east TIMOR

June 2023
‘In Search of Ocean’s Giants’

It’s been a long time planning this one has. I think over a year or so now. It started with chat, with our whale specialist and marine guru, Pat. We originally met about 8 years ago, in Dubai, he was a lawyer at the time, but a marine fanatic, something that he explained to me over lunch the next day. I say the next day, as he missed the presentation, I had given the night before at a client’s house, well he didn’t miss it, he just turned up 2 hrs late and then asked me to do it all again, that’s typical pat. But he is bloody good. That lunch – where Pat said we should swim with the worlds’ largest existing creature, the blue whale – is what led to what is now one of NWS’s strongest and most unique products, our marine trips. The first company to legally swim with blue whales in Sri Lanka, the first company to set up swimming with orcas in Norway, the first company to set up swimming with sperm whales in Dominica. And now East Timor.

I have to confess, I am going into this one slightly blind, or maybe that’s the way I go into a lot of these trips. It seems more interesting to me that way. Yes, preparation is good, but I don’t want to know everything all before I get there, and I can safely say, I know nothing about East Timor. All I know is that, it is one of the best places for migrating blue whales at this time of the year, so why not give it a shot.

So here we go. London – Singapore – Bali – East Timor.

A short stop in Bali with a welcome overnight and then a short 2hr hop to Dili and east Timor. I have to say, it was at once enlightening to be somewhere new again at the same time as shocked/surprised to see how poor this far-flung corer of the world truly is. Since Independence was gained, it is clear that ET has not come far and has a long way to go. The rains are late which does not help so Dili, located on the north coast, is bone dry as we drive East to Baucau. A beautiful coastline tempts our whaley senses as we hug the coastline gazing out to sea in the hope of our first ‘blow’. We slowly climb the plateau and the temperature drops, just slightly, but enough for us to roll into greener scenery, palms and more, a short glimpse into what the rains will bring.

Baucau is pretty bleak on first sight, a town but more shanty than town. Our hotel itself is clean and comfy, but, as it transpires it is newly built and not yet finished and only opened for our small groups’ arrival and the smattering of clients before and after. There is no food, no drinks, it is basic.

As for the whales, due to the late onset of the monsoons season, it appears that our migratory friends are also late arriving. Sperm whales, pilot whales, dolphins, mats, and more, Blues yes, built not as many yet as we had hoped, as they wait for the rains to arrive, the sea temperatures to drop and the onset of the krill…

DAY 1
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A good start today but no blues. A latish start to get in the water due to low tides and logistics, but we are off before 9. It’s hot, 31 degrees C hot to be precise. The boat is small but good. We hit our stride early with a beautiful pod of pilot whales and dolphins only a mile offshore; they are fairly shy though so attempts to get in the water provided low returns. Seeing the breaching and diving through the waves though was a good enough start as the dolphins bow danced there way along through the turquoise waters as we slowly left them behind. 8hrs on the water in total, hot sun, pink legs, but fun and another run at it tomorrow.

When nothing happens on the water…nothing happens on the water…

…What can I say, 3 days later, 8hrs a day on the water, it’s been fun, but tough, and no Blue Whales. False Killer whales, pilot whales, dolphins and lots of deep blue sea, but sadly no blue whales right now. But, this is part often chase, this is part of frontier travel, this is how it should be. Not every trip ends in victory, not every trip has success, that is what travel used to be about and should, still be about, about the journey, about the discovery, about the adventure. What has happened over the past few days is I have spent time with some incredible people, expert in their fields, learnt, laughed and explored another unknown corner of our tiny globe.

Blue whales, what can I say? They are elusive, and that is how it should be. Strange though when you think that the largest mammal to have ever existed on our planet we still know hardly anything about. Limited knowledge on migration patterns, feeding habits, intercourse, feeding, nursing, really not much about anything. There is still only one known recording of a mother blue whale nursing a young calf, that’s it! So whilst, yes, I am disappointed as I would have loved to swim with blue whales, It actually also fills me with a little bit spark of hope, a little bit of mystery still lives on this earth. Something that humans cannot control, cannot dictate, we cannot just ‘pay to see’, true nature, something untouched, unseen, something that swims the oceans still in its own veiled mystery.

So, will we be back? Yes, I think so.

The reason for our lack of success seems to be out of our hands, changing weather patterns. Usually by this time the monsoons have kicked in, the waters have therefore cooled, the krill has come in, and the Blues appear. We are smack bang in the middle of that usual season, but it has not yet happened, no monsoons, which means no blue whales. Our hope is that this changes over the next few weeks and that as a result, the whales appear, but it is anyone’s guess to be honest at this stage.

Over the last few years Blue Whale patterns have changed quite dramatically, blue whales in Sri Lanka have pretty much disappeared over night, blue whales in California have become thin on the ground, now maybe it is East Timor’s turn too… all of these questions seem to revolve around the changing global weather patterns, what once was predictable now is not and with that comes shifting patterns, shifting food sources, shifting migrations, shifting wildlife. We will see, but maybe the greatest creature to swim our oceans should be left in peace…just for a little while longer.

Timor as a country? It’s poor. So poor. I would love to bring some frontier travel here and encourage that ripple of positivity through the local community. But maybe the time is not right, not yet.

Reflections Homeward Bound…

God I am lucky. It’s now a few days later and I am sitting in Dubai Airport waiting for my onward connection back home. I’ve done Timor Leste, and I have done 3-4 days of meetings

and presentations in Singapore. It’s been a journey of contrasts springing from the extreme poverty of Timor Leste to the skyscrapers and luxury brands of Singpaore. Some things in common though, I got the sh1ts in both places! A ‘bio break’ mid whale watching - not my proudest moment! – and the same again whilst staying at one of the most comfortable hotels in Singapore. Such is life!

It is now home for 10 days or so and then off to Ennedi in Chad. I am looking forward to that. It’s an area I have wanted to visit for some time now; it’s a short visit, 5 days or so, but is meant to be magical up there in the desert so I look forward to that one…

It seems to be a bit of a change of gear at the moment; its been a slog to be honest this year. It hasn’t really gone as smoothly as I was hoping, but I think we are getting the foundations in place hopefully for something big. With the new team, the new investment, the new office, we have a fresh outlook and the contacts that are slowly being opened up to us offers us the opportunity to put down fresh roots in Asia and hopefully further afield. That’s all we ever need as a brand, it’s more eyes on our product. We will deliver, we just need more people to know about us. It’s quite simple maths at the end of the day!