« YOU ARE GOING TO VISIT THE SISTINE CHAPEL OF HUMAN PREHISTORY! »

Dominic Clarisse: Hello Luc-Henri, I'm delighted you've accepted this meeting so that Azimuth Adventure Travel Ltd's clients can get to know you better and truly appreciate your work. May I ask you to introduce yourself in a few words?

Luc-Henri Fage: My name is Luc-Henri Fage, and I've been a speleologist since I was 16 or 17 years old. With my brother, and then with a very active speleology club in Vaucluse called "Les Darbounes", we explored major sinkholes in the Vaucluse mountains first, then throughout France. Finally, in 1983-84, we explored a vast sinkhole in Algeria, which was my first major expedition outside Europe. That opened doors in the world of exploration speleologists—a surprisingly small community—and led me to Papua New Guinea in 1985 to make my first film.

DC : I personally discovered your "feats" in 1992, after my very first trip to Indonesian Papua (which was called "Irian Jaya" at the time). I was working on an article to illustrate my photographic report, and so I came across your book, "The Memory of Mists," co-written with Arnoult Seveau, which had just been published. I remember devouring it in one sitting, captivated by your descriptions of the adventures and especially by the Papuan tribes I had met just a few months earlier. What sensations did Papua evoke for you?

LHF : Discovering Papua was extraordinary for me. The vast rainforest, the people, the Papuans, the giant sinkholes, and above all, cinema. From that point on, I never stopped traveling with my camera.

(In 1990) we knew that at some point we'd reach the village of Langda, where there were still men making stone axes.

Look, I have one right here. So, they're not really axes—they're adzes. You carry them on your shoulder like this. And then you pull them out, and they let you fell a small tree. Still, it's a beautiful blade. It's a basalt blade mounted on a branch with rattan. And this was a tool that still existed, still being made by the Una people in 1990.

DC : Can you tell us more about the "The Memory of Caves" itinerary, which you'll be leading from April 27 to May 14? Is it a way for you to introduce the general public to Borneo's hidden treasures? Is it also a way to promote a somewhat more "intellectual" form of tourism (as opposed to, for example, so-called "Instagram" tourism)?

LHF : This trip is interesting not only for the people taking it, but also for the local populations, who will benefit from significant economic returns.

We need to develop ecotourism, because if we allow local populations a supplementary economic activity—continuing to visit caves, continuing to explore these limestone mountains, continuing to receive economic returns from these mountains and their rock art—when local people know it's a source of income for them, they'll protect it. They'll help protect it. So we must protect the caves. And to protect them, we must make them known.

I'm certain this will be a journey that touches people, one that those willing to step off the beaten path will embrace.

Of course, there won't be lobsters at every meal—that's for sure! Let's be honest. (Laughs)

We're going to take people to visit the Sistine Chapel of human prehistory!

So, some people go to Rome, others to Venice, taking selfies in front of "Instagram-worthy" spots, and then there are those who visit museums. Well, it's those people we're interested in.

They'll be the ones drawn to this experience, because we'll be discussing human prehistory and paleontology, while in the evening we'll cook fish over coals, freshly caught by Tewet's sons at sunset.

When we hike toward Tewet, toward Gua Tewet, or toward Liang Tamrin, people will sweat—we won't carry them. The principle of this journey is authenticity… and then, the Sistine Chapel at the end! (Laughs)

DC : Thank you, Luc-Henri, for taking some of your precious time to share your passion for Indonésie, and especially for the Papuan populations and the rock art of Borneo.

SIGN UP NOW FOR THE "THE MEMORY OF CAVES" ITINERARY FROM APRIL 27 TO MAY 14, 2024!