Feb 10 – Port Blair, South Andaman Island, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Here comes the 'new port' stuff!
Port Blair is the largest city in the Andaman Islands and also the islands' main port. It is the headquarters for the Indian district of South Andaman. It's is also famous for the historic Cellular Jail and other small islands which were once home to British colonists.
In 1789 the government of Bengal established a penal colony on Chatham Island in the southeast bay of Great Andaman, named Port Blair to honor Lieutenant Archibald Blair of the British East India Company. After two years, the colony moved to the northeast part of Great Andaman and was named Port Cornwallis after Admiral William Cornwallis. However, there was so much disease there that the government closed it 1796.
In the 1830s and 1840s, shipwrecked crews who landed on the Andamans did not receive a warm welcome from the locals. They were often killed, alarming the British government. In 1855, the government proposed another settlement on the islands, including a convict establishment, but the Indian Rebellion of 1857 forced a delay in its construction.
The rebellion did provide the British with a multitude of new prisoners so the new settlement and prison became a priority. Construction began in late1857 at the renovated Port Blair, but this time they didn't put it in the middle of the salt swamp, the source of many of the old prison's diseases. The convicts, mostly political prisoners, still suffered life imprisonment at hard labor under cruel and degrading conditions. Many were hanged, while others still died of disease and starvation.
As the Indian freedom movement continued to grow in the late 1800s the enormous Cellular Jail was built to house Indian convicts, still mostly political prisoners, in solitary confinement. The Cellular Jail is also known as Kala Pani, 'Black Waters', because of the torture and general ill-treatment of the convicts.
We are about 8˚ north of the Equator so it's pretty warm here. They say the temperature is only 86˚F but it feels much hotter because it's humid. The minibus we're riding in has 14x40 air conditioning. You open all 14 windows and drive at 40 mph. Actually this morning it's pretty comfortable because there's an onshore breeze. If it's like most places, that breeze will become offshore later in the day. It's the period between the two when the breeze pauses before shifting directions that will be hot for sure.
These islands are so isolated from the mainland India that while there are similarities there are also differences. The people's English accents are different and they drive using the horn much less frequently. In general the main city, Port Blair, has a strong resemblance to a small city on the mainland, which is exactly what it would be if it were located there.
We are taking a tour that stops at 3 museums and a cultural dance show. Trips that include museum visits are difficult for me. When I'm in a museum I like to look at things quickly, determine what interests me and then go back and spend my time there. Most guides talk way too much at the beginning of the visit and don't move. When the time for the visit comes to an end they rush past everything to get out. The short version of this is that I don't stick with the guides in the museum unless they keep moving at a pace that will get us through by the time we have to reboard our transportation. In short, I rarely stick with the guide if the museum is self-interpreting in English.
Fortunately the Anthropological Museum is, so off I went. It has photographs, drawings and models of buildings and villages to help you visualize life in the islands in the past. Four tribes of the Andamans (the Jarawas, Sentinelese, Andamanese and Onges) and two tribes of the Nicobars (the Nicobarese and Shompens) are represented. They have artifacts such as baskets, jewelry, tools, musical instruments, cookware and weapons. The tribal life of the island's peoples is interpreted with signs and pictures.
D has a large shell collection and the Naval Museum, our next stop, has one too. It would not be called the Naval Museum in the USA because its exhibits are mostly geological and oceanographic. The very first exhibit room discusses how the island group was formed and the types of flora and fauna to be found here. They had one display that had samples of 24 varieties of timber growing on the islands and the only one I've ever heard of is teak. It's entirely possible that some of the other examples are types of wood I know but having a different name. For example, Lamba Patti looked a lot like oak, but it might not be oak.
The next room has aquariums built into the walls holding native sea creatures. Most were familiar to me, clown fish, lion fish, stone fish, angel fish, butterfly fish, wrasses, trigger fish, and parrot fish. The two that I don't think I've seen in the wild while diving were the Bat Fish and the Andaman Spiny Lobster. The bat fish looks like a really a huge angel fish but the fins are a bit different in shape and location. Apparently they grow to 15 inches in length or more. They come in several colors, orange, black and slightly green with black vertical stripes, the species on display in the aquarium. The spiny lobster is not configured differently than the ones I've seen in the Channel Islands of California. But the coloration is quite different. I don't know if the specimens in the tank were typical size. If they are, these are much smaller than the Pacific Spiny Lobster. They are more colorful. The body and tail are olive green with randomly placed, white bordered black spots. The area where the spines connect to the body is pink and the spines extending from the pink areas are a very pale teal. Their long thin legs are striped lengthwise with black and white lengthwise
The shell room was next and I believe that D took a picture of every display case in the room. She loves sea shells. I don't believe there were any shells types represented here that she doesn't have but some of the local examples of the types were unique and I don't believe we have them. The coral display was very nice with about 5 types of brain coral, one of which was new to me. They had a really nice red fan coral. They look so delicate but they are flexible enough to withstand very strong ocean currents. There are over 500 species of fan coral alone, but most of them grow in the Atlantic.
The courtyard of the museum is very formally laid out with stone walkways. The major exhibit there is a skeleton of a very small blue whale. It was found on a beach in one of the small islands. Conjecture is that the whale beached itself and died there. It was already just a skeleton when discovered. Amazingly few bones for such a potentially large animal. This example must have been very young.
Soon we were off to our next destination, the Cellular Jail. Built between 1886 and 1906 by the British to house the most dangerous criminals but it is mostly remembered as a place the British held Indian freedom fighters and political prisoners until India gained her independence in 1947. After that it became a National Memorial to all those who suffered there.
It was constructed like the spokes of a wheel. There's a central tower with seven, three-story cell blocks radiating out from there. Four of the cell blocks were very long and the three others varied in length. On the land side of the prison is a yellow colored administration building. The Andamans were seen as the perfect place for a prison as they are a long way from the mainland and isolated so there could be no communication with family or friends. At its height the prison had 698 cells, each about 15' x 9'. There is a ventilation opening about 10 feet up the 12-foot back wall. Small metal awnings on the outside of these openings made it impossible for the inmate to see even the sky. The walls were thick and made communication between the prisoners almost impossible. Essentially, everyone was in solitary confinement. The fact that there were no dormitories at all gave rise to the name 'Cellular Jail'.
In an ironic twist, when the Japanese captured the Andamans in 1942 during WWII they used the prison to house British soldiers who were treated no better than they had treated the Indians. For some reason the Japanese demolished 2 of the smaller wings of the prison. At the end of the war in 1945, Britain reoccupied the islands and used the jail to hold Indian freedom fighters and activists. This didn't last long as in 1947 India became independent and they were released. The Indians began what was to be a complete demolition of the jail but protests from those Indians previously held there in the struggle for independence the demolition was halted. Two of the long wings, one of the shorter ones, the central tower and the administrative and support buildings are still standing. One of the support buildings, really a long one-story open pavilion is being used as a historical photo gallery. Touring that is quite sobering. Almost like touring a Holocaust Memorial or a Cambodian killing field. A sad reminder of how far off the rails humanity can go and how quickly they can get there.
The guide was taking too long in the museum in the Admin Building so off I went to see the place better. In the courtyard between two of the long cell blocks and the admin building there was a long line of new soldiers and sailors going through the pavilion housing the photo displays. Some had on baseball type caps but most had a black beret with a small red plume. I'm sure that a segment of their induction includes making sure they understand the sacrifices made by their forbearers to give them the country they will be protecting. Just outside the main entry gate through the admin building is an eternal flame memorial to those who died in the struggle for Indian independence.
I went to the tower at the hub of the cell blocks so I could climb up for a different perspective on the prison. To be taller than the cell blocks the tower is 4 stories. It was while climbing the tower that I encountered the marble plaques inscribed with the names of the people who were interred as political dissidents and fighters during the struggle for independence. From the top of the tower you had a good view over the remaining cell blocks and the grounds in between. The site is on a small protrusion into the bay and has water on three sides. The other side is occupied by the admin building. The towers stairs are enclosed all the way to the top so it was a bit of a hot climb.
On the way down I stopped on each level to step onto the cell block wings. The long archway lined balconies evoked images of monastery or mission cloisters. If I hadn't included the bars of the wing entry in the picture it would be hard to tell the picture was of a prison. At the tower end of each wing they have a set of two barred gates with a larger cell in the wall between them, probably holding cells for prisoners awaiting their final cell assignments. I went inside a cell. Unfortunately it had a neon light on the wall with the door to light the interior. I'm sure with the door closed and no artificial light it would have been a dim place. The awning over the vent would only allow indirect light inside. Gloomy for sure and very hot.
This is obviously a place of great significance to Indians. Everyone was very subdued and respectful during our visit.
On to happier things. Our next stop was at a small hotel where they have prepared a cultural show for us. Three extremely cute girls, resplendent in their traditional costume and jewelry performed some dances for us. A little 9-year-old was the lead dancer and two 11-12 year olds danced with her. The dances were both slow and fast, very placid and very exciting. It was a very good show and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
The sail away from the port was a bit different. In earlier days of cruising the entire town would have flocked to the pier to see us sail out. Ships of this size visit Port Blair very infrequently. But because of heightened security people are no long allowed in the port much less on the pier. The hills above the port were lined with people using the city's natural elevations to watch us go.
While I was on deck looking over the area I noticed that the hotel manager was on the gangway. This is a fairly unusual sight and when it does occur it usually means there's a snag in leaving. The time to sail came and went and we were still securely tied to the pier and the gangway was out. Several island officials were standing by the gangway and talking on their cell phones. A car came down the pier at a fairly high rate of speed and out of the back seat hopped and Indian man with a small briefcase. Mystery solved! The pilot was late in arriving. He quickly walked up the gangway, it was pulled in, the ropes were cast off and we were on our way.
This evening's entertainment was the Rotterdam Entertainers, they no longer call them the Cast, in a show named Midnight Hour. As you might guess the music was mainly 60s-70s pop and blues. The majority of the songs were 'tear-jerkers' as D would call them. They sang the title song last. I think it was my favorite show by the on board entertainers. They only have a 4 show repertoire so I guess we'll get to see them again on the way home. That's ok with me, I've enjoyed them all.
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