A letter from Sumatra: 1993-part VIII

During the trip our guides were excellent. They could all speak English, Indonesian and Mentawai. On the last day we went by motor canoe to a deserted island beach – very relaxing. Then as the afternoon gotter later, we all climbed into the canoe and headed for Siberut harbor. About 20 minutes into the voyage, our outboard seized up.

We were about 250 meters from shore and had 1 paddle. Basically no way really of steering the canoe. Fortunately the waves pushed us into land. There was a coral reef which extended about 50 meters out, and our canoe got temporarily grounded. The water was very clear, we could see the coral very well. There were also many of these bright blue spiny creatures, about a foot in diameter on the bottom. Herman told us they were extremely poisonous.

It was about this time when our guide, Anise, started to lose it. All through the trip he was the perfect guide, particularly as nothing went wrong. Now he was faced with a decision concerning the safety of the group. Anise didn’t really give any clear idea of what he planned to do. When we asked what was the standard proceedure, if the boat broke down, he said it never happened before. When we asked if he had a radio, or any way of contacting Siberut harbor, he didn’t. We asked how long would the boat owner wait, until he sent another boat, he said he couldn’t promise anything. He aslo said if we went ashore, he didn’t know the way back through the jungle.

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