This post was updated on April 29, 2021. The updates ar in red text.
In 2013, while sailing on a short segment of the Holland America Grand World Voyage, I visited Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
The port city of Makassar is also known as Ujung Pandang — which is the name of the pre-colonial fortress in the city that dates to 1545.
The original fortress was built by the Gowa Dynasty. The spice trade drew Portuguese sailors to Makassar in 1511, followed by the Dutch in the early 17th Century. When the Dutch captured the fort in 1667, which they built over the existing structure and renamed it Fort Rotterdam.
Today, in 2021, Makassar/Ujung Pandang is Indonesia’s fifth largest metro in terms of population. The city is southern Sulawesi’s primary port, with regular domestic and international shipping connections. The port has fewer than 10 cruise ships visit each year. In 2022 and 2023, Silversea and Windstar have scheduled visits to the port of Makassar /Ujung Pandang.
I feel fortunate to have visited this Indonesian city via a Holland America cruise as it is a fasinating place that I would be unlikely to visit on my own.
Once in port, I explored independently with my friends Steve and Tom. We walked around the streets near the port area before deciding to hire a taxi to take us to a few sites that we’d learned about from Barbara, the Holland America port lecturer on the Grand World Voyage.
Traffic is intense in Makassar with a mix of cars and trucks, motorbikes, pete-petes (a minibus that has been modified to carry passengers), becak (pedicabs), buses and taxis.
While our taxi driver had little to understanding of English, we relied on a map to point out the sites we wanted to visit.
Our first stop was at the Al-Markaz Al-Islami Mosque, described as one of the most opulent mosques in South Sulawesi.
Without an English-speaking guide, we found the children at the Al Markaz Al Mosque knew some English, and were very friendly.
Wherever we went, the children wanted to be in our photos. Who could resist those faces?
Next our taxi driver took us to Pantai Losari, the “beach” waterfront area of Makassar. It home to a floating mosque, and is a good location for taking photo memories of the city.
Then we headed to Paotere Harbor, a scenic anchorage location for pinisi fishing boats.
The Lamba pinisi or phinisi (picture above) is a traditional Indonesian two-masted sailing ship, still used today mostly for cargo and fishing purposes within Indonesian archipelago.
Freshly-caught fish, drying on racks, were plentiful at the Paotere Harbor.
After a few hours of exploring, we headed back to the port and re-boarded the Amsterdam cruise ship. The view — as we began to sail away from Makassar, Indonesia — reminded me that this city is a unique combination of its spice trading history with its rapidly changing future growth and development.
Once I visit a place that I’ve never been before, I tend to pay attention when I hear about that place in the news. This BBC travel story, published on April 12, 2021 caught my attention. The BBC article focuses on the Bugis people, a powerful enthic group in Southg Sulawesi, Indonesia who sail the Prahu fishing ships into Makassar’s Paotere Harbor. Most unique, the Bugis people recognize five separate genders of people rather than just the male and female. Read the story of Asia’s isle of five separate genders.
Have you sailed on a world cruise? Do you tend to pay closer attention to news about places you’ have visited?
You might be interested in these other out-of-the-ordinary destinations that we’ve visited via a cruise ship:
- A Walk Around Alicante, Spain
- Highlights From Our Visit to Prince Edward Island Via Cruise Ship
- Overnight Trip to Bagan, Myanmar via Holland America’s Volendam
- Getting an Introduction to Yangon via a Shore Excursion from Thilawa, Myanmar (Burma)
- Exploring the Port of Malacca, Malaysia on Foot
- Views from Lerwick and surrounding areas in Scotland’s Shetland Islands
- Touring Goa, India by Taxi
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