Sumba Island Best Kept Secrets

 A WELL KEPT SECRET

Three decades ago Bali was thrust onto the main stage of tropical island destination travel by surfers seeking the year round “perfect wave”.

Sumba, with its south coast exposure to Indian Ocean swells from the bottom of the world, is emerging as a more affordable and more private alternative. 

Birding Indonesia's Sumba Island

Our group of four Australian and three American birders had a fine four days birding on Indonesia's Sumba Island in the Lesser Sundas. Our group scored 11of the island's 12 endemic species and a good smattering of other Lesser Sunda specialties.

Sumba Island

South of Flores, between Sumbawa and Timor there is an island where the traditional customs are among the best preserved in Nusa Tenggara. This is Sumba, a relatively large island, 11.153 sq. km. with a population that reaches about 600.000, the name of the capital is Waingapu. Much of the island consists of a flat, elevated plateau about 600m above sea level, where the coast is mostly steep and rocky. The island is divided in two regions, west and east, along ethnical and cultural borders.