PNG. Every market you will find 70% of the vender spots selling Betel Nut.

The lips teeth and gums are permanently stained and major tooth and general mouth decay takes place. I also heard that some find this look attractive! About 90% of the population from children to invalids chew. I decided to take a pass on this one...did not want to end up looking like this guy...