12-day Jungle Tour
Just
imagine. There is a place on earth where you can genuinely
share the daily life of people still living in a Neolithic
culture. Neolithic agricultural techniques and a Neolithic
way of thinking, in a virgin tropical forest. And you
will also discover there an extraordinary shamanism.
You do not need to be a seasoned adventurer for that.
No mosquito, no danger of any kind. No difficult walks.
Just pleasant rides in motorized dugout canoes.
Soft, comfortable adventure
You will first relax three days in Siloinak Resort, established
in our private island. Sleeping in large twin or single
bungalows on the beach, with hot and cold showers.
Your food is prepared with the best fishes, crabs and
lobsters, direct from the sea, as well as organically
grown vegetables and rice.
A white sand private beach, 900 meters long, a crystal
clear lagoon: this is paradise.
After this heavenly stay, you take motorized dugout canoes,
visit a superb mangrove and reach Mentawai Jungle Camp,
the only one in an archipelago 500 km wide.
The comfort there is surprisingly good. Real beds, toilets,
hot showers. Food is the same as in Siloinak. During 3
days, you visit the surrounding forest, totally protected,
and share the life of the Mentawai people.
You are the only visitors who come here and have the opportunity
to experience an authentic encounter, organized as part
of a sustainable development program.
Mutual respect, possibility to go beyond the usual tourist
experience if you wish to do so; English speaking local
guides ready to explain their own culture they fight to
protect, tour-leaders dedicated to the sustainable program
they support.
An exclusive program we are the only ones to offer. We
do not organize Guaranteed departures tours. This tours
are exclusive to each Tour Operator and tailor-made to
its needs.
Program
Day 1 : Welcoming of
the group at the airport.
Transfer to the hotel for a Welcoming Drink. Lunch. Visit
of the city on foot, possibility to buy gifts. Transfer
to the harbor at 7 pm. Departure of the ferry between
8 and 10 pm.
Day 2 to 4 : Siloinak
Resort.
Siloïnak Resort is built on a 8 hectares deserted
island, with 900 meters of coconut palms fringed beaches
and a wonderful lagoon, ideal for swimming among tropical
fishes.
Build in an authentic Mentawai spirit, the Resort is composed
of a large restaurant and sixteen bungalows hosting one
or two persons. Roofs are made of palm leaves and the
complex is entirely built with local tropical red wood.
The bungalows are spaced in a large flower garden, so
as to preserve everybody’s privacy and are widely
open to the sea. Hot water is available in the eight shared
showers. The architecture of the facilities responds to
the same aesthetic spirit that prevails on the entire
island.
A professional cook with a wide experience in top Indonesian
hotels prepares the meals.
If you have ever dreamt being Indiana Jones or Robin Crusoe,
you have found the right place! Enjoy your stay on our
private island: the water in the lagoon is 28° Celsius,
sometimes 32°!
Activities
suggestions
«Robinson Crusoe»
day
The area is known to be the best surf spot in the
world. You will join a surfers' group on the waves
during one day. After 1 to 2 hours in the speed
boat watching the surfers, you will be abandoned
with your lunch and water on a small islet! The
boat will pick you up at the end of the afternoon.
A splendid solitude experience!
Snorkeling
The boat allows you to visit wonderful beaches,
ideal for observing lots of tropical fishes. Duration
: 8 hours.
Massages
(on request)
A profesional masseur gives you a session per day
. The Balinese massage is a synthesis of the Thaï
massage and Chinese techniques of acupressure. Series
of stretching and slowly and deeper massages are
made, using essential oils as clove, cinamon, coco,
ginger.
Duration of the daily massage session: 1 hour.
Aquagym, Kundalini
Yoga, Tantra, Rebirth, Holotropic breathing classes
(on request)
The morning or the evening, according to other activities,
aquagym session or other classes in the lagoon or
on shore.
Duration : 1 to 4 hours. |
Day 5 : Departure for
Mentawai Jungle Lodge.
Departure by motorized dugout canoes for a 3 hors ride
to Mentawai Jungle Lodge, our camp in the forest,
established nearby a traditional Mentawai village. We
venture through a mangrove until reaching a river. The
river's water draught is quite limited. When the water
level is very low, we may ask our guests to get off and
walk some minutes up the riverbed. We arrive at Mentawai
Jungle Lodge late afternoon.
Mentawai Jungle Lodge
The camp is made of platforms sheltered by palm leaf roofs,
where we set up large Coleman "dome" tents,
3x3 meters wide. We provide comfortable beds, with good
mattresses, not camping mattresses. Showers (hot and cold)
and toilets are shared. Each tent accommodates two guests.
Individual tents are available for an extra cost.
A restaurant offers you a simple comfort, the food is
prepared by a professional cook, as in Siloinak Resort.
The camp is equipped with freezers, but all our food is
cooked from fresh vegetables, meat, fish.
Day 6 to 8 Stay at Mentawai
Jungle Lodge.
Life at Mentawai Jungle Lodge does not require strenuous
physical effort. We adopt the slow activity pace of the
Mentawai people in their daily activities. Visiting the
surrounding forest or the neighbouring clans requires
only 2 or 3-hour walks. A walking stick might be of use,
and we recommend you wear high rubber boots. Mentawai
Adventure can rent this kind of gear on arrival.
Daily activities:
wake up for a bath in the river, fishing with the women;
sago (the staple food of the Mentawaians) processing,
manufacturing a rattan basket, manufacturing a basket
for transporting the sago, making the sago, and baking
it; manufacturing a bow and arrows, and making the poison
for the arrows; bark cloth processing. And if we are lucky,
we will witness a shaman ceremony.
We can explore at leisure the surroundings and visit other
clans. At dusk, dinner at our camp, the food is a mixture
of Indonesian classics and Western favorites.
Shamanism
You have the opportunity to discover a shamanist society
still living in perfect symbiosis with Nature.
Shamanism is a quest for harmony in the relationships
between human beings and Nature, the clans, men and women
and between individuals. It is a profound wisdom born
out of the constraints of survival and is also an effective
natural medecine practiced by witch doctors: the shamans.
Numerous taboos – actions that are forbidden because
they threaten harmony – , especially those concerning
hunting, wisely balance the use of the environment. Long
and complex rituals regulate the hunting expeditions,
thus limiting the damage among the monkey and wild hog
populations. Other shamanist taboos regulate the relationships
inside or between the clans.
The travelers may get lucky and be invited to a healing
ceremony or to the ritual preparation for a hunt that
are part of the daily life of the Mentawai. During these
ceremonies the sikerei (shamans) call on the spirits to
re-establish harmony where it is missing.
According to the Mentawai, illnesses and accidents are
nothing but the symptoms of a troubled mind. Perhaps the
global pollution and destruction of nature brought on
by Western cultures are the very symptoms of our troubled
souls?
You may find a clue to the answer to this question by
participating in these ceremonies. This authentic experience
is a rare privilege. It goes far beyond tourism: we are
speaking of a discovery, of a deeply human experience
and, why not, of establishing lasting friendships between
the Mentawaians and their guests.
Day 9 Back to Muara
Siberut and Padang .
We ride back to Muara Siberut harbour to take the ferry.
Arrival at the end of the day. Dinner and night in a simple
guest house, with shared bathroom, at Muara Siberut.
After lunch, according the ferry time, we will depart
to Padang.
Day 10 Bungus Beach.
Arrival early morning at Padang. Transfer by minibus to
a small beach resort situated 20 km. south of Padang.
We will discover Bungus area during a 4 to 6 hours stroll:
rice fields, visit to farmers, bath at a cascade, and
share a nice evening with good music in a cool restaurant
on the beach. Night in a simple hotel (double or single
rooms with attached bathroom).
Day 11 Bungus Beach.
We visit some small islands by canoe: snorkeling, lunch
on the beach, nap under the coconut trees, and in the
evening, we will go fishing onboard a large wooden traditional
boat. Night in a simple hotel (double or single rooms
with attached bathroom)
Day 12 End of the trip.
Breakfast and transfer to the airport for the travellers
departing the same day. Transfer to Padang town centre
for the others.
Photography
Workshops
Photography
Workshops, are based upon the 12-day Jungle Tour program,
with adaptation to their specific nature and to the requests
of each Tour Operator.
Gilles Bordessoule, the founder of Mentawai Adventure
is a professional photographer, journalist and writer
since 1977. He has publish hundreds of reportages in all
kinds of French magazines, including Paris Match, V.S.D
and publishes a 14 pages " travel photo workshop"
in each issue of Photofan / Chasseur d'images.
Chasseur d'images is the largest European Photomagazine.
Gilles has also publish 4 photographic albums about the
Alps, Morocco, Nepal, Sahara. (See Amazon.com or Google).
Gilles can organize a photo workshop with the participation
of the Mentawai, or co-lead such a workshop.
Spiritual Retreats
Siloinak Resort, being situated on a deserted island is
the perfect place for any spiritual retreat.
Gilles Bordessoule has written 5 books about western psychotherapy
and eastern spirituality. He has been professionally trained
in rebirthing, holotropic breathing and Tantra ( Skydancing
and traditional). He has founded (and directed during
several years) the Spiritual Center "Vivescence"
, in Fontainebleau, near Paris, France, where hundreds
of therapists have organized workshops.
Gilles can simply organize the setting for a spiritual
retreat, or co-lead such a workshop (rebirth, holotropic
breathing, Tantra).
Women
Tours
If
you have read the above, you already know that the spirit
of Mentawai Adventure is perfect for helping you in the
organization of your next Women Group! We are at your
disposal to respond to all your requests.
