Maluku Utara
Ternate
This morning we'll be leaving the hinterlands to the north and travelling to within 1 degree of the equator. Ternate is our destination, the ancient enemy of Tidore, and sometime home of Alfred Russel Wallace.
Off we go.
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Islands galore in this place.
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And water galore. How did they ever navigate here back in the day?
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Volcanos. That means we're approaching North Maluku Island, close to Ternate and Tidore. The volvano on the right is Mount Gamkonora, the highest peak on the island. Also an active strato volcano. It has erupted 12 times since the Europeans came to the area.
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Jailolo, with Ternate and Tidore in the background. Bacan is much further south. These were the four kingdoms of Maluku. Jika ma-kolano, the Ruler of the Bay, was the king here around about 1250. He was a bit of a prick. A lot of people picked up and moved to nearby Ternate. Nonetheless, Jailolo was picked as the sort-of capital of the Four Kingdoms in1320, although this was not always respected and there was a pretty constant state of war amongst the kingdoms.
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No wonder these guys were always at war. You could pretty much swim over to the other place to do your attacking and still be home for lunch.
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And here's Ternate, going half way up the volcano. Discovered in the early 16th century by António de Abreu. Of course it was discovered 5,000 years previously by Arab traders and as much as 400,000 years before that by missing links. A great place to visit but standard tourist amenities are a bit of a concept to the locals, so a guide is recommended if you come here.
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So that's it, then, Ternate for the night. Luckily Gamalama isn't acting up. They had to close this airport for a bit in 2014 because of all the ash and stuff.
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