Stunning Tarimbang Beach, home to popular wave ‘Miller’s Right’
Travel: Sumba, Indonesia in Pictures
If it is adventure and the road less travelled you seek, then you will find it in Sumba. This rugged, dry, relatively untouched island provides a unique view, albeit lost in time, of Indonesian culture and living.
By Jen Curcio
Our visit to Sumba was an ambitious leap from our previous travels around Indonesia. The trip had been inspired by a coastal landscape image and blurb in a surfer’s guide referencing ‘waves of consequence’, tribal culture and thatched peaked huts. ‘Sumba is not for everyone’ also featured quite early in the write up, and in hindsight it was the most accurate disclaimer.
Put simply, life in Sumba is basic. Forget smart phones, social media, running water or electricity. Instead be prepared to trade those ‘essentials’ (unless you are staying at Nihiwatu) for peace, quiet, a lot of space to think and recharge, clean air and beaches so beautiful you won’t remember the last time you saw anything so stunning.
Despite the discomfort of our cramped lodgings (literally a mattress on the floor in a small room surrounded by a mosquito net) and the local ‘mozzies’, the nature in Sumba was breathtaking and reminded me a lot of the limestone cliff edges of Australia’s Victorian coastline. I also loved observing a still traditional people and culture. More often than not families sat or laid down on the open porches of their thatched peaked roof homes watching time pass, and everybody we met greeted us, smiled and seemed so content – an expression and state we in the West don’t seem to wear that often.
If it is adventure and the road less travelled you seek, then you will find it in Sumba. This rugged, dry, relatively untouched island provides a unique view, albeit lost in time, of Indonesian culture and living. Although our trip was motivated by chasing large waves (at least for my husband anyway), I am grateful that we got to experience such a magical place and hope that future travellers continue to leave it the way we found it.
Enjoy this glimpse into Sumban life.
The incredible sunrise from the little cut out window in our very modest hut
Our accommodation at our surf camp/homestay. Our room was the one on the left.
I called this ‘the confession room’ at our homestay
A local home nearby
Sandy footprints at Tarimbang Beach, about a 400m walk from where we were staying
The enormous limestone cliffs
A Brahminy Kite
The traditional peaked thatched roof houses of Sumba
Some of the local children at our homestay
Magic sunsets at Tarimbang Beach
A little boy helping cool down his horse at Tarimbang Beach
Calling it a day
Some of the other houses near our homestay
