Banda Neira was the Dutch capital of the spice islands 500 years ago, when nutmeg was worth more than gold. Rising from the ocean floor 1000s of metres deep, this group of islands are the remnants of a volcano which is still active. Gunung Api literally means fire mountain, and its towering peak with the constant cloud sitting over its shoulder was our first sighting as we motored overnight across a flat calm Banda Sea.
The people of Banda were typically friendly and welcoming, and there is much to do and see here. From the new growth corals that are sprouting over the recent lava flow that ran down and in to the sea, to the Dutch heritage from 500 years ago, this island deserved a much longer visit than we were able to enjoy.
Our time in Indonesia was coming to an end, so we could not stay as long as we would have like.
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Banda Neira
From the island anchorage at Pulau Gofa, it is about 50nm south to the Spice Islands of Banda, where we head next. In the wind shadow of the large Maluku island of Seram, it seems we will have to motor the entire way, so decide this should be another overnight trip so that we arrive…
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Corals over Lava
The big island to the west of the anchorage in Zonnegat Bay is the volcano Gunung Api. While it was quite active over the last 500 years during the period of the European invasion, it’s last eruption was in 1988, when 13 people died as at spewed out a flow that reached the ocean on…
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Fort Belgica
In the 17th century, Banda Neira was the only place in the world where nutmeg was grown. European power fought wars over the spices that were only available from the Spice Islands of Banda. Fort Nassua, lower and closer to the water, was originally built by the Portuguese before they run out by the Dutch.…
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Banda Cooking Class
Our arrival at Banda Niera was noted by many of the local tour operators, some of whom came by boat to welcome us and invite us on tours to local attractions. One operator, Mr Man, invited us to a cooking class at house. We had heard about this from other yachts, and were keen for…
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Banda Besar
Pulau Banda Besar the big island at the south of the Banda group. Not surprisingly, “besar” translates as big. Banda Besar was covered in a lrge number of nutmeg plantations at the height of the spice trade, hundreds of years ago. The Dutch company VOC controlled the trade and operated the plantations with Dutch overseers…
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Climbing Gunung Api
Climbing Gunung Api was our last activity on Banda. As soon as we returned, we left. The climb is a long hot difficult one, so we left the boat in the dark before sunrise. We filled up with litres of water before leaving, and carried a couple of bottles of water to replenish on the…