A rainy day in Ambon is not something spectacular. This island in the middle of the beautiful Molucca Sea has the highest rainfall in the area.
Averaging 3000 mm per year, it's more or less the same as rainfall in Java. So, no, a rainy day is not something out of ordinary.
The rain never last long. You can see the dark cloud from afar and then when you reach the dark cloud, or the dark cloud reach you, it feels like suddenly a huge shower was turned on.
Big drops of water splash everywhere. But only for a few minutes. And suddenly, as suddenly as when it started, the rain would stop. The dark cloud continues its journey somewhere else.
On such a day in early April this year we were resting between two dives, in a gravelly beach in the southern coast of Ambon's northern peninsula, not far from the airport. The rain suddenly came in huge drops and with the rain came out the little kids.
They appeared from the villages and happily splashed in the water. Some brought fishing equipments to fish in the bank. Some even took out their boat and fish in the bay. Does the rain get the fish out?
When the rain abated, the children took the boat back ashore and they swam and played in the water with joy.
Singapore, 28 June 2006
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