The Banda Archipelago: Snaps from the islands

[IrfanK]

I've finally managed to get out of the big city, for the first time since early 2020. I was beginning to realize that my weird affection for Jakarta is premised on the basis that I can get out of the city often, so I decided to head off to the Banda archipelago, a very remote group of islands reachable only by irregular cargo boats that run a few times a month and take 12 hours from the nearest large port, in the undeveloped Eastern region of Indonesia, where Asia meets Melanesia. A completely different culture here, more boisterous and rowdy, less deferential, much darker skin colors.

These are the islands where ALL of the world's nutmeg came from for hundreds, perhaps a thousand, years, until the Dutch decided that it was too much trouble dealing with the local traders, so it would be better just to send in a military expedition to exterminate the population and seize their plantations. Amitav Ghosh has just released a book on this, The Nutmeg's Curse, which I picked up on the day it was released to take with me.

Unlike most small islands here, which are flat and with poor soil, these islands are incredibly rich, rich volcanic soil, thick forests, small populations, very healthy coral reefs. Their big issue is that they can't really sell what they produce because they are so isolated, so you hear stories of tuna that would go for a thousand dollars a kilo in Tokyo being sold at the local market for a few dollars.
Here's some snaps:

 

[IrfanK]

Here's a few more: