In search of Wallace
Brett Atkinson follows the footsteps of naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace on a 12-day journey around the islands of Ternate and Tidore.
In previous centuries, the islands of Ternate and Tidore – both crowned with volcanic cones draped in dense tropical forest – were the only source of cloves on the planet, and European colonial powers travelled from Lisbon, London and Amsterdam to align with influential, and often competing, local sultans to secure access to the islands’ incredibly profitable bounty.
In a new century, Ternate and Tidore are now part of the far-flung eastern Indonesian province of Maluku (formerly known as the Moluccas), and in the shadow of two island volcanoes at the heart of the spice trade, we’re embarking on a remote journey in the wake of an overlooked Victorian-era hero of natural history.
Inspired by the chronicles of Charles Darwin and Alexander von Humboldt, Alfred Russel Wallace first ventured to the isolated archipelagos of Malaya, Borneo and the East Indies in 1854, funding his travels as a collector of bird and animal specimens for moneyed natural history enthusiasts back in London.
Identifying differences and adaptations in the specimens he sourced, it was during a feverish malarial dream in Dodinga village on the Moluccan island of Halmahera in 1858 that he pioneered the theory of natural selection to drive evolutionary change.
Back in Ternate, he quickly penned a detailed essay and letter to his friend and mentor Charles Darwin outlining his ground-breaking idea, prompting Darwin to move forward the publication of his On The Origin Of Species book to 1859.
Beginning in Ternate, we’re about to begin a 12-day journey (re)discovering Alfred Russel Wallace and his important legacy.
We’re travelling with SeaTrek Adventures on the Ombak Putih (White Wave), a wooden-hulled Sulawesi-style pinisi ketch, journeying amid the historic echoes of Wallace from the Spice Islands through the remote islands of Raja Ampat to the gritty West Papuan city of Sorong.
It’s in the laneways of Ternate town where our group of 20 travellers first learn about Wallace’s famous 1858 correspondence to Darwin. Near the imposing ramparts of the Dutch-era Fort Oranje, built in the early 17th century when the VOC (Dutch East India Company) was at its most powerful, detailed sleuthing has identified a brace of locations where Wallace most likely penned his earthshaking epistle to Charles Darwin.
Markets still sell the nutmeg and cloves which made this remote region of Indonesia the centre of global trade in the 17th century, and in a local cafe, Wallace memories are combined with refreshing es kopi (iced coffee) before we cruise across cerulean waters to visit sleepy Dodinga on sprawling and low-slung Halmahera.
Our Halmahera welcoming committee includes excited children – the village sees less than 100 visitors every year – and while there’s now no physical evidence of Wallace’s stay, proof of earlier European influence includes Dutch cannons and the remains of a 17th-century fort.
Ombak Putih’s onboard Wallace expert, evolutionary biologist George Beccaloni, meets with Dodinga’s village chief to gift the local school with illustrated children’s books, telling the story of Wallace’s stay in Dodinga in both English and Bahasa Indonesia. He confirms plans are under way for a plaque to be installed marking the bicentennial of Wallace’s birth.
An equatorial dusk then settles quickly on this remote island at the centre of evolutionary science, and as Tidore’s perfect conical profile fills the near horizon, we cruise silently through a blush-coloured twilight back to the Ombak Putih.
Wallace’s travels inspired his own 19th century bestseller, The Malay Archipelago – a book that’s never been out of print since its first publication in 1869. More than 150 years later, it’s also a superb literary companion for a Wallace-focused adventure on the Ombak Putih.
We consult an insightful and well-crafted excerpt before our group’s early morning uphill hike to see Wallace’s standardwing bird-of-paradise on Bacan Island. Two male birds are (eventually) spotted in the forest canopy, while a few early-rising macaques look on with interest.
Later in the cruise amid the even more remote islands of Raja Ampat, it’s the wildlycolourful Wilson’s bird-of-paradise that steals the show.
Elsewhere on Bacan, the local market is a labyrinthine riot of smiles and colour, and we take a forest walk to a shaded butterfly sanctuary enlivened by Wallace’s golden birdwing, a rare and very localised species.
As part of the boat’s crew of 15 – coming from many parts of Indonesia’s 15,000-island archipelago – cruise directors Dion Luas and Jemy Lambaihang lead daily snorkelling excursions from the Ombak Putih, entering warm waters from the boat’s inflatable Zodiacs to explore the remote southeastern edges of Asia’s Coral Triangle.
With more than 1500 islands, Raja Ampat features 1700 different species of fish and 80% of the world’s coral species, and turtles, manta rays and reef sharks are also regularly spotted on morning and afternoon swims in gin-clear waters on terraced coral reefs or along steep dropoffs descending to indigo depths.
Village visits around Raja Ampat include a welcome from local girls adorned with cassowary feathers, while the boat’s crew distribute underwater goggles so village school children can also explore the waters around their island homes.
Back on board the Ombak Putih, sunset cocktails and cold Bintang beers inevitably segue to convivial shared meals on outside decks cooled by seasonal trade winds, and entertaining presentations from George Beccaloni are the perfect forum for learning more about Alfred Russel Wallace’s often challenging travels in this intensely remote region we’re exploring with significantly more ease and air-con comfort.