Atauro Island lies about 30km from Dili north across the Weter Strait which you can reach by a Saturday round trip ferry (US$5 each way) or, like we did, by charted fishing boat.
View of Atauro Island from the shore in Dili
Back in the late 16th century colonial times the Portuguese used Atauro as a jail, as did the Indonesians during the 1980s. Despite having an underground prison I have no doubts it would’ve been a harsh place to be given how hot the island gets.
Aussie Tony (named Tony 1 so as not to confuse), Italian Massimo (who came out with some gem quotes over the time we were there), Spanish Blanka and I paid US$5 each to travel with the Brazlian Island Priest, 3 other locals and 3 crew on a small Piroga–style (Polynesian with bamboo shoots on the side) fishing boat. I said to Massimo it was interesting his Spanish partner had been named after the green animal in Streetfighter but he said no it meant white and you spell Blanca with a ‘c’. No Blanka/ca jokes please.
Loading up to go
We figured with the ferry going at 9am that if we set off around the same time it’d be fine. Wrong. Fishing boats leave earlier as the sea gets pretty choppy.
Waves indicative of what was to come
Fortunately for Tony 1 and I, we were sitting behind Blanka and Massimo so didn’t get quite as wet as them. At one point Massimo turned around and had me laughing for a while. His eyes were red from a mix of constant salty waves splashing him and sunscreen running off his forehead. He said to me, “Are you wet?” but before I could answer he pointed at Tony 1 and said “Look at him! Not wet at all!”. Slightly juvenile I know but I found those guys getting smashed by the waves and wind while they shaded us from them highly amusing.
Blanka and Massimo slightly wetter than Tony 1 and I
I have some video clips of this but will upload at some point.
Karma got me in the end though as I didn’t manage to cover my point and shoot camera well enough and it went into early retirement. This is shithouse as it meant I was unable to capture any of the snorkelling and won’t be able to if I get to do anymore.
We landed 3 hours later to a somewhat isolated beach and felt like Tom Hanks in Castaway.
Desolate beach
Before seeking out the Eco Lodge accommodation Blanka and Massimo had seen a local fisherman in need and headed over to help out. Massimo, being Italian, sported a pair of budgie smugglers.
Massimo in his budgie smugglers pulling the boat with Blanka and the owner
They thought the boat was beached and the fisherman wanted to go out to sea but in fact it was quite the opposite — he wanted to bring it ashore! We all got stuck in and even had to dig out the mass of silt that had built up in the bottom of the boat.
Dragging the boat ashore
Digging out the slit
On the walk up to the Eco Lodge we passed kids happily working, large mangroves and lonely trees on the beach.
Local kid with a small machete
Mangroves
Lonely tree
I have to say I really did like the Eco Lodge. At a negotiated down US$20/person/night including all meals, you get a beachside hut with mozzie nets, a friendly owner in Duarte and use of the innovative fly–free ‘composting toilet’ and ‘dipper method’ (bucket) shower. A great way of minimising use of water and flies that can form around composts.
Our beach hut
We had a lazy arvo rounded off with Tony 1 and I heading out for a snorkel on the reef just off the beach. We are both not the most experienced snorkelers so we headed out with Darwin–based veteran snorkelers Terry and John who, oddly enough, I couldn’t really tell the difference between.
We swam no more than 2 minutes out before Tony 1 raised the alarm saying he’d seen a snake. Terry shrugged it off as a sea slug but Tony 1 called it quits anyway. I continued out to where the waves were breaking and saw some beautiful bright blue and stripey fish, orange starfish and large reef less than half a metre below me. Damn my point and shoot being put out of action. Sorry everyone.
We got some more quality Massimo quotes over dinner. He is headed to Darwin with Blanka and they are interested in crab catching. Blanka, in her Spanish accent, kept saying she was going to catch ‘craps’ which we told them you normally play in a casino. Massimo got confused and asked if we can say “Shall we make a crap?”. No Massimo, we won’t be making a crap.
As if that wasn’t enough, I rounded off the evening treading on John’s (or Terry’s) hand with all my weight on the way back to the table. You could hear his fingers crack.
Beach fire Tony 1 set up
Next day Tony 1 and I had arranged for local guide Sebastian to take us to the highest peak on Atauro, Mt Manucoco. At 995m how hard could it be?
Things didn’t start well. We exited our hut to find Tony 1′s one week old white and neon green Nike runners had been lifted overnight. Not happy Jan. Agreed it was not necessarily a smart move leaving them out of sight on the veranda all night but anyway some local is looking the business around town right now.
Local kids walking the lonely 6km of sealed road on the island to school
Tony 1 borrowed Massimo’s 3–sizes too big sandals that he bought for US$5 in Singapore and off we went.
The steepness started early
Things started as they were destined to go on — steeply. The mountain seemed to be one hilly ridge after the next with gradients regularly hitting or exceeding 45 degrees. The landscape was dry, there was next to no wind and the heat was intense with very little shade. We saw Tamarind and Aso nut (taste like Almonds) trees, one lazy goat representing the animal kingdom and a fragrant section of Eucalyptus.
The more exotic sightings included a Haepian tree, a Nanas red flower, a yellow spider and golden Bull Ant.
Haepian tree
Nanas red flower
Yellow spider
Golden Bull Ant
The views were pretty nice but increasingly we had to stop and take 5. By the time we’d climbed 700-800 metres to Mt Harolau (transliterated from the guide since I couldn’t locate it on a map) we called it a day. Water was low and we were pretty well stuffed.
Tony 1 and I on Mt Harolau
Sebastian on the other hand hadn’t even broken a sweat and he even hiked in thongs. He’d done it before clearly.
Sebastian hadn't even broken a sweat AND he hiked in thongs
The only thing was that 3 hours up meant a similar period of time going down and it wasn’t getting any cooler or shadier. The views across the island were still good though.
Panoramic view from mountain
On the way down we passed a local water pump where people shower and another one where people were working.
Tony 1 cools off
Working father and daughter
Interesting to see Solar power being used on the island. An excellent sustainable idea.
Panoramic view in the forest (Solar panel bottom centre)
We got within 25 minutes of the village on the coast when we took 5 and the dehydration hit me hard. We’d taken 5 litres of water with us and drunk it regularly but somehow it wasn’t enough. It’s obvious to say this but you should really avoid dehydration at all costs as it is not nice. 15 minutes of water and banana intake, and Sebastian and Tony 1 helping me out, I was ok but it wasn’t the best experience.
Back at the Eco Lodge Blanka came over sunburnt after the snorkelling trip saying she’d worked out why things had gone so badly the last few days. The next day was Black Moon Day and she said things happen badly around those times. Perhaps superstitious but I’ll take it.
The trip wouldn’t have been the same without finishing off with a couple of Massimo quotes. He found a leaflet on celibacy in the dining area and asked us what it meant in Australia. We said it was not having sex to which he said in Italy it means not getting married. That would figure. He also said on the subject of having kids (he’s 45, Blanka’s 40) that living in Morocco he’d consider adopting. He said if you see a garden full of trees that are dying from lack of water would you plant a new one or rescue the old ones? Interesting analogy.
Massimo's thongs from scraps creation
We got a fishing boat back to Dili for US$10 at the ‘normal’ time of 3.30am. The only cool things about going at this time, aside from the calm sea, are that the plankton beneath the boat make it look like you have a trail of electric sparks behind you and if you’re really lucky like us, you will see Dolphins jumping out of the water in front of the boat. A special moment.
Next up is more from Dili.
Official Are You German? count: 1
Route map:
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