Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Horses freely roam along the beach at NIHI Sumba. Jason Childs Descending from our plane onto the sun-baked tarmac of Tambolaka Airport — a single-runway outpost in West Sumba, Indonesia — we knew we were far from the congested streets of Bali . The airport’s compact terminal was barely larger than a rural bus station but buzzed with a handful of arrivals.
There, NIHI Sumba ’s staff greeted us with warm smiles and whisked us into a hunter-green open-air safari Jeep, our first hint we were also far from an ordinary wellness retreat. As we set off on the 1.5-hour drive south to the resort, the stark contrast with Bali was apparent.
Despite being just a 50-minute flight from that tourist favorite, Sumba — an island the size of Massachusetts — is replete with rugged savannahs, rocky limestone hills, waterlogged rice paddies and thick jungle. Largely unspoiled and sparsely populated, Sumba is dotted with tiny villages of traditional huts ( uma mbatangu in Sumbanese) with high-peak thatched roofs that resemble shaggy witch hats (the marapu, or spirits of ancestors, are said to reside in the apex, acting as sentinels over the residents). There are no strip malls, supermarkets or traffic.
Here, ancient traditions persist. Families still pay dowries with livestock. Beauty is measured in the black teeth and ruby lips that come from chewing native betel nuts.
As part of the spiritual life, animal sacrifices are common ritu.