During the Pasola Festival, the riders risk their lives.
**Only one hour from Bali**, one of the most popular beach destinations in Asia , the island of Sumba it shows pure and authentic instantly . With a poblation of 600,000 and precarious commercial development, Sumba is one of the poorest islands in Indonesia . Unlike Bali, you don't come here to buy , and the faces you come across belong to locals: a crowd of smiling children wave as they walk home from school and hundreds, maybe thousands, of scooters recklessly weaving their way through overloaded trucks on winding, bumpy roads.
The terrain is hilly and the heat-dried landscapes preceding the rainy season. The locals, in their traditional woolen ikat, wear swords that look like machetes , lead a handful of silver water buffalo through arid landscapes, where farmers patiently wait for the rains to plant their crops. Everywhere women and children carry large containers of water . Families wave excitedly from the bamboo platforms of their homes. These ancestral constructions , located next to family megalithic tombs, feature exaggeratedly high alang-alang ceilings, similar to those 17th century pilgrim hats , and they are unique to this remote and rugged island.
One of the treasures of the Nihiwatu resort is this almost deserted beach.
Crossing Sumba, from the airport in Tambolaka to the south of the island and its magnificent resort of Nihiwatu, is almost like travel to the past . As soon as I turn the last corner of the traverse and start to descend towards the resort, I see the arch formed by its 2.5 km of beach down there . Is awesome. The hotel team warmly welcomes me and introduces me to Jenny who will be my personal housekeeper . Almost all of the staff are from Sumba and her warmth and friendly service will be the hallmark of my stay. Jenny leads me from the magnificent Menara building, through tropical gardens impeccable, where do I find discreet entrances to secluded villas and a charming turtle hatchery, even my own chalet. Each villa has a private pool , cloth loungers and gardens.
This season Nihiwatu has debuted an estate with five magnificent rooms, Raja Mendaka, as well as Mamole, a set of three interconnected houses on wooden pillars. At the entrance of mine, Maranga, there is a message in the sand decorated with flowers: "Welcome, Ibu Lucinda." I dive into the discreet and heated elegance of my room dominated by a teak canopy bed and a stunning view of the famous “left hand break” for which the resort is known. I find it hard to decide between the outdoor shower, a huge wet room or a giant rounded bathtub of legs that I could swim in, but instead I'm left with a refreshing dip in the pool.
Views from one of Nihiwatu's restaurants.
Lunch at Nio Beach Club, where I take off my shoes in the sand and review the surfers on the waves . It was precisely these that first attracted the former owners of the resort, Claude and Petra Graves, in 1988. They built the resort in 2001 and the current owners, the American businessman Chris Burch and the South African hotelier James McBride, acquired it in 2012 . The wave is hypnotic, rolling majestically and predictably parallel to the resort. The area is restricted to ten surfers at the same time . I don't surf, but it must be like skiing in Zermatt without ever having to wait in line for the ski lift.
Later, at the Boathouse Bar, where they manage all the water activities (and there are dozens of them), I meet Duke, a tan Californian who tells me that he has surfed all over the planet and that Nihiwatu is the best . Deep sea fishing, spear fishing, and scuba diving are, according to Duke, also top-notch. He knows it well. He has been coming here for 12 years. Jenny and Natalia, the Customer Experience team, suggest that I visit the Sandalwood Stables , where I receive a Australian Horse Whisperer Clare Sharpe . After a handful of useful advice, I stay with David, the head stable boy, to go out to gallop along the beach and through the waves on one of the sturdy local ponies. The latest invention of his and something unique to him in Nihiwatu is the horse surfing: you climb on a board pulled by a pony, which trots through the shallows.
Terrace on one of the Nihiwatu beaches.
On the beach I meet Chris, a veteran British fisherman , and some of the guys from the boathouse who take me on a sunset cruise along the coast in one of their comfortable big boats. I drink an ice cold glass delicious whispering angel and admire the intense red of the sun as it disappears behind the distant aquatic horizon . If I turn and look at the more than 100 hectares of the Nihiwatu farm It seems that some of the thatched roofs make this resort a quiet local settlement . I dine at the Ombak restaurant, where I relax in a wide wicker chair, admiring the great lighting and ikat-inspired furnishings. I look back at the black ocean and can even see a remote luminescent wave. Jenny makes sure she has everything she needs and the chef, bernard , comes out and introduces himself before giving me a detailed report on the fresh fish he has caught today. Maybe tomorrow, he tells me he, I could catch my own dinner. I know an Indonesian newscaster and her Swiss boyfriend who take responsibility for the fish on the menu tonight and choose a s simple but elegant plate of tripletail and mahi mahi with vegetables from the resort's organic garden. The service is perfect and the wine list very long. I take off my shoes once more, and the raked sand from the restaurant floor runs between my fingers. I feel at home . This feels less like a designer resort and more like a friend's house, perhaps a more sophisticated and tasteful one.
Boathouse Bar, from where all water activities are coordinated.
There are endless possibilities the next day . If I had come to Nihiwatu with my children I might have tried the paddle boarding at the mouth of the Wanukaka River. we would have done snorkeling, riding a mountain bike and, after seeing the other guests fishing and diving, we wanted to try it too. I would have had a hard time getting my son away from the boats and the young surf and diving team that he works there, and my daughters would have had a great time going up to the beach every day and in the village itself. And the team would have offered something to do outside of the menu. But after a meeting with Dr Claus Bogh and Alexandria Wyllie at dinner time the day before, I'm looking forward to exploring the island and discover more about the Sumba Foundation, for which they both work.
The association, created by Claude Graves and Sean Downs in 2001, has an impressive record of educational and health projects . With its citizens involved and without altering its strong and unique cultural traditions, the foundation has reduced the incidence of malaria by 85% . have dug 164 wells , carried out hundreds of vital cataract surgeries and institutionalized school meals and a program to prevent malnutrition. He has enriched the lives of nearly 20,000 people. All profits from the resort, yes all of them, are reinvested in the foundation.
Water buffalo are used as currency. Economic power is measured in terms of the number of them.
After a vigorous yoga session on the new platform, located at the top of the resort with beautiful views of the coast, I go with Alexandria to see first-hand what access to water, mosquito nets and medical treatment means for this region of Sumba. The clinic is modest but crowded and fully occupied by nurses trained here. later we go to a local school , one of the 16 that the foundation supports based on books, furniture, school nutrition meals for hundreds of enthusiastic and needy children. some ridiculous €10 is enough to feed one of these little ones for a whole year! Not much for someone packing for a luxury vacation in Indonesia . I never imagined this dynamic and culturally sensitive philanthropy. I am frankly impressed.
Its ancient constructions, with exaggerated alang-alang roofs, are unique in the world.
Back at the resort, I spend the afternoon reading a book on my beach sofa, watching the surfers and checking emails (their wifi is amazing) and then enjoy a Jungle Spa massage . Early the next day, I refrain from a trip to a local market and a picnic at the Blue Waterfall and I'm going to do hiking with Jenny and Damien to investigate the nearby town of weihola . We walk between recycled water plants (a state-of-the-art system that also desalinates seawater) through the arid landscape of Weihola, where life has hardly changed in centuries.
Built on a hill, like other towns I see in the valley, it is surrounded by a stone perimeter wall. There is no water or electricity here , although I look at a small solar panel emerging from one of the neglected rooftops. The dozen or more bamboo houses stand on the ground and are crowded chaotically around a plaza where some megalithic tombs and stone sacrificial tables . Here they regularly sacrifice animals to honor and appease Marapus ancestral spirits. The town seems almost deserted . Pigs and dogs poke under the houses and a handful of older gentlemen smile shyly at us with mouths stained the red of areca nut. Inside one of the houses, exquisite baskets filled with rice hang from the ceiling and a tiny older woman she tends to a smoky fire, burning even on hot days, right in the center of the building.
Marapu man close-up.
As we started down the hill towards the sea we came across mothers and children carrying water home , climbing the steep, narrow path with open buckets perched precariously above their heads. Water collection is part of the routine here in Sumba . We descend cautiously, past terraces eager for the rainy season before they are planted with rice, and arrive, thirsty and exhausted, at Nihi Oka , a collection of jewelry. Coves housed under a delightful tree house, decorated with flowers and hanging over the water.
Breakfast magically appears and tempt me with tropical fruit, poached eggs and delicious coffee while I look at the turtles and dugongs floating below me , in a blue water. After breakfast, a so soft and relaxing foot massage It almost makes me go back to dreams. At the end of the rainy season, until my visit, Nihi Oka has gone above and beyond with a one-day Spa Safari where guests are provided with your own hammock and a therapist provides beauty and wellness treatments , swimming in the ocean or in a refreshing pool, drinking champagne or herbal teas flavored with lemongrass , while contemplating butterflies and sea creatures.
Lepopo waterfalls in Wanokaka.
Back at the resort, we see a group of young people practicing with the harpoon on the barren land next to the road. Damien runs towards them and smilingly demonstrates his prowess with the harpoon. Jenny explains that they are rehearsing for the Pasola , the spectacular fertility ritual prior to the harvest that gathers hundreds of participants from different clans on horseback . The game is about throw handmade harpoons at each other . El Pasola takes place in February or March and the date is given by the apparition, shortly after the full moon , of the Nyale marine worms that flow into the seashore to spawn. Are the local marapus priests , dressed in ceremonial costumes, who examine the worms, since they can predict how the annual harvest will be and so they give permission to start. Today the authorities insist that harpoons must be blunt, but the Marapus believe that any spilled blood enriches and fertilizes the land and that a good harvest depends on blood on the ground. Fortunately, Damien is just having a good time, as the festival is still a few months away.
My last night, Martyn the bartender tempts me with an example of his Sumba Ice Tea , something that **doesn't sound too healthy or benign (in fact it is)**. dinner is a delicious indonesian family feast at a large table overlooking the ocean and when most of the guests have left, I join the team at the bar. Daisy and Borgas debut some dance moves. I feel relaxed and renewed. Jenny looks tired and happy. She tells me that her motto is: “Love your work and work with your heart” and of course she puts it into practice. This resort seems to know what luxury and the “left hand break” consist of , but I have realized that it is his team and the lives of the people of Sumba what converts Nihiwatu in an incomparable destination . It's going to be hard for me to leave Sumba. I promise to come back.
Indonesian recipe.
* This article is published in the June 85th issue of the Condé Nast Traveler magazine and is available in its digital version to enjoy on your preferred device.
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