Tidore and Makian islands

This image is one the Indo 1000 Rupiah note.

Ternate - Desperately seeking the Duyfken, in the footsteps of Wallace.

October 12th 2014
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain. I was curled up on the captains bunk on the Duyfken on night watch trolling scuba forums when I saw the trip advertised. Long Tales, Tall Shadows, di ... read more

Asia » Indonesia » North Maluku » Ternate

The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; the islands were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared its independence after Japan's surrender, but it required four years of intermittent negotiations, recurring hos... ... read more

16th October 2014

taracloud
Tara Cloud

Rich treasure!
Buried treasure, buried history, encountering the invisible grave of the original Little Dove (the European discoverer of your homeland) and being on the island that inspired Wallace that inspired Darwin and your uni studies. How wise that you threw off the bowlines and set sail on this rich course of discovery! I'll remember Ternate next time I eat cinnamon and clove.

18th October 2014

littlewing
Cindy

Thank you Tara
Lots more to come..this really ended up being an epic adventure. I dont think i will ever eat spices again without smelling Ternate. I guess its pretty geeky going in search of a bio geologist and looking at rocks but Wallace left an amazing if unrecognized legacy.

From one geek to another
Your blog sent me to research Wallace, and how his name should be placed with and as revered as Darwin's. Thanks for the lesson. I'm an amateur geologist, so I love your rock references. You mentioned glassy, black rock--was it obsidian? I remember the climb up to walking on a glacier in Patagonia and seeing rhyolite for the first time and being blown away. Rocks rock!

19th October 2014

Aww thanks Tara :)
Unfortunately not obsidian as obsidian forms when the magma flow rapidly cools - these were rhyolite. If they were obsidian the gem workers on Hamlahera would have quickly taken them and turned them into rings and necklaces. Basic basaltic lava flow but i did notice some really cool limestone lacework creeping onto the rocks in the water...how I would have loved to dive down there!

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