Bajo Tribe—Sahabat Laut

About one kilometer away from the beach of Tomia, Traditional village of Bajo tribe lies on the sea, supported by thousands coral under. I was so grateful when I found a fisherman that wanted to take me there. It was just a few minutes trip to get my boat in front of Bajo village gate. As I walked on the wooden path, I saw some kids were swimming like a fish and plowing their little boat “koli-koli” under the floating wooden houses. On the house stairs, there were some girls sitting while powdering their face to make it whiter. I think most Bajo woman loves to do it not only to protect their skin from sunlight but also they think that white means beautiful.

In the middle of village, shiny and tanning skin little boys were running after one ball, trying to head it to the opponent of the fish net made goalpost. Then, one of them came to me. “Mau ikut maen?” he said in thick Wakatobi accent, I replied him with my smile and walked to the small field to get the battle done. I couldn’t make any goal. They played awesome. Mmmm…..I thought Bajoes only good at Sailing.

To earn their living, Bajo village worked as fisherman. For Bajoes, sea is their home and the source of their life. That’s why they are known as one of the best sailor in the world. Interestingly, Bajo fishermen only use three cardinal points—North, West and South in controlling their navigation on the sea. Bajo tribe not only can be found in Celebes, Indonesia. It is also found in the other places such as Philippines, Malay and Brunei.

If you are interested to see Bajo Village especially in Tomia, you need to get plane from Kendari to Matahora Airport in Wanci, then continue your trip to Tomia by boat.

Thanks to  Ima, Sari and Gemma Arman for taking these pictures.