JAGO ISN’T PICKY ABOUT WHAT HE SMOKES. AGED 84, HE’S TRIED THEM ALL — CLOVE-TIPPED INDONESIANS, SOME EXPENSIVE AMERICAN BRANDS; THEY’RE ALL JUST SOMETHING TO PASS THE TIME BETWEEN DIVES.
But Jago isn’t diving today. He sits dockside, poised as if ready to do so, dressed in nothing but a pair of loose shorts, bare feet placed lightly on the decking. You get the feeling Jago is always ready. His sea salt-thickened hair, silver at its roots, is rudely abundant. He’s slight and leathery-tanned, with a teenage boy’s build; liver spot-mottled cheeks frame eyes that are rheumy but resolute. At his hip, a bag bulging with cigarette packets — some gifted, some barter-traded as is the local way. I wonder aloud about his lungs. “They’re fine,” answers his nephew. “He’s not so happy with his knees, though.”
It’s understandable for joints to be giving you gyp after eight decades making forays deep under the ocean. Rohani, Jago’s real name, began free-diving aged five, learning from his father how to train lungs, heart, mind — and knees — to drive him 120ftbelow the surf to spear hunt for fish, earning him his moniker ‘Jago’ — master among the skilled Bajau free-divers. These ‘sea nomads’ of eastern Indonesia’s Togean Islands are supremely fierce fishermen. Over centuries, the Bajau have evolved unusually large spleens: warehouses for oxygen-carrying red blood cells that help sustain dives for up to 13 minutes at a time. In recent years, Jago’s diving and the Bajau way of life have inspired several TV documentaries and glossy photo features. Between here and Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, some 1,250 miles west, Jago is surely the country’s biggest celebrity.
Denne historien er fra January/February 2021-utgaven av National Geographic Traveller (UK).
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra January/February 2021-utgaven av National Geographic Traveller (UK).
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Dianne Whelan
THOUGH NOT A SEASONED HIKER TO BEGIN WITH, THE FILMMAKER BECAME THE FIRST PERSON TO COMPLETE THE WORLD'S LONGEST TRAIL NETWORK
NIGERIA
The country's many communities come together over hearty meals with plenty of heat
Katie Hale
A VOYAGE TO THE GREAT WHITE CONTINENT IS BOTH A DREAM COME TRUE AND A CALL TO ARMS, TO PROTECT OUR ICY POLES AND, IN TURN, OUR PLANET
WILTSHIRE
BEYOND THE MAIN ATTRACTION OF STONEHENGE, WILTSHIRE HAS EQUALLY IMPRESSIVE ANCIENT SITES, GIANT CHALK HORSES AND COSY PUBS IN HISTORIC VILLAGES
BATH
Thermal baths and Regency heritage have put this Somerset city firmly on the travel map - and this year the spotlight will be on former resident and literary great Jane Austen, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of her birth
GRANADA
In this Andalucian city, flamenco is an art form as well as a way of life not just for traditional dancers and singers but also for hip-hop stars, classical guitar legends and street artists
India's Golden Triangle
LINKING DELHI, THE TAJ MAHAL AND THE PINK CITY OF JAIPUR, WITH DETOURS FOR TEMPLES AND TIGERS, THIS IS THE PERFECT ROUTE FOR FIRST-TIMERS. WORDS: POOJA NAIK
FORGED BY FIRE
A SUBTROPICAL ISLAND IN THE ATLANTIC, MADEIRA HAS RUGGED VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS THAT RISE ABOVE THE CLOUDS, NATURAL SWIMMING POOLS DOWN AT SEA LEVEL AND MORE THAN 1,900 MILES OF HISTORIC AQUEDUCTS TRACING THE LANDSCAPES IN BETWEEN
ADRIFT IN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE
A KAYAKING EXPEDITION THROUGH NORWAY'S LOFOTEN ISLANDS OFFERS WHITE-SAND BEACHES, ROYAL ENCOUNTERS AND THE CHANCE TO CHANNEL YOUR INNER VIKING
the RETURN
ON A PRIVATE GAME RESERVE IN SOUTH AFRICA'S KWAZULU-NATAL PROVINCE, AN UNLIKELY CREATURE IS MAKING A TENTATIVE COMEBACK - AND VISITORS ARE OFFERED A GLIMPSE INTO THE CONSERVATION EFFORTS TO SAVE IT AND OTHER NATIVE WILDLIFE
