Thursday 6 August 2015

Back on the grid. After a month lost in the ether hundreds of junk entries descended on the computer with a resounding thud plus about 20 worth looking at and nothing important. Apparently after 6 1/2 years at sea, the only people who really care are sellers of illicit merchandise, purveyors of naughty pictures or thoughtful people who only want to warn about bad things that may happen if they don't receive certain information. Of course, because no one wants trouble, that information would immediately be sent on... if only I could remember the passwords. Surprisingly the 3G network in Indonesia is quite good except that not one of 6 unlocked dongles or either iPad would work with the sim. Finally got an old Blackberry tethered as a hotspot (never tried it before) and Bob's your uncle.

Banda Neira (or Naira) is great fun. These are THE Spice Islands. This is where the nutmeg and cloves come from.. all of them.. almost all.. originally did. The Dutch took the islands from the Portuguese on pretty flimsy grounds and the English were mucking about there somewhere as well. Anyway, they didn't play well with the natives and killed most of them to bring in slaves from Java for working the spice plantations, a very lucrative business at the time. The Dutch East India Company (VOC, supported by the Netherlands, but mostly autonomous and generally out of control (it could wage war, execute whoever it wanted, negotiate treaties, strike its own coins, and establish colonies)) made pant-loads of money for nearly 2 hundred years then went bankrupt. Apparently with so much money sloshing about it got hard to find honest, reliable help.

We've been thoroughly enjoying ourselves with breakfast (the real thing with eggs, toast, fruit and coffee - no bacon), excellent local food, tours, screwing around and making lots of new acquaintances. The local beer, Bintang and the only alcohol available here, is really awfully good even to someone who can take beer or leave it alone - it's a pilsner without the harsh carbonation of most American brews (there are actually, believe it or not, people who like Budweiser - Fitz???). Some folks have made the grueling, steep climb up the local volcano where there is no view. They have battle scars to prove it. We have avoided such foolishness. We go diving tomorrow on a lava flow.

Jack