THE MENTAWAI ADVENTURE
The meeting point was Padang, in Sumatra island. This village is the place that nobody will choose as destination but to pass by to go to Mentawai. People, horns, dirt and ugly coast is not what someone expects from Indo.
The main attractions are the ruins of buildings hit by an earthquake some months ago and local transport system...
Our objective of this stop was putting things together to take off to a tinny island, Niang Niang (Massekut), where electricity, communication, doctors, food and water are missing but some of the best surf spots can be found. Forget about mobile phones and internet!
2 days of organization, good local contacts were the key. Dee Dee, the cooker and Wee-man, a local surfer, helped us gather provisions, find a boat and accommodation in the island.
7 hours trip on a "speed boat", loaded with 14 surfboards, 250 lts of water, 30 lts of milk, 15 kg of rice, 5 kg of noodles, oil, some chickens, fish, pasta, cookies, fruits, cereals, heaps of spices, some candies (Beng Beng!)... hopefully enough for ten days isolation.
The island is amazing. Some guest cottages spread in the coast, 6 max., one small resort and two or tree locals aldeas is all the infrastructure you get. Around 250 people all inclusive.
Local communities work on cloves drying and coconut smoking. The rest is given by the island. Friendly, helpful and smily would be the terms to describe our hosts.
Benny, aussie, was the one who motivated the trip and put the group together: Always ready Brogan and Jason, "the dealer", aussies; Myke, story teller, dutch; Tobias, in music, Denish; worldwide Lucas and me, the Argentineans.
Everything went smooth and easy. Of course the highlight were the surfing sessions were I was getting back in touch with the ocean, more fighting the waves than surfing them...
Nipussy point, big and quick right, 40 min walk trough the jungle from our cottage. Lucas was the one who put Argentineans in a good position the first day in some nice 7 foot waves.
Bang Bang, 20 min away. Long left, it gets shallow at the end were the reef threats. Ben was victim of a huge set and got a nice memory on his back but he didn't miss any wave.
Pit Stops, friendly right where Myke enjoyed some good sessions.
E-Bay, huge and quick right. Not for everybody, it gets too shallow, you have to be fast! We enjoyed it from the coast, big barrels and pro rides.
Renting a boat for some days is a recommendable option. Lots of islands with different breaks and good snorkeling surrounds Niang-Niang. John Kennedy, were Brogan showed his relax style and Tobi enjoyed good waves. Burger World, some nice rides of Jason, and other breaks of playground. On top, you can always catch up a fishing boat and buy some good fish for the barbecue!
Card games at night were good fun. Poker for shells always present but argentinean TRUCO was happy times!
Breakfast, lunch and dinner always ready and tasty, having a cooker, an other recommendable! Don't forget to take some extra rupias to buy chickens from locals, be ready to catch it, kill it and clean it!
Food was enough, no mayor injuries or diseases, cool, friendly and relax atmosphere.
Have NO fear!
