Silver Discoverer Live Voyage Report – Day 13

Indonesia Welcomes Silversea’s Silver Discoverer

Locals in Savu, Indonesia welcome Silversea's Silver Discoverer to their Island - and their home. Photo © 2014 Aaron Saunders

After having spent the past week surrounded by virtually no one in Australia’s vast and remote Kimberley region, Silversea’s Silver Discovereranchored off an island that is arguably just as remote: Savu, Indonesia. But where we were essentially on our own for most of our journey through The Kimberley, we were greeted by an entire village today.

This morning, Silvesea's newest Expedition vessel, Silver Discoverer, anchored off the remote island of Savu, Indonesia. Photo © 2014 Aaron Saunders

Here are the hard facts: the Indonesian island of Savu is also known by six other names: Sawu, Sabu, Sawoe, Havu, Hawu, and Hawoe. It’s located west of Timor, and has a population of about 90,000 as of 2009. Most people here consider themselves to be of Hindu origin, though a smattering of Dutch Protestantism still exists on the island; a by-product of those fun-loving times-gone-by when countries conquered or colonized one another with drunken abandon.

Everything was different this morning as we Zodiac’d ashore. The ocean was a different shade of blue; the terrain was different. And, standing on the beach, was another important difference from our Kimberley expedition: people.