Bajo People.. sea gypsies

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From the first time I read about the Bajo people, "Sea Gypsies", I was intrigued about their existence in modern day life. The concept of people living in stilt houses that are built over the sea congers images the movie "Water World" which starred Kevin Costner.
On my last days in the Togean Island I decided that making the journey across the sea to the Bajo Village was now or never. I hired a young local fisherman to get me there & the two of set out to the Gypsy Village in a traditional outrigger style boat. The timber boat had an old sack for a shade blind, A large rock for an anchor and palm leaves stitched together for a roof. Two outboard motors saw us cross the sea and to our destination in under two hours.
At the time I was staying on Bolilanga Island and to get the Bajo Village we had to sail around Palau Togean and pass through the long narrow passage between Pulua Togean & Palau Talata Kob. Somewhere, somehow I have completely relinquished all attributes of motion sickness and I can quite proudly say that I have traveled in the choppiest waters and undulating swells without it even occurring to me that I would normally be well and truly by now, devastatingly sick. It is said that I now have my "Sea Legs".
The boat ride to the Bajo village was uneventful and peaceful, with the ocean changing from brilliant emerald to deep velvet blue and then frequent patches of iridescent aqua which displayed the shallow reefs below. The only other people on the water were a scatter of local fisherman in their dugout canoes, diving for their small trade.
When you approach land you can see the landscape before you lay eyes on any sort of architecture and infrastructure. So, with this in mind you can imagine how odd it was to be in the middle of the ocean and in the distance you can see a flat "something" with no land in sight. Putting closer, I marveled at the small city that lay before me.
800+ Bajo people live in stilt houses within this settlement which is built entirely over water on a reef. In the middle of the settlement is a large rock formation which after we docked the boat, we head straight to it to get a higher view point of the village. Somewhere below, someone was playing local music loudly which only enhanced the moments I stood on that rock and marveled at the existence below me.

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Photos

Mumma & bubba
Love this cot. swinging from the ceiling

traditional long boat
Tethered to the house

Bajo Children
Note one of them with his face painted. Even here the people put lotions on their face to make them paler. It surprised me becasue they are quite dark skinned.

Water line
Water pipe runs through the village and from there under the sea to another Island.

arial view
View from the only large rock in the village

School
Hard to imagine that this is in the middle of the ocean

Comments

[Josevich]

i wonder
i wonder if theyre related to the Badjao. The sea gypsies here in the Philippines. it does sound the same and Filipino and Bahasa cognates often mean the same. interesting