Siberut: the Shamans of the night

Meet at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport and fly to Indonesia. Qatar Airways / Paris – Jakarta / 0905-0740 (+1 day)

Arrival in Jakarta and connecting flight to Padang.

Welcome at the airport and transfer to your hotel. In the afternoon, city stroll through the old districts of the city. Evening seafood meal.

Early morning transfer to the port of Padang, where you board a speed boat heading to the Mentawai Islands. At Muara Siberut, you are welcomed by Yohan, your local coordinator, who then takes you to a small hostel. The rest of the day (by the sea) is free while Thierry & Yohan prepare the logistics of the trip.

Departure by “pongpong” (small motorized canoe with a long tail) towards the village of Buttui, following the meanders of the Rogdog river. During the journey through the forest and a few villages, you will see monitor lizards or small crocodiles basking on the banks, birds and perhaps an enormous python sleeping on the branches above the river. Arrival in Buttui in the afternoon. Installation in the Uma (traditional longhouse) of Aman Ipai, the new Sikkerei recently inducted, and now Shaman. Dinner and overnight in the traditional house with the family and guests.

You will spend 4 full days in the company of the people of the forest. You will follow the women begging for food in the gardens, fishing in the river, preparing local food in the Uma, etc. With the men, you will prepare arrow poison for hunting (use of strychnine, which is the sap of the strychnos tree), sacrifice a chicken and read its entrails to find out if the days to come will be positive, if the ancestors will come home, if the guests are welcome, and if the food will be in abundance.

You will share community meals with your hosts, much improved by your team of cooks.

The Mentawai speak to trees, plants and animals. Macinderei, another legendary Shaman, acts as a medicine man if there is a sick person. You follow the men in preparing sago, the basis of all local food: cutting the sago palm, extracting the flour, collecting sago worms, etc. Back at the Uma, Aman Ipai the Shaman, adds a tattoo to his body as a sign of protection for the days to come. The big ceremony is for the next day, and we must be dignified in front of the ancestors who will return, for a day or a night, to the Uma. Several Sikkerei arrive early in the morning at the Uma, invited for the induction ceremony of a new Shaman. They did not need to be asked to collaborate in the birth of a new master of ceremonies, through dancing, singing, the rhythm of the body and the feet which rhythmically strike the wooden floor. These Shamans have become, in the space of a few hours, the envoys of heaven and nature to whom they speak, and who bring all their knowledge for the protection of the small community.

Food is in abundance too. Their wives speak loudly and clearly to demonstrate their status as wives of chiefs, whether they are Sararrakeit, Sakkudei or Saige Oni. Different clans but all brothers today.

One or more pigs are sacrificed, a few chickens will suffer the same fate, and everyone will comment.

When evening comes, like a powerful call from the forest, the Shamans will dance to the sound of gongs, communicate in a language of their own, and reach an ecstatic state through trance. Superb days in contact with these beings like no other, the “flower men”, considered the last guardians of the forest.

Long day of walking between traditional fields of cultivation, sago palm trees and jungle towards Majongaik, traditional hunting place of Aman Ipai. Setting up the camp, made of wood and a palm roof to protect against possible nighttime rain. This day is a sharing of traditional life with the people of the forest. You will pick young fern shoots for dinner, go with the Sikkerei to look for medicinal plants for the healing of possible Uma patients, knowledge passed down from generation to generation.

6h hike

Day in the forest with your hosts, bow and spear hunting to flush out a wild boar or a monkey endemic to the island of Siberut. The route may be longer or shorter and patience will be required. Others will trap fish and shellfish in the river near the camp. A very informative day.

4h hike

Hike through the jungle to reach the small village of Toribuk on the east coast of Siberut. The walking paths on the island are not always well signposted, especially if you pass through the heart of an area of sago palm trees. Mud and brackish water up to mid-calf (it is recommended to wear gaiters).

5h hike

On foot, you reach the hamlet of Salappak, where you board a “pongpong” heading south. After a stop at Muara Sibeirut (to pick up fishing equipment… and cold beer), continue to Masilok island by motorized canoe. Installation in a very nice little lodge, which lies under the coconut trees and in front of a beach with desperately white sand and a turquoise sea. On the beach several kilometers long, you are alone in the world. Seafood barbecue in the evening: very good grilled fish, squid, prawns, etc.

Rest day. Possibility of fishing, snorkeling with mask and snorkel (to be brought personally if necessary), walking through the mangrove or simply swimming. A day for “Robinsons”.

In the evening, a big fire and prepared for dinner your fish caught during the day.

Return to Muara Sibeirut at the end of the morning and board a speed ferry, which will take you back to Padang. On arrival, transfer to the Panggeran Beach Hotel, close to the city center.

Day visit to Minang country around its capital, Bukittinggi. Numerous stops along the way: Singkarak volcanic lake, Pagaruyung royal house, Batusangkar cattle market where the buffalo is king, terraced rice fields under the still very active Marapi volcano (2,911m), etc. Country of the “victorious buffalo”, Minangkabau country is subject to matriarchal rule. The wife owns the land, the livestock, the house. Even though the Minangkabau are Muslim, the tradition has continued for generations. Check-in at the end of the day at the Grand Rocky hotel, ideally located in the city center.

Morning visit to Bukittinggi: its bustling market, its superb traditional Minang house which serves as a museum, the Syanok canyon and its Benteng fort, a relic of the former Dutch settler. Late morning transfer to Padang airport for your return flight to France, via Jakarta.

Citilink / Padang – Jakarta / 1410-1550 Qatar Airways / Jakarta – Paris / 1830-0725 (+ 1 day)