Siberut – Island of wizards and skull hunters

Expedition to a small island in an Indian ocean

17 or 23 days (Difficulty: modest)= Siberut 2 weeks + eventually 1 week of facultative prolongation for scuba diving.

Orientation programme of the expedition:

Tropical forest and Mentawai people who can live in perfect harmony with nature.

1– 2.day: departure to JAKARTA (Indonesia), or KUALAL LUMPUR (Malaysia) and subsequently to PADANG in SUMATRA (Indonesia), starting point of the expedition to Siberut.

3 – 4.day: FERRY TO SIBERUT ISLAND, in case this will not be possible directly, then HARAU VALLEY – beautiful WATERFALLS , SWIMMING possibility, eventually we can try to find flowering RAFLÉSIA – THE BIGGEST FLOWER OF THE WORLD, eventually visit to BUKITTINGI and JAPANESE CAVES or swimming on romantic beach. The way to Siberut island is complicated. Airplanes do not fly there (not even the smallest ones) only 2 ships sailing there. The fast one takes aprx. 4 hours and the slow one takes from 6 to 18 hours (according to the way it goes). Slow one goes 2× – 3× a week, if there are not too big waves or the boat is not broken. The fast ship goes whenever it feels like it, but when there are even small waves it does not go at all.… Ship time tables are more than unreliable, that is why we have in our programme schedule some spare days for transport to the Siberut island and nice alternative programme. Of course we will go to the island as soon as it is be possible.

5. – 10.day: SIBERUT ISLAND, soon in the morning we are to SAIL BY SMALL MOTOR BOAT TO HEART OF THE ISLAND TO THE TRADITIONAL SETTLEMENTS OF MENTAWAI PEOPLE – Umas. After landing TREK BY TRUE JUNGLE will follow, sága moorland and maybe also streeaming rivers and sailing by scoop-ship. ¨SOME DAYS WE WILL SPEND IN THE JUNGLE of the small island TOGETHER WITH WIZARDS AND SKULL HUNTERS. You do not have to be afraid, Mentawai people are not dangerous nowadays anymore, contrariwise they are rather friendly. UNTIL TODAY THEY HUNT WITH LONGBOWS AND POISONED SHAFTS and THEY PRACTISE COMPLICATED WIZARD CEREMONIES. Hopefully they will allow us to participate on one of them again. We will end up our stay on Siberut by night ferry sail BACK TO PADANG. But even the day of departure is not sure because of the reasons mentioned above. We can either leave earlier or later for the price of cutting out the programme of Samosir island or orangutans.

11 – 13.day: Transport to TOBA LAKE and to Samosir island, BATAK PEOPLE and their recent violent cannibal past.

14. – 15.day: BUKIT LAVANG and ORANGUTANS – orangutan sanatorium for their return to nature, opportunity to watch those apes in wide open nature.

16. – 17.day: Arrival to the international airport and from there departure to the ČR the same day.

OPTIONAL: possible prolongation for SCUBA DIVING in the most beautiful places of the world (Papua – NP Raja Ampat – very expensive but excellent 5m long mantas and beautiful corals), Sulawesi –Bunaken island, or Lembeh inlet – possible to combine), it is possible to arrange a stay with your family on BALI. In combination with Siberut but for scuba DIVING I recommend the north of Sumatra, it is not far from Acehu – Reopened Paradise – it is the closest place and tsunami which had headed to Thailand avoided the under-ocean paradise to the north from Sumatra island (I was not there therefore I can not give reference but it is said to be a very nice locality . If you are interested I will find out more information …).

Price includes: accommodation (during expedition we sleep in tents or in hoochies otherwise in hostels, boarding-houses or smaller local hotels of middle standard category), ground transportation in place – busses, micro-busses, vans, moto-taxi and cyclo-taxi (if it is needed), ferry boat twice: Padang – Siberut – Padang ticket to four- seats cabins (if we manage to get them – so far we have always managed it), once a small motor boat to Siberut and eventually sail by scoop-ship, fee for stay permission on Siberut, Czech speaking guide with knowledge of the conditions on Siberut, if it is necessary also local guide, information materials.

Price is not including: Indonesian visa, air-tickets from Jakarta or Kualal Lumpuer incl. departure taxes, optional programmes, fees for attractions and taking photographs and making videos, porters, insurance, food, airport taxes in Europe, taxes for local flights and departure from Indonesia to Europe.