In Search of Wallace and His Living Treasures

Your flight arrives in Ternate, the capital of the North Maluku Province. You are met at the airport and transferred to the Ombak Putih, moored off Ternate City. You settle into your room, attend a safety briefing, and have lunch while meeting the other passengers and crew. Later, you visit the Kedaton palace, the Portuguese-built Toluku fort, and the Dutch-built Oranje fort. You also see the probable site of the house where Alfred Russel Wallace lived when he sent his essay on natural selection to Charles Darwin in 1858.

You visit the riverside village of Dodinga, the location where Wallace discovered the mechanism of natural selection. While there, you see the local houses and the ruins of an old Portuguese fort. You then travel to the Guraici Archipelago, a government-controlled conservation area. You spend a full day snorkeling, swimming, and exploring the beaches, coral reefs, and local villages.

You wake up off the western coast of Bacan, another of Indonesia’s historic spice sultanates. You go ashore to explore the forested slopes where Wallace
made some of his greatest zoological discoveries, including the Moluccan Cuscus, the Standardwing Bird of Paradise, and the huge and magnificent Golden
Birdwing Butterfly. Wallace described the latter species as the "finest butterfly in the world". You will also keep a close watch for these and a host of other animals, some of them endemic to these islands, including parrots, cockatoos, lorikeets, hornbills, the elusive cuscus and hopefully the endangered black-crested macaque – the only monkey in Maluku. You pay a visit the Pisang Islands. These tiny gems isolated in the vast waters of the Ceram Sea offer us a chance to relax and enjoy the sparkling white-sand beaches, clear waters, and vibrant reefs before making your way to the shores of West Misool.

You visit a seaside village in Misool, where you visit the school and learn about the way Nature Conservancy is working with the village to empower with local women with a fishing practice called ‘sasi’. You will be snorkelling at a channel that divided two islands where sea fans are hanging in the drop offs and the current is rich in nutrients. The afternoon will be a laid back day spend strolling the white-sandy beach and snorkel the reef where juvenile black tip reef sharks usually frequent. You will also have the chance to play beach volleyball if you are interested.

This morning you will wake to see the sun rise over the picturesque chain of islands that makes up the eastern part of the Misool archipelago. The topography is typical of ‘karst dissolution’ featuring a great number of tiny islets whose bases have been eroded over time by the relentless motion of the tides. You will then move on to a mysterious jellyfish lake and swim among the many thousands of stingless animals: undoubtedly one of Raja Ampat’s most memorable activities. You use the tenders to explore more of this impressive maze of karst islands, both above and below the surface, complete with prehistoric cave paintings, estimated to be anything between 3,000 to 5,000 years old and depicting various human figures and huge human palms, fish, and plants, tools and vessels.

You will visit a small island group for a short hilltop climb to take in the amazing views. After some great snorkelling on the island’s reefs, you will set course for a local village, where the local children will perform their traditional dances for you. You can also walk around the village and gain a sense of the Asai culture, which is still kept very much alive by the villagers living in this isolated place. There's a chance that you may get to see some manta rays as you snorkel, but there are no guarantees. Today will present another opportunity for keen naturalists, as you rise early and walk into the forest on a pre-dawn quest to spot the remarkable Red Bird of Paradise, one of the species that Wallace was most anxious to collect. With a little luck and the help of your knowledgeable guides, you will see this rare bird’s elaborate courtship display as dawn breaks over the forest canopy.

You will rise at 4.30am ready to head into the forest on a pre-dawn quest to spot the gorgeous Wilson’s Bird of Paradise. The hope is that the efforts of your early start will pay off, enabling you to catch a rare and privileged sight of the bird’s elaborate courtship dance as the day breaks over the forest canopy. You will have an epic snorkel adventure on one of Raja Ampat’s best reefs where hundreds of species can be found including large schools of fish of all sizes and a massive diversity of coral species. The boat will then move a nearby island for more snorkelling and the opportunity to watch a multitude of bats flying overhead just after sunset.

Once at anchor you will say goodbye to George, your crew and your sea-based home, the Ombak Putih before taking the tenders ashore where you will be transferred to the airport for your onward travel.