RAJA AMPAT: APA PENDAPAT ORANG ASING TENTANG RAJA AMPAT???

Kalau bicara soal keindahan Raja Ampat…..ngga akan ada habisnya… Incredible…magnificent….!!!!! Jujur, kalau jatuh cinta sama pemandangan disini… Padahal gw belum bisa diving (gimana kalo udah bisa ya…mungkin jadi ngga mau pulang ;D….)

Keindahan Raja Ampat tuh bukan tanpa sebab. Pernah ngga sih nanya kenapa wilayah sekitar Raja Ampat pecah dalam bentuk pulau-pulau? Kenapa bentuk pecahan pulaunya unik, ngga kayak di sekitaran Jawa atau Sumatra? Kenapa air di sekitar pulaunya warnanya bisa tosca, ngga langsung biru? Kenapa ikan-ikannya warna-warni dan ngga takut sama penduduk local? Kenapa ikannya beragam banget? Kenapa…kenapa…kenapa….. (lebayyyy….)

Yang mengakui keindahan Raja Ampat bukan Cuma kita lho… Turis-turis dari mancanegara, terutama para divers, matanya bisa berbinar-binar bahagia kalau dapat tiket emas ke Raja Ampat. Ngga percaya??? Ini buktinya…

Selama di Raja Ampat, gw berkesempatan ketemu dengan seorang berkebangsaan Turki bernama Tunc. Beliau adalah seorang….seorang apa ya…nyebutnya??? Mmmm….dia divers…dia juga penulis untuk suatu majalah…dia juga punya travel agent….dan saat ke Raja Ampat, dia jatuh cinta setengah mati sampe akhirnya bikin resort disana… Mari kita sebut saja dia Tunc si pengusaha.

Bicara soal resort, penginapan milik Tunc ini emang kelasnya yahutttt… namanya Papua Explorers resort. Berlokasi di Kampung Yenwaupnor, Kec. Meos Mansar, kebanyakan pelanggan PE resort ini adalah turis asing. Biaya penginapannya….ehmmm...sekitar 1700-4000 euro untuk 1-3 minggu (uhuk…uhukk…tiba-tiba pengen batukk…)

Jadi penasaran kan sama PE resort…^^ … Jujur,,,bahan bangunannya sama kok dengan resort-resort di Raja Ampat pada umumnya..ala eco property gitu deh.. cinta lingkungan banget pokoknya. Lah trus..kok? Nahh..di resort ini yang membedakan adalah fasilitasnya. Listriknya menyala 24 jam (sebagian resort hanya menyalakan listrik setengah hari, karena biaya BBM yang mahal), ada wifi, dan toilet (per kamar) yang de-desain seperti toilet di hotel. Yahh…ada harga, ada barang…

Tapi hal yang saya respect dari bule yang satu ini, Tunc itu juga mencintai lingkungan. Dia sempat cerita saat pertama kali usaha resort nya dibuka, terumbu karang di sekitarnya banyak yang rusak dan mati. Karena apa? Karena sebagian nelayan dan penduduk local yang sembarangan cara menangkap ikannya. Sejak itu dia (dan penduduk local tentunya) komitmen untuk memperbaiki terumbu karang dan ngga menginjak-injak sembarangan di area terumbu karang itu. Dan hasilnya….emang terlihat, di hari saya berjumpa dengan Tunc untuk wawancara.

Ini dia pembicaraan saya dengan Tunc si pengusaha:

LORI

When do you know about Raja Ampat? Who told you about that?

TUNC

I had a travel agency in Istanbul, It was already a long time ago in 1996. I used to bring people diving all around the world. Phillipines, Malaysia, Indonesia.

LORI

You’re a diver also?

TUNC

We’re also diver. In 2008, we decided to come to Raja Ampat. It was the first time coming to Raja Ampat. We heard a lot about it in four magazines,

LORI

What kind of news?

TUNCK

A very nice one. It was like Marine    Biodiversity Hotspot of the world, and the best corals you can encounter in the world. We heard those things and we decided to come here to have a look at it.

LORI

And what did you get?

TUNC

As I said I have dived a lot of places in the world including Komodo, Bali, Manado. All the area I can say the first moment had into water unbelievable. Amazing.

LORI

What is the different that you get in Raja Ampat that you cannot get in other place?

TUNC

Lots of species. Lots of corals. Lots of fish. All of them together. Corals are like the carpet underwater. And fishes are like we call the dive site sardines that so dense as they are in a can of sardines.

LORI

Is that a thing that make you’re just like people that alcoholic. Just like want to take alcohol more and more. Is that Raja Ampat make you just like that?

TUNC

It makes you dive-a-holic.you want to dive more and more. You want to dive all the sites. Explore them. As you know that a lot of sites which are unexplored. Especially North Raja Ampat. So we are looking forward to have some good once there.

LORI

Is that why you have resort now here?

TUNC

Yes off course. We always want to do something in South East Asia. Especially Indonesia, because Indonesian people, they always have special place in my heart. Because friendliness. Always the big smile, very kind people and I want to do something in Indonesia. A lot of places already have a lot of resorts. Then you come here, you meet Papuan people, you meet Indonesian people, and there also very kind and then you say ‘I need to do something’. That’s all the project started actually.

LORI

And I just like a small village actually. And you used the resort just like. All the leaves, all the wood. Why don’t you make just like a big hotel here?

TUNC

First of all, off course we wanted to be a sustainable resort. Eco friendly resort. It isnt enough just to write ‘eco’ in your name. you also have to act like ‘eco’. So, using natural things like woods, leaves and things like that, … if the resort is not used, they’ll be composed easier, instead of having big one or something like that here.

LORI

When people know about Raja Ampat, and people just like you. They want to know and then they’re getting interested in, and their friends and some of people or maybe crowded people want to go here,. What is the most scariest thing or maybe the worst thing that can happen in this place?

TUNC

Everybody has to take care of surrounding of Raja Ampat especially the corals and the fish. So we shouldn’t be … the environment. The most inportanht thing is sampah. Sampah issue. Never throw something into the water, and also we have tempat sampah. We can throw them in. the second thing is the corals. If we touch them a little bit they could be die. Never walk on top of them, never stand on them with shoes or feet, which can hurt you and also the corals can die because of that. And off course no … fishing. If we want to keep the corals here keep healthy and alive, and making people more and more coming here from outside, in indonesia also from inside indonesia and other countries coming in here. We need to keep this place alive. I always say Indonesia has so many tourism resources. 17500 islands, they can live easily on the money of the tourist coming in. just take care of the environment very good, keep it conserved, they can earn a lot of  money of it. And more and more tourists coming. If we keep it like this.

LORI

Do you think Papuanese or maybe Raja Ampat citizens have educated enough about that?

TUNC

They already have lots of projects here. Like the Kalabia Boat and surely they have heard about it educating local people about the environment. I think they’re targetting about this. Also we, the resort we need to continue with that education.

So we let local people know how important this  to save the environment. Because then they can see more tourist coming and we able to work in tourism ya and earn more money income for their family. It’s better than just going fishing out of the water it’s better having work for lifetime  in tourism business.

LORI

Some of foreign investors, just like to give their money to invest their money in Indonesia. But they used to say that local people just like strange and foreign people, they don’t like to meet the other people and just like, we call it corrupt. Take illegal money just like that in some places. How do you think in Raja Ampat? Is that difficult for you to make investment?

TUNC

I think from the beginning, the first moment I said into … I was always helped to find the right place to the investment I think I feel very confident and safe here. Also with the local people also with the local government. We’re saved here. I don’t have any problem. And till then, since the first day. Off course you heard things and you’re scared. None of them. All of them support tourism here, especially Raja Ampat. And I must say, I didn’t work with other local government but I I work with Raja Ampat local government. Bagus sekali.

LORI

And some of local investors just like investing it, but when they postpone and they just like. All the things that we want to get with the high price.

TUNC

It’s not easy off course. If you’re investing you must be invested. Now when I came here, I’ve always seen other resorts. I thought Raja Ampat deserves better. ………… because Raja Ampat deserves a hotel like this. And I hope for the later investors come here, they don’t just invest a little, big, nice, and also sustainable.

LORI

Do you have any a testimony or maybe a suggestion for tourists or maybe local people, I mean indonesian tourists that want to come to Raja Ampat

TUNC

They definhitely want to come because it’s a special place of their country. They should meet the local Papuan people, they’re incredibly nice, welcoming, also very shy people. It’s very nice to interact with them, and we already became big family. But when they come here, every tourist has to be aware that this very pristine. So they have to bear in mind, how they can protect this. So if they can see trash, sampah which doesn’t even belong to them, just take it and throw them to tempat sampah. After that try to protect the reefs, not to walk on them. Swim on top of them, … and see whats going on. Try to take a lot of pictures, show people more and more so they get knowledge about Raja Ampat. And thjey come here more but still, very protective about the environment.

LORI

Raja Ampat, get more attention from people around the world is beginning from actually from the NGOs, some divers that know about Raja Ampat. And the local government knows about that, and at the last is the government of Indonesia. And I think not all of the area in Papua, get attention just like Raja Ampat. What do you think about that?

TUNC

Well I must confess that the rest of Papua is as pristine as Raja Ampat. And also needs the attention from the whole world. And the central govenrment also of the tourism. Not to forget the Cendrawasih have the whale sharks the local whale sharks. The world is looking at them. The tourist would also go over there. So we have to take care of this also. Not only Raja Ampat. It’s actually every part of Indonesia which is under attention of tourists. We need to take care of all the area, not only Raja Ampat.  

sumber foto: Lori dan Pak Christofel