2006 New Look Cabins - Triple Cabin, Lower Deck

(Photos Courtesy of Dwi Setijo Widodo - 11 April 2006)

2006 New Look Cabins - Double Cabin, Lower Deck

2006 New Look Cabins - Family Cabin, Upper Deck

(Photos Courtesy of Dwi Setijo Widodo - 11 April 2006)

Banda Islands & Spices

Nutmeg & Mace in Banda Islands

Nutmegs, which are easily found drying in the sun in Banda Islands, and mace enter into a bewildering number of preparation in flavoring and medicines. In Europe and the United States, the spices find their way primarily into food and condiments, while in Asia they are used mainly in the production of indigenous medical preparation.
(Compiled from "Maluku, Indonesian Spice Islands", Periplus & photo courtesy of Claudia Caduff, 2005)

More information about "Spices & Banda Islands":

Spices - Exotic Flavors & Medicine

Spice Islands Archaeology Project

Spice Trade

The Ruins of Dutch Era in Banda Island

(Photo Courtesy of Claudia Caduff, 2005)

Interested in joining an exploratory cruise to Banda Islands this year?
Please visit our website for more details about Cruise WC 1 (Flores-Banda-Kei).

A Dance from Alor (Photo Courtesy of De Rham, 2004)
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A Short Visit to Alor Island, Cruise WC 02 2005 (Flores-Banda-Kei)

(Photos Courtesy of Claudia Caduff, 2005)

For more information about Cruise Flores-Banda-Kei 2006,
kindly click the link: Cruise WC 1 (Flores-Banda-Kei), Oct 19/Oct 31, 2006.

Link to: The Regional Goverment of Alor (Information & Development Centre)

The Asmat Warriors

(Photos Courtesy of Claudia Caduff, 2005)

Asmat Woodcarving Art

Asmat Carving Pattern, Asmat Tribe, West Papua (Photo Courtesy of Ushuaia, 2000)


Asmat woodcarving is considered one among the world's finest. To the Asmat, woodcarving was inextricably connencted with the spirit world, and therefore, the carving can not just be principally considered aesthetic objects.

Much of the highly original art of the Asmat is symbolic of warfare, headhunting, and warrior-ancestor veneration.

For centuries, the Asmat were preoccupied with the necessity of appeasing ancestor spirits, producing a wealth of superbly designed shields, canoes, sculptured figures, and drums.
(Articles Courtesy of Footprint Adventures)



Asmat Art Museum, West Papua (Photo Courtesy of Ushuaia, 2000)

Asmat Man, West Papua (Courtesy of Ushuaia, 2000)
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The Making of Sago Palm Flour, Asmat Tribe, West Papua

(Photos Courtesy of Claudia Caduff, 2005)

The sago palms (metroxylon sagu) are commonly seen palms in West Papua (as well in some areas of Moluccas Islands and many regions in South East Asia). Similar to coconut trees, sago palms considered as very useful plants, the trees of life, for the people of Papua.

The above pictures describe how the Asmat women are preparing to make sago flour. A trunk of a suckering palm is felled just before the appearance of its terminal inflorescence. Its carbohydrate content is then at its highest level in order to produce seeds. The marrow of the stem is laboriously chopped out as finely as possible and its starch then washed out and separated from the cellulose. This gooey substance is cooked in a similar way to a pancake and eaten perhaps with freshly caught fish. It has been said that "...where sagu palm grows, nobody ever goes hungry".

Mother & Son, Asmat Tribe, West Papua (Courtesy of Ushuaia, 2000)
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Ushuaia's Expedition to Asmat, Irian Jaya, in 2000

(All Photos courtesy of Ushuaia, 2000)

Asmat Houses (Courtesy of Claudia Caduff, 2005)
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Asmat Women (Courtesy of Claudia Caduff, 2005)
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From Cruise WC 03 (Kei-Agats-Timika), Nov 7/Nov 18, 2005

(All Photos Courtesy of Claudia Caduff)

For further information on Cruise Kei-Agats-Timika 2006,
kindly click the link: Cruise WC 2 (Kei-Agats-Timika), Nov 2/Nov 13, 2006.