After getting all my paperwork done and a gruelling trip, I arrived in Bau Bau on Sunday morning. Bau means ‘smell’ in Indonesian, Bau Bau used to be a spice port which is where the name comes from – the smell of spices.
Nowadays sadly it’s more the smell of the open sewers!
Had a quick meal at a local restaurant before setting off to the village. As it’s now the fasting month the restaurants are all shuttered over – they still serve food but it’s not polite to be seen eating in public.
I then started the 3 – 4 hour drive to the village of La Bundo Bundo. It’s an ok drive, along the main road which encircles the island, mostly tracking the coast and passing through lots of small villages. Ironically Buton’s main export is asphalt and yet the roads are awful and rarely repaired so it’s a bumpy ride, but the scenery is great!
The village of La Bundo Bundo is a small village of only a couple of hundred people, most of whom are farmers.
Days are spent in the farms or in the village at the little shops (warungs) selling vegetables from the farm, sarongs, snacks and bottles of petrol for passing motorbikes
Or doing some drawing
Or grating up some coconut for dinner later
Lazy la Bundo days 🙂
Local fishmonger
My very own alarm clock (or cock!). He actually a jungle fowl – the ancestor of all domestic chickens (not this one personally!)! He’s a very handsome chappy bit he’s got his morning crows a bit off – he starts at about midnight and doesn’t seem to have a snooze function 😉
It’s great to be back here. Since arriving I’ve been on a few forest treks, been out with the monkeys and started planning the education projects – watch this space for more updates 🙂
Dr Nancy Priston 
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