Sur les terres oubliées des Petites Iles de la Sonde
Sur les terres oubliées des Petites Iles de la Sonde
Indonesia: Iris Foundation Expedition to Forgotten Lands
EPISODE 1
WHERE WE SEE THE DEPARTURE OF THE EXPEDITION DELAYED BY A TYPHON AND THE EXPLOSION OF A VOLCANO
July 10, 2015
Departure tomorrow morning for Bali via Hong Kong for Jean-Marie leader of the expedition, Françoise biologist, Jacques photographer, Isabelle journalist editor, Christophe drone pilot assigned to aerial shots and Jonathan assistant cameraman. Thomas, a bamboo botanist, naturalist designer Agathe and Ethan, the youngest of the expedition, are leaving this evening via Shanghai. The entire team will meet in Bali for a short overnight stop as a prelude to our month-long boat trip in the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia.
Expedition members
Agus and Jean-Marie Hullot , leader of the expedition
and co-president of the Iris Foundation
Francoise Brenckmann, biologist
and co-president of the Iris Foundation
Isabelle Bravo, Writer
Christophe Gruault , aerial photographer drone pilot
Thomas Haevermans , botanist and lecturer at the National Museum of Natural History
Agathe Haevermans , scientific illustrator and naturalist at the National Museum of Natural History
Jonathan Hulot, student and assistant cameraman
Ethan Haevermans, schoolboy and moss
It is already 9 o'clock in the evening, the bags are packed, Thomas is on his way to Roissy with Agathe and Ethan. One last look at the internet news before falling asleep. Damned ...
A volcano has just woken up on the island of Java and clouds of ash are blown by the wind on Denpasar airport in Bali causing it to close!
Phone call to Thomas to see where they are. They have just learned that their flight will not leave this evening, not because of the closure of the Bali airport ... but because a violent typhoon “Chan-Hom” is approaching the airport of Bali. Shanghai!
Well say, what a start!
July 11-12, 2015
Our flight to Hong Kong is maintained, however no guarantee that the connection to Bali will be assured. It will depend on the wind. For the moment, Denpasar Airport in Bali is still closed. As for Thomas, Agathe and Ethan, they are still stranded at Roissy, Shanghai airport also being closed due to the typhoon.
With finally only two hours late, we learn when arriving in Hong Kong that the tide has turned and we fly to Bali. Hooray !!! A text message from Thomas informs us that they are on their way to Shanghai.
We arrive in Bali in the evening, Thomas and the others will arrive around 1:30 am.
Stopover in Bali
July 13, 2015
The flight to Bima on the island of Sumbawa is made in two groups because the plane is overbooked following the problems related to the volcano. Agathe, Thomas, Ethan, Jonathan, Christophe are the first to leave in the morning. Jean-Marie, Jacques, Isabelle and Françoise take the second flight at noon.
Our guide awaits us with two taxis, we take the road to Lamere where our boat awaits us.
The ecological awareness of Indonesians is quite low and illegal dumping abounds on the road between Bima and Lamere on Sumbawa Island.
Traditional wooden stilt houses are gradually being replaced by concrete or brick houses. The population seems young and the villages are spread out along the roads, but the human density is reasonable since a campaign in the Sixties for an ideal family with two children.
Rice fields, Sumbawa
Traditional village of Maria, Sumbawa
On the hills climbs a semi-deciduous forest which begins to lose its leaves. Most of the rice fields are no longer in water and are used, at this time, for the culture of the pink shallot. Watering is done by hand with half-moon metal watering cans carried on hoists. The irrigation canals widen in places to allow watering cans to tap into them.
Our boat for a month, the "Royal Fortuna"
The crew members
