Destinations
Nestled away on the small Indonesian island of Malenge, Bahia Tomini is a resort like few others
At sunrise a gentle breeze rustles the curtains of our cabana. Outside, the sea washes softly against the shore. Manolito, our cabana-cat, is meowing at the door. I let him in, then take a shower standing by the palm that grows in our open-air bathroom. Coffee awaits; I’ll let my wife Elenka and the cat sleep a bit longer.
Kike and Eva from Valencia, Spain, bought the land and built the Bahia Tomini Eco Resort just 18 months prior to our visit. The three-cabana establishment sits in a sheltered cove on the small island of Malenge, part of the Togian Islands group, not too many hours off the coast of central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Kike and Eva have three dogs, two cats and their own little salt factory from which they extract salt from the sea for us to sprinkle on our food. From the Bahia Tomini kitchen, they concoct their exotic meals, which are served to the eclectic sounds of their World music collection.
Our breakfast eggs are laid by the hen that lives in a basket on the wall by the beverage table. Each morning, our beachfront-fresh eggs are served in one of perhaps a dozen different styles. The cuisine at the Bahia is local Togian with a Spanish/ Continental influence. Fish from the sea, fruit from the jungle, veggies and herbs from the backyard garden—it’s all organic. Lunch and dinner can be anything from fish in macadamia nut curry or fideua— small pasta cooked with fish-head broth in a special paella pan on an open-fire—to eggplant in spicy peanut sauce or simply the catch-of-the-day. Appetizers and garnishes come in the form of kue janda—banana wrapped in a mixture of yucca flour and fresh coconut—or dabu-dabu, a spicy Indonesian salsa. Every dining experience is a taste-bud explosion!
In October, when we visited, the Togian skies could be filled with fluffy white clouds one minute, and then—boom! Boom!—it’s a torrential downpour. When it rains, we rush for the sea; the contrast of the warm sea water and the cool rain on
your head is magical. But get out before the rain stops, so you can wash the salt away with a proper rain shower rinse.
There’s a crystal-clear reef just 30 metres offshore. Every morning after breakfast, we snorkel the reef for an hour or so, and do the same after lunch. The reef probably surrounds the entire island, and it’s not uncommon to see a shark or two while snorkelling. At one point, Elenka spotted giant-sized unicorn fish. “What better place than paradise to find a unicorn,” she said.
SIMPLE AND SUSTAINABLE
Our hosts Kike and Eva do their best to keep their slice of paradise pristine, leading a simple, quiet and sustainable life, without waste or excess. Clean energy for their facilities, for example, is supplied solely via solar panelling and their salt “factory” is little more than a cauldron set to boil. Enlisting the participation of local children, and using their time together as “teachable moments,” the couple makes regular forays with their boat to clean up beach areas that have had an influx of refuse arriving with the tides.
The catch to staying at Bahia Tomini, of course, is that beachfront accommodation doesn’t come cheap. We’re paying $60 per day for our cabana, but that does include the over-the-top chow. I hold my palms upward like scales, trying to balance it all in my mind. Elenka shakes her head at my confusion, saying that we can’t expect to pay less than $50 a day forever.
The other catch: The most feasible way of getting to the Togian Islands is by using one of Indonesia’s major hub airports, either Bali or Jakarta. We came via Bali, which involved three flights for us in all, followed by five hours on a pair of uncomfortable boats, which required some negotiation to hire.
That said, all of the mostly European travellers we’ve met in the Togian Islands smile in awe of where they are. And not one of them has complained about the hardship of getting to this truly remarkable spot…so neither will I. n