Vagabonding : 2009 June |

Whale Hunting?

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In helpless horror I watched water pour over the sides into our precariously leaning boat while the giant bamboo sail whipped and cracked overhead.

Men were shouting orders and bailing bloody water out as quickly as they could with small buckets and without being told, I jumped from my seat and moved to sit on the opposite edge of the boat, hoping to balance the weight before we flipped. It was all I could do to hold on as the sea pitched and rolled, having its way with our little boat.

The shoreline was just a faint line in the hazy distance, and considering that there was absolutely no safety equipment on board our little hunting boat, it was going to be one hell of a swim in a rough sea if we finished capsizing.

It most likely would not be survivable. As in many times before, I wondered how in the world I get myself into these situations and by the end of my short prayer to a gray, cloudy sky, our boat was starting to right itself again.

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Posted in Indonesia |

Life in Adonara

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A screaming monkey came berserking out of nowhere while I was having dinner outside with Lina’s extended family last night.

It jumped on top of one of her aunts who spun around madly trying to get it off without getting bitten. Everyone else ran for their lives as the evil little bastard climbed up the support beams and scanned around for its next victim. When it got within a few meters, I stood up where I was eating and picked up a big piece of nearby wood to club the damn thing but one of the men put his hand up to stop me. I thought the monkey had come out of the forest, but it turns out the monster was the pet of a family member and had chewed its way through the safety rope, now it was out for revenge for having been tied up.

Welcome to my daily life.

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Posted in Uncategorized |

The Final Exam

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Within minutes of arriving, an old man was leading me by the hand up the steep mountain path.

I walked out of the dark into the large, open air communal area lit by a generator and a few swinging lights. Inside, the mother of all vagabonding challenges was awaiting me. Three years of travel have prepared me for this moment - this final exam of which I knew would be stressful but I was determined to pass……

I pretty much walked into an ambush.
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