" a day of thorough enjoyment"

"This has been a day of thorough enjoyment. I have wandered in the forests of an island rarely seen by Europeans. Before daybreak we left our anchorage, and in an hour reached the village of Har, where we were to stay three or four days. The range of hills here receded so as to form a small bay, backed by a mass of coconut palms, among which the huts were concealed, and surmounted by a dense and varied growth of timber. Canoes and boats of various sizes were drawn up on the beach, and one or two idlers, with a few children and a dog, gazed at our prau as we came to an anchor."

~ Alfred Russel Wallace. Kai - January 1st, 1857

Last night we decided to just sleep on the beach after such a thoroughly enjoyable day. My Indonesian has gotten decent and chatting with a local family they arranged to bring us dinner. As the sun set we played in the shallow waters with the local kids who couldn?t get enough of us. Guenther launched the boys in soaring cannonballs and Stevie intrigued all the little girls with her pretty looks. While we were playing, a group of young men in a dugout canoe came in from a day of spear fishing on the reef. We went to investigate their catch - beautiful multicolored reef fish, spiny lobsters, and clams with wild pearls. The fish don?t get any fresher and before you know it we had picked up a polka dot yellow and black beauty straight from the reef. The husband of the local family soon made a fire from coconut husks and grilled the whole fish over the coals right there for us. With mie goreng and rice it was a delicious meal. Salty and satisfied we washed it all down with local palm wine, called tuak.

After eating I walked the beach under the light of a bright full moon. Walking in the moonlight under the palms was intoxicating. Everything about this place feels magical, down to the ghostly shadows of fruit bats drifting over the palms sihoutted by the full moon. It feels like the edge of the world - here be dragons.