playing with the whale sharks of Dompu

Sumbawa the island offers a lot for the hardy tourists, if people can get over the distance and the inconvenience in getting there. But nature in its unspoilt glory can offer lots of rewards. Think of surfing, volcano trekking and traditional horse racing. Now, let me add, playing with whale sharks.


boats in Pulao Bajo
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/3200s, f/5.6, 160mm, ISO 400


The place is Pulau Bajo, one of the numerous islands dotting the northern central coast of Dompu. Vegetation, much less agriculture, is scarce in the island. It is just like a big outcrop of dusty brown sand and boulder crags. Nothing much is green there during summer except for the tracts of mangrove at its coast. What it does have are three villages and where there are people, the introduction of seaweed mariculture was not difficult. Of late, the island has done significant progress in seaweed farm development hence the visit.


Pulao Bajo women seaweed farmers
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/320s, f/5.6, 255mm, ISO 100


So there we were in a boat, checking out the seaweed growth, when suddenly we were stalked by some big fish. It was large, at least 25 feet long, and it has a dorsal fin that stuck out like that of a shark.


the profile of the “big fish” in Pulau Bajo, Dompu, Sumbawa Island
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/800s, f/5.6, 300mm, ISO 100


Instinctively, we got alarmed. The boat driver, a resident of the island, said something in the local Mbojo (Bima) language. Lost in translation, the lady in our group got panicky as the giant fish ringed our boat in concentric circles, getting closer and closer. The driver was smiling so I took this as a good sign. It obviously was not his first encounter. Finally, the fish made a pass under our boat. Beneath us, it looked dark and looming. Our outrigger boat was only 8 feet long and the “monster” was three times bigger. We clearly were overmatched.


the approaching giant
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/400s, f/4.5, 75mm, ISO 100


Playing with us, it went away for awhile but came back suddenly. It approached the boat purposely. When it was 10 feet away from us, it opened its mouth and everybody yelped. Then it became obvious to me. This was a whale shark. Its huge mouth was flat, round, probably about 3 feet wide and was in front of its head. In contrast, sharks have mouths at the underside of their head. The sharp scary teeth which make the shark’s jaw famous were missing. Whale sharks are filter feeders which eat planktons for food. We could see distinctive white spots covering its thick gray shiny body. But it was so big that its presence overwhelmed us.


the gaping mouth of the whale shark
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/800s, f/4.5, 135mm, ISO 100


With all the excitement, I still tried to take photographs of this wonderful creature. Too bad I could not get a higher elevation point to take a long shot. An underwater picture would have been nice but that was no option either. My photos clearly could not do justice.

We quizzed the driver and he said that they are fairly common in the island. People mostly leave them alone although others said that the meat can be palatable. He assured us that the locals consider them mostly as friends and leave them generally unharmed. Whale sharks are obviously extremely social and would toy with any boat in their search for company.

Clearly, in this tiny island in Dompu sits an untapped attraction. Ecotourism could not be any better than guaranteed close encounters with these gentle giants. I would be hard-pressed in describing the experience. Amazing becomes an understatement.


the Pulao Bajo seaweed farms, Dompu, Sumbawa Island, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1600s, f/5.6, 55mm, ISO 100

getting there

From Bima, Dompu is about 2.5 hours by private car, about 3.5 hours if by public bus. Turn north at Manggelewa district and ask directions for the small local dock for the islet of Pulau Bajo. The island can be covered in 1.5 hours. Boat rental varies from 15 to 30USD.

the horse races of Bima, part 1

In an island as remote as Sumbawa, life is simple by demand and by nature. Despite the inescapable reach of communication networks and the media, the pace is drastically slower than the popular Indonesian cities like Bali. Neighbors know each other and children play freely everywhere- the river, the hills and the road. Domesticated animals appear to be without reins, with goats, cattle and horses wandering into homes, market places and the highway.


the Pemakaman Kesultanan Bima (the Sultans graves) is a popular sunrise promenade with a view of the rolling hills of Bima
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/50s, f/4.5, 80mm, ISO 100, +1EV


Disinteresting is a term that is sometimes easily and cruelly attributed to the island. The Dutch considered Sumbawa as low in the priority chain and shelved expansion plans until the early 20th century. Certainly, Dutch influence is not as marked as in the western islands of Java and Sumatra. Strangely, even the official website of the Indonesian embassy in Manila was blunt in categorizing the 7 hour bus ride of Sumbawa from end to end as as “relatively boring”, probably in the context of the famous islands sandwiching Sumbawa- Lombok and the komodo dragon-infested islets of Flores.


Red onions, like the ones seen harvested in Bima above, are a major vegetable crop of Sumbawa. In Bali, bawang merah Sumbawa is considered the premium variety, second only to the imported Philippine red onions.
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/2000s, f/5,6, 160mm, ISO 100, -1/3EV


Unsurprisingly, people would be hard-pressed to cite major draws for tourists to visit Sumbawa. Surfing, the ready answer for most, beckons only the more hardened of visitors as curls are really out of the way of other enticements like organized shopping or vigorous nightlife strips. Perhaps another major Sumbawa attraction would be the national park island of Moyo. It has the highly exclusive Amanwana but even the five star Aman chain advertises the 20-tent resort as a gem of the eastern Indonesian isles, hardly identifying it as a Sumbawa destination. Given the generally low traffic, other luxury accommodations are practically non-existent.


In Pulau Bajo, Dompu, seaweed farms are located in the waters that are the breeding ground of spotted whale sharks. A giant whale played with our boat, repeatedly crossing in front of us and dipping below our boat.
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1000s, f/4.5, 75mm, ISO 100


Sumbawa is a red dustbowl during summer, especially in the rugged almost bald mountains which comprise more than 80% of its land area of more than 15,000 square kilometers. The valleys however are fertile and take a verdant turn during rainy season. The island is long, extending about 280 kilometers from east to west. Majority of the coastline is rocky but there are stretches of sandy beaches as well.


The palace of the former sultan of Bima is a point of interest in Bima.
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/500s, f/3.5, 18mm, ISO 100


An island this wide predisposes itself to a diverse culture and indeed, Sumbawa is divided into two main ethnic divide: the Tua Samawa (Orang Sumbawa) and Dou Mbojo (Orang Bima). In language, culture and geography, the Samawas and the Mbojos are distinct and are former rival sultanates separated by the usual west-east divide. The Samawas populate most of Sumbawa BESAR and Bima and Sumbawa Barat, while the Mbojos are the natives of Bima and the eastern central municipality of Dompu.


The horse race of native Bima horses held every Sunday at a dedicated arena in Panda, Bima, is a popular past time among Bima menfolk. Jockeys are children, from 9 to 12 years old.
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/640s, f/5.0, 18mm, ISO 100


Having found myself in a road trip to Sumbawa Barat and Sumbawa Besar in August, I was able to complete the intra-island visit in October when I covered Bima and Dompu. As far as the flight schedules from Bali dictate, I could not go to Bima without staying overnight. I got there Saturday noon and left at about the same time Sunday. In between I was able to finish my seaweed tours of duty in Dompu (with our boat getting played on by a whale shark in the process), visited the Mbojo sultanate palace and graveyards and as an added bonus, witnessed a traditional horse race featuring native Bima horses driven by children (!) jockeys.

in part 2: the Pacuan Kuda (horse race)

Photographing mosques in Bima

part 3 of continuing series in photographing mosques
part 1: Tawi-Tawi, the Philippines
part 2: Asia and Africa

Lying in the West Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia, Bima is in the eastern seaboard of the island of Sumbawa. Arid and almost looking red during summer, Bima is not much of a happening place. Once the domain of the sultanate of the same name, it is out of commercialized tourism’s way, save for perhaps the heady surfer dreaming of catching the waves in its almost famous if not empty surf breaks. Even then, these beach destinations are not in Bima but in the neighboring regency of Dompu.

Bima does have a reputation of Muslim religiosity, not of militancy but of conservatism. I had some spare time in my short visit in this town and took the opportunity to photograph three of its mosques.

Masjid Uswatun Hasanah

As in any downtown mosques in Indonesia, this one is right at the roadside, cutting any possible angle. I decided to shoot the minaret at a widest angle of my 18-55mm kit lens. There’s the ubiquitous electric line but the trees still managed to frame the tower amidst the heavy cumulus clouds.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/800s, f/4.0, 18mm, ISO 100


To add more interest, I waited for a horse-drawn cart or cedomo to pass by. It was early in the morning and there was little traffic. The road was too narrow and cedomo came too close for comfort but I still got the shot.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/400s, f/4.0, 18mm, ISO 100


Masjid Sultan Muhammad Salahuddin

This mosque is dedicated to sultanate of Bima and appears to be one of the largest in town. I repeated the same horse cart-framing in the former sultan’s mosque. The facade looks aseptic and it needed some life.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/400s, f/5.0, 18mm, ISO 100


Masjid Nurul Yasin

The mosque was photogenically colorful, in cream and green. Too bad that the building was being renovated. A scaffolding was covering the facade. The power cables were alslo all over the place. The only plausible I got was to crouch low and shoot up. The triangular framing emphasizes the wide angle and still played up the beautiful colors. Not the best but you’ve got to learn to work with the elements.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/400s, f/5.0, 18mm, ISO 100, +2/3EV

the many faces of Rinjani, part 1

Life should not be spent looking back at the what-ifs and what-might-have-beens. I admit though that there are occasions when I cannot help but reminisce at all the places I’ve visited through the looking glass of photography and I could only let out a sigh. I could not kick my shin any harder than when thinking of the time that I lived in Lombok.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 2.50s, f/20, 18mm, ISO 100, +1/3EV
From Gili Trawangan in the west, the Rinjani volcano doesn’t stand out in a solitary grandeur as it is flanked by a compound mountain range.


In short periods between 1993 to 1995, I was a constant albeit transient resident of this island east of Bali. For more than a week at a time I lived in Selong, a real nothing-is-happening town in Lombok Timor (East Lombok). There was practically little to do there except work, eat and sleep. On weekends, we sometimes went to the island’s nothing-much-too-is-happening capital of Mataram, or perhaps strayed to its then only leisure destination, Senggigi. If I were lucky, I could orbit back to the much livelier Bali, or even Surabaya and often, I planned my darn best to find some important chore to do so. But really, most of my time would in the stupor-inducing Selong, or another silent town called Tanjung Luar and the desolate but gorgeous beaches of Serewe, Sumerang or Kaliantan.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 2.50s, f/5.6, 54mm, ISO 100
Its western face is also interrupted by the caldera of Segara Anak.


Imagine what I would have done had I taken up photography. Oops, digital photography was still in its incipient stage in the early 90s so the only choice would have been film. Thinking about it, I can assure myself now that no, film photography was not a viable hobby for I definitely could not afford an SLR camera (I only had an instamatic), suffer the development costs of film, nor wait for the long lag between clicking the shutter and seeing the prints. My impatience is not tailor-fit for the delayed gratification of film photography.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 8.00s, f/16, 55mm, ISO 100, +1EV
Rinjani takes a more pronounced conical silhouette when viewed from the east.


Still, what if I had the chance to engage in photography? What if I had the luxury of wielding a manual camera as I do now? Then number one in my list of what I would have been shooting in Lombok is Gunung Rinjani.

Rising 3,726 metres from sea level, Rinjani is the tallest peak in Indonesia save for Gunung Kerinci in Sumatra. Rinjani looms large and Lombok lives under its shadow and on occasion, its fury for the volcano is quite active.

aside from
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 4.00s, f/18, 55mm, ISO 100, +1/3EV
Rinjani rises more dramatic especially from the flatter hills of Sumbawa.


The mountain-climbing bug has never bitten me but definitely, had I have the disposal of a good camera, I would have explored its foothills, checked out the Sasak villages in the lowlands and perhaps dared further upwards as far as the car could take.

So today, I find myself playing catch-up. In recent months, I was fortunate to have gone back to Lombok and further east, to the island of Sumbawa. Let me share then my photographic takes of this sublime peak. Being tardy has some rewards.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 10.00s, f/10, 18mm, ISO 100
During sunrise at Gili Trawangan in the northwest of Lombok, the beauty of Rinjani can be ethereal.

The salt farms of Bima

Salt making is a traditional enterprise in many cultures. Using the powerful heat of the sun, seawater is evaporated and concentrated until rock crystals are formed. Sea salt “farms” were fairly common when I was growing up in the 80s but modernity brings in the convenience of imported salt (especially Indian salt) that comes out cheaper. I would be hardpressed to find sea salt ponds in Cebu.

In my frequent travels, particularly in Indonesia, I still see that this saltpanning tradition is still strong. In Java, the biggest salt tracts are in Madura island.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/500s, f/8.0, 55mm, ISO 100
salt ponds, Madura island, East Java, Indonesia

Whenever I am in a plane I always watch with curiosity these salt ponds and they are all over the country. Most recently, just this last week, I flew to Bima in the island of Sumbawa and finally found the spare time to visit thriving salt ponds.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1000s, f/5.6, 55mm, ISO 200


Bima, the capital city of Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB) province, is hot and salt farms dot the landscape at the bay, just where the airport is. The principle is well, simple. During the hot season, sea water is introduced into the plains by opening dikes during high tide.



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1000s, f/8.0, 18mm, ISO 100


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/800s, f/8.0, 47mm, ISO 100


The salt water is fed into evaporation ponds made of compacted soil and separated by levees. Water can only take in so much salt so upon continued evaporation, it breaches “saturation point” which technically means that the solubility limit is reached. Salting out then begins. In saturated brine, salt would remain solid and would be panned in mounds and harvested. During the dry season, salt is collected at least once a week and could yield 2 tons per hectare.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1250s, f/5.6, 300mm, ISO 100


The salt ponds are typically maintained independently, some by cooperatives but often run, by families. In one pond just a few hundred meters from the airport, we chanced upon a man being assisted by his daughter who could be no more than 10 years old. It was Sunday so school was off. All throughout the time that I was around, she seemed to be thoroughly into her chores. Collecting salt cannot be all fun, especially under the heat of the biting sun, but she balanced the salt she collected on her head confidently, prancing barefoot across the pond, as if it were the most natural thing to enjoy.

Helping out the family never falls out of favor.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1250s, f/5.6, 180mm, ISO 200



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/2500s, f/5.6, 155mm, ISO 200

Sumbawa: sprinting through volcanoes and dowry parades

I examined the map and squinted. "We can do Lombok to Sumbawa Besar by car in one day, you say?" My tone was incredulous but my friends avered that, yes, it can be done. Their math seemed to check out: 2 hours from Mataram to Labuhan Lombok, plus 2 hours ferry crossing, then 2 hours to Sumbawa Besar. Doubled the 6 hours for the trip way back and added some allowance and begrudgingly, I admitted that on paper it can be done.

The day did not start as early as we would have wished. There was some miscommunication and our transportation pickup from Teluk Kodek in Northwest Lombok was late. Another delay by our car rental at Mataram meant we only were able to leave the capital at 9AM.

Fortunately, roads in Lombok already are fully paved. East Lombok hiways are still mostly narrow but there were no potholes which were aplenty way back in the early 90s. However, it already was 11:30 when we turned by the circular bay of Labuhan Lombok, not 11AM as we would have desired. To our consternation, we missed the ferry by 5 minutes at the port of Kayangan. Ferry turnover was unexpected slow and it was not until 12 noon that we were able to load the car inside the ferry.

In the map, Selat Alas, or the Alas Strait in English, looks quite narrow but the ferry is not exactly the fastest moving boat either. We entered the bay of West Sumbawa in a little more than an hour but we had to wait for an empty berth at the port of Poto Tano so it wasn’t until 1:30 that we finally were on dry land again.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/100s, f/5.0, 150mm, ISO 100
one of several small islands across Poto Tano, West Sumbawa, Sumbawa Island, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia


Nothing touristy is in Sumbawa save for perhaps the pristine world-class surf breaks in the regencies of Bima and Dompu which only the most avid surfers seek and the volcano park of Tambora.

Tambora, if you don’t know, is the volcano which produced the most violent explosion in modern history when in 1815, expelling enough ash into the atmosphere that produce a "year without a summer" in North America and Europe, resulting to the worst famine of the 19th century and killing >70,000 people.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/3200s, f/4.0, 75mm, ISO 100
a chain of small islands around Poto Tano, West Sumbawa, Sumbawa Island, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia


The fantastic eruption consequently wiped away the entire vegetation of Sumbawa which still is bald and scorched to this day. The entire island is as dry as you can get. The rugged sandy terrain of East Lombok is nothing compared to the arid desert-like earth of Sumbawa peninsula. This entire 15,500 sq km island, one of Indonesia’s largest stretching from West Sumbawa through Sumbawa Besar and Dompu in the central region up to Bima in the east, is notorious for being a brown dust bowl during hot season – and August is summer.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1600s, f/5.0, 160mm, ISO 100
typical topography of Sumbawa during summertime, Poto Tano, West Sumbawa, Sumbawa Island, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia

Along the coast, there were hardly any major thickets of green forest. The highways are curiously lined by kapok and other trees that are strange-looking to me, leafless and almost lifeless. I remember that this is eastern part of Indonesia where flora and fauna are no longer Asian but Australian in character. (Read more on the famous Wallace_line.)


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1000s, f/5.6, 55mm, ISO 400
leafless trees are a feature in Sumbawa Besar, Sumbawa Island, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia


Time went fast. We tried to cover the some 80km distance from Poto Tano to Sumbawa Besar but the best we could do was 2.5 hours, including a pit stop at Utan, West Sumbawa, for a quick lunch and a tire change.

By 4PM, we already were in quandary. We just arrived in Sumbawa Besar and by my estimation, we still are some 100km away from Kwangko, the nearest seaweed farm eastward. We pushed our luck. Some 30 minutes of driving could only get us as far as Moyo. It was 4:30PM. Even if we could get to Kwangko in an 1.5 hours, it would already be too dark to see any seaweed and too dangerous to get into any boat.

Having traveled 7.5 hours, we called off the trip and turned back. One thing became obvious, a Lombok-Dompu-Lombok road trip cannot be done in 15 hours. At least 18 hours is needed. The best itinerary to visit the seaweed farms in Sumbawa Besar and Dompu was the one we originally made: fly to Bima and work our way westward through Dompu and then Sumbawa Besar. However, Bima, being not a popular destination in Nusa Tenggara Barat (West Central Islands) gives to fickle flight schedules and the bookings we had the previous week were canceled arbitrarily.

Failure can easily turn to frustration but we merely shrugged it off. No, we laughed it off. Sure we grossly underestimated the distance but the road trip was fun. Sumbawa, the mercilessly hot land, is not like any Indonesian island I have visited and curiosity was sated. Too bad that in our vain drive to get to our destination we could not make more stops.

The sights in Sumbawa were unique. In Sumbawa Besar alone, I witnessed not one but two dowry parades, an age-old Muslim practice that is disappearing elsewhere in secular Indonesia. Apparently in Sumbawa, dowry parades are still the norm. They are given by the groom to the bride’s family in recognition for the loss of a daughter, as payment for the wedding cost, or as giveaway property to the new couple. The motorcades I saw featured curious bulky material properties being brandished atop pickup and trucks. I saw mattresses, cavans of food, traditional offerings of bamboo and sugar cane and large pieces of furniture like the cabinet below. Obviously, proud are the groom’s families who could afford to display these luxurious gifts.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/800s, f/1.8, 50mm, ISO 100, +4/3 EV
a dowry caravan in Sumbawa Besar, Sumbawa Island, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia


Our trip back to Lombok was no less animated. Company became more enjoyable. Perhaps fun can be the domain of the frustrated. We were on the road at Utan when the sky turned red on us. Unfortunately, while we were traveling west, Sumbawa’s rugged terrain was blocking the sun. Nevertheless, a missing sun would not preclude me from enjoying the golden hour. The sky was a remarkable hue of pink – Sumbawa is definitely not industrial – so pollution was entirely absent. I took a few shots of rustic Utan, nothing fancy really, just some cows lazing by and women going home.



Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/125s, f/5.6, 300mm, ISO 400
a rural scene during sundown at Utan, Sumbawa Besar, Sumbawa Island, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia


When we got turned around a bay in the district of Alas, we came upon the majestic silhouette of Rinjani, Indonesia’s highest mountain outside of Irian Jaya. When all things go sour, somehow, nature’s sublime beauty could still manage to warm the weary soul, or in my case, entertain me and my lens.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 8.00s, f/16, 55mm, ISO 100, +1EV
the silhouette of Mt. Rinjani, soaring over Alas, Sumbawa Besar, Sumbawa Island, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia

The way back to Mataram was a blur. Again, we missed the boat back to Lombok by minutes. Story of our lives! Having had 30 minutes to burn, we had dinner at a local eatery by the Poto Tano harbor. By 8PM, we got into the ferry and nabbed some much needed nap. We got off at Labuhan Kayangan at 9:30PM. Two hours later, we arrived in our hotel in Senggigi, northwest of Mataram.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/100s, f/1.8, 50mm, ISO 1600, +1/3EV
my dinner of fried shrimps in Poto Tano, West Sumbawa, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia


After 15 hours on the road, alertness turned to exhaustion. I just realized that we were able to skim through five of the seven regencies of Nusa Tenggara Barat province in one day: Lombok Barat, Lombok Tengah, Lombok Timur, Sumbawa Barat and Sumbawa Besar. It is not something that I would have the time to do again but certainly, sometime soon, I hope to visit Bima and Dompu. And beyond too.