Vagabonding Field Report: The biggest starfish on the smallest island In the world

Starfish on Sand Island, Sumatra

Cost/day: $80/day

What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen lately?

I discovered the smallest island in the world in Sumatra. It’s made entirely of sand, and it’s covered in starfish. The locals call it Sand Island.  It’s off the coast of Belitung Island in Southern Sumatra. The island is so small that there isn’t even a palm tree. But lots of starfish float upon it’s shores, and they are the biggest starfish that I’ve ever seen.

Describe a typical day:

Well, it’s an island, so getting there isn’t the easiest. First you have to get to Belitung Island. Belitung isn’t even in the Lonely Planet yet, so there are no taxi’s. Drivers do come to the airport to take you to your hotel. So I arranged for the driver at the airport to be my full-time driver while I am here for $40 a day. He arranged a boat tour for me to go to Sand island and lots of other islands all covered in huge granite stones. That is another $40 a day.

 

Belitung, Sumatra beach

Describe an interesting conversation you had with a local:

No one speaks English here, and I mean no one. My driver has been using Google Translate on his phone to ask questions. I thought this was a brilliant idea. We also talked about what music we liked. They are also very proper here, and he started out the day by asking whether he should call me Madame or Miss.

What do you like about where you are? Dislike?

I love the beauty of the beaches on Belitung and the surrounding islands. I cannot get over the size of the huge granite rocks which loom overhead. I hate the amount of trash on the beaches. I wish people respected the environment more.

Belitung Island rocks, Sumatra

Describe a challenge you faced:

I suddenly found myself climbing a twenty-story lighthouse in my bare feet. The stairs were covered in rust. They were steep and narrow. The driver had insisted that I go all the way to the top. I have no idea why I had agreed to that. I got to the top and was too afraid to even go out on the landing because the metal was so rusty, I was afraid it would collapse. Going back down, the stairs were so narrow that everytime I stepped down a stair, the stair above would scrape my calves. I am so glad that I had a tetanus shot before coming on this trip!

Rusty lighthouse staircase, Belitung, Sumatra

 

What new lesson did you learn?

I learned that to get to the beautiful places in life, you sometimes have to go through a bit of discomfort to get there. It is the same in ourselves. To uncover the hidden beautiful places in ourselves, we sometimes have to go through some uncomfortable growing pains to see them!

Where next?

I’m off to Ubud, Bali. My favorite place in the world, and the place I currently consider to be my true home.  For more on my visit to Sumatra, check out my blog or Facebook!

val dawson

Posted by | Comments (5)  | April 3, 2013
Category: Vagabonding Field Reports


5 Responses to “Vagabonding Field Report: The biggest starfish on the smallest island In the world”

  1. marilee Says:

    Val you’re so adventurous and inspiring! What a great story!

  2. valerie hart Says:

    You take vagabonding to the extreme! Wish I was there… Look forward to more stories.

  3. Val @ThisWayToParadise Says:

    Thank you guys! It’s true, I’m always looking for the extreme adventure, the place no one knows about, the undiscovered!

  4. Ted Beatie Says:

    Wow! What an excellent day!

  5. Gabi Says:

    your photos and world excite me to no end. your location, your day just make me drool. thank you for sharing. sounds unreal. like a postcard. 🙂 gabi