Tutuala and Jaco

The place we’re staying has a strong Portuguese influence. It's on the top of the hill and has a commanding view. The colours are orange and yellow, and the main building has a wrap-around veranda.

The innkeeper must be used to people booking and not showing up, because we had a reservation for three rooms and some Aussies with diplomatic plates had reservations for four rooms. There are a total of five rooms in the establishment. After being asked, I relocated to the store room, leaving the Aussies (8 adults, 5 children under 9) with three rooms. I ended up with some Aussie craft beer as incentive.

So.  The road to the beach. Think about the road down to Sombrio Beach, but eight kilometres long. It took an hour to go down and 45 minutes to climb up. We went into the lowest four wheel drive gear several times. Only twice did I think we would lose the oil pan, and I never actually thought we’d tip over. I did entertain the notion, however.  Bob says he never braced himself because he was afraid he'd break his arm. I was given a front seat, and found the handle over the door to be very useful. (For those dear readers not familiar with the Sombrio beach road, it's an old resource/logging road that has mostly washed away in an uneven way.)

It was worth it though. We took a fibreglass skiff (20 feet long, four feet wide, 50 horse outboard motor) across for $10/person return. The ride was less than 10 minutes long.

Once we arrived at the white sand beach, we dumped our snacks etc and waded into the water.  It was gloriously clear and blue.  The brown bits that I thought were seaweed were coral, and the coral was teeming with fish.

I popped my head into the water mostly out of curiosity. Once I saw what was there, I was transfixed for an hour and a half. I only came out because I was sure I was starting to burn.

What did I see?  Initially some bright blue fish that were about four inches long, about a hundred swimming together. Further out, the fish got bigger. I saw a yellow and black striped beauty that was at least four feet long. There was an angel fish the size of a dinner plate.  Purply-blue ones about a foot long. Eighteen inch black ones with a white band just before their tails. Ghostly white ones in the deep white sand. Iridescent three-inch ones schooling all around me. It as magical.

The corals were as varied, although not as colourful. Huge fans, branching sticks, softly flowing shrub-like ones that reminded me of astilbe that's past its prime, tubes, spheres, dinner plates. Most of the corals were brown, but every now and then there was a coloured one. I remember seeing red and green. I also saw a few large spindly purple sea stars.

One of my criteria for this trip was the ability to snorkel. Today, my wish was granted for the first time. There are some other places in East Timor to snorkel, so I'll be able to do it again before Anita joins me for Christmas.

Before I sign off for today, I'll give you the cast of characters:
Me, a retired civil servant
Bob, a former work colleague who came to East Timor for the first time in 1999 as an election observer for the independence vote. Bob is still working, and took a six week vacation. His first leg was Myanmar, then he returned to East Timor for three weeks
Janu, Bob’s Timorese friend who works for the anti-corruption ministry (on secondment from the UN)
S, Janu’s brother Sylvester, who loves to drive and does an admirable job
Senior, Janu’s 74-year-old father who tries to talk to me. Sadly we have no common tongues, so we look at each other kindly. He served as a police officer under both Portuguese and Indonesian rule.

I'm proud to say I have mastered the word for thank you ( aubrigata) and no longer say it in a questioning tone. I'm moving on to excuse me (con lisensa). I should learn 25 cents and 50 cents before I start taking microlets (mini-van busses) next week.  My home stay is three kilometres from my volunteer office, and I'd like to walk when it's not pouring rain.

That's it for today. Tomorrow is another travel day, returning to Dili.