Island Monsoon (or: Bria's role as an extra on a Thousand Islands promotional video)

Off the coast of Jakarta are a series of islands that look like they should be anywhere but the coast of Jakarta. Jakarta is a huge city, a megalopolis, with all of the noise, traffic, sewer smells and busy-ness that comes with it. It has one of (the?) largest ports in the country, is the center of government, and is the center of commerce. And 20 minutes to 2 hours off the coast are a series of very small islands, a national park where wild animals run free, each with its own coral reef and white sand beached. These are the Thousand Islands.

This is where I decided to go this weekend. It didn’t really feel like it should be a weekend, after Wednesday and Thursday off. But my thoughts about work are for another post. I decided to take the advice of some of my colleagues, who had gone the first two days of break, and go to the island. I went to Kotok Island, an hour and a half off the coast. I went by myself (something very unusual for Indonesia, a girl traveling by herself. Ah well), as my housemates were content with Jakarta for the weekend.

When I got to the dock, I found that there were some 15 people there, all part of an Indonesian film crew going to do a promotional video about this island. Most unusual, I learned later, was that some of these guys (at least 2 for sure, I think more), had spent anywhere from 5-10 years in America. Their English was as good as my Indonesian, and we had conversations in almost perfect 50/50 Indonesian/ English. One of their fiancés had gone to UW-Madison, where he had visited her. So strange. Another one of the guys told me tales about his cow-tipping days in North Carolina, where he used to wear a cowboy hat and a big belt buckle. Now, this guy is maybe 5’2”, and around 110lbs. The vision of him in a cowboy hat attempting to tip a cow in North Carolina was beautiful. We had a heated debate about whether Garth Brooks was or was not one of the best musicians that has ever lived. We debated in Indonesian.

When I got to the dock, it had started to rain. I thought about turning back, but then decided that I was going to go anyway, because, damn it, it is always raining, and if I wait ‘til it stops raining, I will never go. So we all got into a speed boat and headed off through the rain. As we left the harbor, the rain got harder. Half of the boat was uncovered, and the rain poured in, mixing with the sea water that was pouring in over the sides as we crested increasingly large waves. We would rise up and crash down on the other side. Everyone was soaked. We rode through the rain clouds, and as we can through one, we could see how long you had until the next one came. I have never seen such a rainstorm, and certainly not at sea. I was totally soaked.

By the time we got to the island, half an hour later than originally planned, the rain had let up a bit. It was clear enough to look down into the water as we pulled in, and see the fishes and the coral, 15 feet down. The island was tiny. I found my bungalow, hidden away in the forest, 20 feet from a white sand beach, and then went exploring. The island is part of the national park that covers all of the Thousand Islands. It felt like an over the top stereotype of a tropical forest. Something that Disney would create for you to float around in before your little boat/roller coaster took you over a giant waterfall. There were incredible vines, and flowers. It smelled wonderful. It was possible to walk the width of the island in 5 minutes, and the length in 25.

It turned out the island was a release sight for animals that had been confiscated from Jakarta people who had been raising them as pets. So, there was a large aviary for Brahminy Kites, and kijang (mouse deer) roamed the island. While I did not see any kijang, I did see Monitor Lizards. So many Monitor Lizards. When I took that first walk across the island, I was shocked to see one, maybe 4 feet long, scurry out of my way. It was even tame enough to sit there and watch me as I slowly approached. When I got within three feet, it scuttled off. Monitor lizards look funny when they run. It is a sort of wobbly galumph. Like they are shaking their bum at you. During my time on the island, I saw one lizard who has at least 6 feet long, and another who was about 6 inches. The little was trying to get into the Brahminy Kites' aviary; probably a very bad idea.

The island was almost deserted, and the trees and the dark weather lent to a feeling of desolation. The bungalows were separated from each other, in a very western style, which meant that you could not have seen other people, even if they were there. It rained a lot, at least every couple of hours. There was enough light when you were on the beach, but underneath the canopy it was dark, even in the day time. It made it feel wild, like a place separate from the normal world. Part of this was certainly the stark contrast with the busy, overwhelming world of Jakarta that I have become accustomed to.

I filled my time with swimming, reading, exploring, and playing an extra in the promotional video that the film crew was shooting. I played “westerner having dinner”, “westerner taking a walk”, and “westerner sitting by a fire”. For every shot I was with a hanging out with a different member of the film crew, which will not say much for my propriety once all the shots are strung together. It was good fun. I also tagged along when they went to a couple of the different islands, to take more footage. Most of them were in shock that I could consider traveling by myself, or that I was brave enough to sleep in a cabin in the woods, all by myself. Scandalous!

I was there from 10 am Saturday until 4pm Sunday. The combination of incredible beauty, darkness, wind, and rain created an interesting lasting impression. One’s impression of a tropical island is stereotypically sunny. It was interesting to see the rain on the water, in the forest, and on the white sand beaches. But now I am back in Jakarta, and back to another real week of work. One of these days, I’ll write about that.