Title – Piggy Back
Date – September 1997
Location - Bora Bora - French Polynesia
Bora Bora, described as paradise on earth, this has long been a destination for the rich and famous to really get away from it all and the number of expensive and exclusive five star resorts is only matched by the complete lack of facilities for anyone unable to afford to stay in one of them.
But if you can afford it, a luxury room on stilts over the blue lagoon is your reward and the service and facilities on offer will stun even the most travelled individuals. But there is room for the intrepid traveller as well; you just have to work a little harder for it. Like much of the Pacific the ‘real’ people of Bora Bora are extremely friendly as, by ‘real’ I refer to those outside of the hotel setting where they are paid to be polite and helpful (although it effectively comes naturally to them). Make a little effort and you can normally find a place to pitch a tent or a low cost bungalow, it will probably not be on the best beach on the island, but this is Bora Bora, even the poor beaches are something quite special.
French Polynesia away from the ugly urban centre of Papette is a strange mix of the pacific and French traditions. Although with the stable diet of baguettes may be baked on the island, much of the rest of the produce is imported directly from France and it certainly is not a cheap place to visit, whatever style of accommodation you opt for. But Bora Bora is an experience that it is difficult to put a price on.
Beyond The Blue runs workshops to help people wishing to achieve their dream of travelling across the world and to exotic locations from Boston to Bora Bora, our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop provides individuals with the basic knowledge they require to plan and execute a safe and enjoyable trip and return home with stories and memories they will treasure for the rest of their lives.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Island Paradise
Date – September 1997
Location - Bora Bora - French Polynesia
Bora Bora is one of the jewels of the pacific ocean and the exclusive nature of the island and its remote location (making it difficult to travel to on a budget), certainly help this image.
French Polynesia remains as you might imagine as a French colony and this brings a unique feel to the country itself. But it’s not quite what it was when it was discovered by the Spanish in the 17th century or when rediscovered by the British navy under Captain Samuel Wallis in 1767 or when it was reclaimed by the French explorer Bougainville in 1768 or even when Captain Cook claimed it and renamed it the Society Islands in 1769. Then the reports are of a society of liberal and amorous people whose female population would readily exchange sexual favours for trinkets from the new world, Polynesia became famous as the most welcoming islands of the pacific and many a wayward sailor abandoned ship here to live in the ‘paradise’ of the pacific. Even Captain Bligh fell foul of the charms of the island when his harsh regime on board the HMS Bounty contrasted so much with the welcome received by his sailors on Otaheite (as the islands were then known) that it led to the famous Mutiny in1788.
Much has changed since then, missionaries arrived to convert the locals and the mother hubbard dress (still popular today) took over from the bare breasted grass skirted native way of dressing. Sailors were discouraged from stopping here and the diseases they brought with them devastated the population. Now one of the most European island nations in the pacific the locals benefit from Frances financial support in some areas and suffer from it in others.
France used French Polynesia as a testing ground for their nuclear weapons programme and despite outrage from all over the world, they continued to test nuclear weapons until 1996 when they eventually, under mounting pressure, agreed to sign the comprehensive test ban treaty; having as they saw it, proved their independence by effectively destroying the stunning Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls lying some 1500km to the south of Tahiti.
Beyond The Blue run workshops to help people wishing to achieve their dream of travelling across the world and to exotic locations like Bora Bora. Our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop provides individuals with the basic knowledge they require to plan and execute a safe and enjoyable trip and return home with stories and memories they will treasure for the rest of their lives.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Giant Kite
Date – August 1997
Location - Bali - Indonesia
Bali has in recent years suffered a series of terrible bombings. In 2002, 202 people died in a series of bombs directed at tourists in a nightclub and again in 2005, 23 people died in random bombing in restaurants in the heart of Kuta Beach the most popular resort on the island.
Many people subsequently crossed Bali off the list of places to visit and Bali’s vital tourist industry is still trying to recover from these devastating blows. But should you visit Bali?
We offer advice and guidance through our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop on which destinations are safe to travel to and which might be better avoided. At the time of writing there is no specific reason not to visit Bali, there is no specific new threat and although further bombs being detonated in the future would probably not come as a shock to anyone, the same can be said for thousands of cities around the world.
However taking the latest advice is always the best way to reduce the risks when you are travelling and at Beyond The Blue we will help you make those choices. We guide you to the best sources of information to help you stay abreast of developments while you are away. Certainly for now (August 2006) Bali remains a destination we would recommend but would urge caution and awareness when you are there.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Market Place
Date – August 1997
Location - Parapat – Sumatra - Indonesia
Busy market places like this one in Sumatra are a great place to stock up on fresh produce and practice your haggling skills, they offer a wide variety of local produce that may be very new to you, and the hustle and bustle can sometimes be quite intimidating.
But there is safety in numbers and in most countries they are a great place to watch the colourful life of the locals, as they go about their daily routine of buying or selling. But where there are many people you also have to be aware that some might not be there to buy, but rather just to help themselves.
The Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop run by Beyond The Blue examines different ways of protecting your valuables and not advertising your wealth. Be it cash, documents or camera equipment (even though the only full proof way of ensuring they don’t get stolen is not have them in the first place), some simple steps will considerably reduce the risks of you drawing attention to yourself and your valuables.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Orang-utan
Date – August 1997
Location - Sumatra - Indonesia
The Orang-utan (literally translates to ‘Man of the Forest’) is truly the closet evolutionary creature to human beings themselves. When you look into their eyes they seem to have an immediate connection with you. The displays of emotion and sensitivity they show towards their young, the agility they show swinging from branch to branch and their every day mannerisms really evoke feelings that they understand you and you understand them.
But don’t be fooled; these are wild animals and although there can be no doubt as to the evolutionary proximity they have to us, get in their way and the animal instinct is much more powerful then any human ones. Orang-utans are truly beautiful animals and getting a close look at one in the wild is a magical experience, but sadly they are extremely endangered and only to be found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra where despite valiant efforts of locals and NGO’s their numbers continue to dwindle, as habitats disappear.
The rehabilitation centres at Bohorok in Sumatra and Sepilok in Borneo are great places to visit and support, encounters with orang-utans here are guaranteed. The release programmes tend to involve a structure; rehabilitation, followed by release into controlled areas where they are fed daily, until ready to be moved back into the primary rainforest to fend for themselves. It is this aspect of their familiarity with humans that can lead to relocated apes being encountered on treks through their new territories. It is the newly learned skill of demanding food that creates unwanted and dangerous encounters with humans. The sound of a fully grown Orang-utan crashing through the trees to demand food from you, is very similar to the felling of a tree and will set you running for safety behind a very large tree and clutching very large sticks with which to defend yourself.
We realise that we can only teach people through our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshop how to act in a safe manner and we can’t follow them while they are on their trip. But by presenting our information in the context of our experiences, means that individuals attending, actually understand why we instruct people as we do and the information is not just thrust out there purely ‘in theory’.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Mount Merapi
Date – August 1997
Location - Sumatra - Indonesia
Mount Merapi on Sumatra (not to be confused with it’s often more restless neighbour and namesake on the island of Java) is Sumatra’s most active volcano and although the activity has been contained within it’s cone in living history, you will see from this view from the top of this stratovolcano that it towers 2000m (The summit is 2891m above sea level) up over the surrounding plateau, menacing it with a constant plume of smoke emerging from the depths of the crater.
To climb this volcano is no easy task and the best time to climb is in the dead of the night so that you arrive on the summit at sunrise and can enjoy the spectacular views as well as the immense nature of the 700m wide crater. But beware, volcanoes can lie dormant for thousands of years before they blow and Merapi is starting to rumble again, in August 2006 the alert level on the volcano was raised from Alert level 1 to an Alert level 2 (from a 1 – 4 scale) and villagers and visitors were advised to stay off the mountain.
If Merapi calms down again and they open up the mountain, you’ll find a very hard climb ahead of you through the night. Be aware that the sweltering day heat of Bukittinggi (the closest town to the volcano), dissipates as you climb and by the time you are three quarters of the way up, you can find yourself very cold. If you have not prepared correctly and brought the right clothing and protection from the elements, you will find a difficult climb becoming very unpleasant and potentially dangerous. Although your guide (and you must take a guide) will bound up the volcano like a mountain goat on acid, you may find the going tough. If you ask about how hard the climb is they will tell you it’s easy, but then if you ask a guide you are trying to hire if he wants job or not, he is bound to tell you what you want to hear.
Our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshops at Beyond The Blue have no affiliations that hold back our complete independence and ability to provide advice that is unbiased. We will recommend products and services to you, but these are recommendations on what we believe are good and effective suppliers. Our objective is to allow you to travel in safety where ever your destination might be and to return home safely to your family with stories and experiences to share.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
Title – Jungle Shelter
Date – August 1997
Location - Bukit Lawang – Sumatra - Indonesia
Trekking through primary rainforest is the most incredible experience; if you have the opportunity to do it in Northern Sumatra then there are additional surprises to watch out for.
On this 5 day hike, sleeping under the stars (canapé) or in old jungle shelters, we came across orang-utans, gibbons, snakes, and any number of insects and bugs. But the knowledge that the fauna you can actually see in a rainforest is probably only a fraction of what is actually out there, certainly makes you lie awake at night wondering what it is, at that point, that is crawling over your legs in the darkness.
At Beyond The Blue we will open your eyes to the dangers that you may face when undertaking a trip to a new country. If your destination is an urban one or a wild one like the rainforest our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness workshops will provide you with the basic skills required to travel safely and with confidence.
We will not cure you of your phobias; to many people, sleeping on the floor of a rainforest almost alive with beetles, ants, lizards and cockroaches, is their idea of hell on earth. But for some the isolation and uniqueness of the environment will help them to forget and if that doesn’t work, then rest assured the physical effort required to hike through the jungle will have the effect of a dozen sleeping pills.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com
Image – ©Peter Mayhew
