Quiksilver's Jeff Hakman, Dave Kalama, Steve Valiere, Ryan Hakman, Reef Mc Intosh and photographer Affif returned from a trip to the Mentawais just before the Quiksilver Fiji Pro and filed this photographic Special Report with Surfersvillage.
Introduction:
The Mentawai group of islands are located about 120 km off the west coast of Sumatra, locked in their own time-zone, and isolated from the rest of Indonesia.
There are four large inhabited islands in the group; "Siberut", "Sipora", and "North and South Pagai".
They are covered in dense, tropical rainforest with isolated farming settlements scattered along river routes.
Many Mentawai people are still living as their ancestors did, carrying on their age old customs and traditions.
The island group, though belonging to the Province of West Sumatra, is not included in the Minangkabau cultural sphere because of its different social, cultural and linguistic characteristics.
