Atauro Island

Timorese have a saying, “close, but a little far”.  If you ask where a restaurant is, you may get the response “close, but a little far,” so you never quite know just how long it will take to get somewhere.  This phrase perfectly describes Atauro, a large island 26km off the coast of Dili.

Looking out at the ocean from Dili, Atauro island stands prominent on the horizon.  It doesn’t appear to be terribly far from the main island, but it is a world away.  Getting there and back can be a challenge.  There is one ferry a week, which runs on a Saturday.  And unless you want to risk the trip on a riverboat (not recommended), you’ll be faced with paying for a private speedboat taxi.  We organized the dive company to drop us at the island after our dives, so we managed to get there without too much hassle.

It was an hour long ride to the dive spots on the West coast of Atauro island.  As we sped across the harbor we encountered a pod of dolphins.  The boat halted about 50m from shore, above a reef.  There was a very distinct drop off, where the reef suddenly fell away, deep into the ocean.

 It was along this drop off that we descended, then basically hung suspended like something in a science fiction movie as the current carried us past the wall of coral.  These are some of the most biodiverse waters in the world, and are home to more species of reef fish than any other place on the planet.  Again, we saw tiny fish, bright coral and dragon-like nudibranches.  The boat picked us up an hour later and transported us to the next site.

Like everything else in Timor-Leste, we found organizing accommodation on the island tricky.  This is something we didn’t want to leave to chance, as there is no access to fresh water without staying in a village.  Fortunately, with the help of the determined owner of the dive company, we secured spots at Mario’s.  When the dive boat dropped us on a beach near the village of Adara, we weren’t too sure that we were in the right spot; the rocky beach was littered with old boats, a few huts, and several pigs.  But, a smiling man who called himself Super Mario assured us we were indeed in the correct place.  We hesitantly followed him, as the dive boat – and our only access to the mainland – sped away.  A three minute walk down the coast brought us to a sandy stretch of beach with a handful of wooden huts.  Mario showed us to our accommodation; Paul and I shared a small hut with a thin mattress on the floor covered by a mosquito net, and Lindsay was given a tent on a raised wooden platform near the water.  There were communal outhouses with bucket showers.

It turned out to be a full house at Mario’s, with the other huts being occupied by a handful of Peace Corps volunteers who were working in different areas of Timor-Leste, but decided to spend the public holidays together on Atauro.  We really enjoyed hearing their take on in this country, and they could offer us a different perspective on everyday life here.

Atauro is home to about 8,000 locals.  They spear fish in the abundant waters, and farm in the mountains.  Life for the majority of them is pretty basic by Western standards.  There are some generators and solar powered lights, but most homes do not have continuous electricity.  More importantly, several villages do not have clean water.  There is a lack of fresh water sources on the island.  In theory, every village has access to clean water, but in reality this isn’t the case.  The pipe bringing water to some of the northern villages is broken, and residents of those remote villages must walk an hour on very steep paths to the nearest access point.  Access to clean water: it’s something the majority of us take for granted.  The idea of walking an hour to fill a bucket with water, then hike uphill with a full bucket for another hour just so I can eat and drink without getting sick is unfathomable to me.  I can’t imagine doing it once, let alone every single day.  Unfortunately, it’s part of everyday life for some.

While at Mario’s we got a very tiny glimpse of life on the island.  We walked into the village, rock lined sand paths delineating streets, a mixture of cement houses and wooden huts providing homes for the inhabitants.

We sat amongst palm trees, and along with everyone else in the village, watched the evening’s entertainment: a very enthusiastic volleyball game.  Meanwhile, old women transported water in large buckets from the tap in the water pipe to their homes, while others cooked food in their wall-less kitchens, under roofs of dried palm branches.

The food was simple but yummy.  We ate a lot of freshly caught fish, especially parrot fish, ramen noodles, and vegetables imported from Dili.  I fell in love with coconut chili.  It is a sweet but spicy condiment that is delicious on noodles, bread and peanut butter (though I think I may be the only one who enjoys it mixed with PB).  At Mario’s, we swam in the warm ocean, snorkeled, and relaxed on the beach with pigs.  The reef off of which we dived encircled the whole island, so if we swam out for about 5 minutes, we reached the drop off.  It was quite eerie floating above the drop off, seeing reef on one side, then a sheer cliff with no ocean floor in sight.  Like hovering over the top of a mountain.  The snorkeling was nearly as impressive as the diving.

Mario’s is situated on the west coast of Atauro, but all the ferries and private boats back to Dili leave from the east coast.  Since there is no road access to the west coast, our only mode of transportation to the other side of the island was our legs.  Luckily, our new Peace Corps friends were planning to hike that route on the same day as us, and were happy for us to tag along.  We departed early in the morning, in an effort to avoid the height of the midday heat.  We first headed north along the coast, then reaching a tiny village, turned inland and up a very steep mountain.  Despite our early morning departure, it was incredibly hot and the hike was demanding.  One of the Peace Corps members passed out, and several of us ended up sick afterwards.

We stopped midway at an inland mountain village called Arlo, where two of the Peace Corps members were friendly with locals, who climbed trees and cut us fresh coconuts.  Being so hot and dehydrated,  I found this one of the most delicious, refreshing drinks I have ever consumed.  Replenished, we proceeded with our trek, which took us through many different ecosystems and topographies.

Four hours later, drained and exhausted, we arrived in Beloi on the east coast and were able to secure a cabin at Barry’s eco-resort, which, though still basic, is luxurious compared to Mario’s.  There were fans!!!  

We did a bit more snorkeling, but the coral and fish were definitely better on the west coast.  We also ate some homemade ice cream at Ice and Dive, made lovingly by a Kenyan woman living on Atauro.  The most noticeable aspect of Beloi, is the plethora of hermit crabs, which are so plentiful, that we could hear them rustling around and crawling over each other all night.

Unfortunately we had to return to Dili in order to catch our flight.   Reluctantly we hired a private speedboat to transport us to the mainland.  Arriving back to the crowded, hot streets of Dili, we immediately yearned to be on Atauro again.  The pace of life is much slower, and much simpler there.  As we sat in the Castaway bar, sipping a beer and looking at the ocean, with Atauro looming across the bay, we could fully appreciate how close, yet far away life on that island is.