Banda Islands
The Original Spice Islands For Centuries The Only Source Of Nutmeg And Mace On Earth; The Dutch Traded Manhattan To The English In 1667 To Secure The Last Of Them · Bandaneira, Maluku
For centuries these ten small islands in the Banda Sea were THE ONLY PLACE ON EARTH WHERE NUTMEG GREW, and the whole violent architecture of European empire in Asia was built to control them. IN 1621 THE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY, under Jan Pieterszoon Coen, killed, starved or enslaved almost the entire Bandanese population - roughly fifteen thousand people reduced to about a thousand - and replanted the groves with slave labour. IN 1667, AT THE TREATY OF BREDA, THE DUTCH GAVE THE ENGLISH MANHATTAN in exchange for RUN, the last Banda island the English held, because nutmeg was worth more than New York. Today it is a quiet backwater of Dutch forts, colonial houses and a live volcano, with SUPERB DIVING on untouched reefs that almost nobody is diving. It is hard enough to reach - a fortnightly ferry or a flight that is often cancelled - that being stranded here is a normal outcome rather than a disaster.
Banda Islands, Banda Sea, Maluku, Bandaneira, Maluku, Indonesia
GETTING THERE IS THE WHOLE PROBLEM. The islands are reached from AMBON, either by the PELNI PASSENGER FERRY, which runs every week or two on a schedule that changes and is frequently disrupted, or by SMALL AIRCRAFT INTO BANDANEIRA, which are limited, weather dependent and cancelled often. BUILD IN SPARE DAYS AT BOTH ENDS - travellers get stuck here routinely, and that is part of the deal. THERE IS NO GATE AND NO ADMISSION: the forts, the colonial houses and the nutmeg groves are simply there, with small local fees or a caretaker to tip. GUESTHOUSES IN BANDANEIRA ARRANGE BOATS, GUIDES AND DIVING. THE SEAS ARE ROUGHEST AND CROSSINGS LEAST RELIABLE ROUGHLY JUNE TO AUGUST. Bring cash; banking is minimal.