The Bajau Sea Gypsies of Borneo

I was lucky enough to work on a fun series for Channel 5 (UK) looking at the plight of gypsies around the world. One of the episodes meant flying out to Borneo to film the Bajau Sea Gypsies. 

Situated an hours boat ride from Semporna surrounded by an amazing coral reef, the Bajau are a nomadic seafaring people, living off the sea by subsistence fishing. Discriminated against by the Malay, they live close to the shore of a small uninhabited island in houses erected on stilts.

First impressions were of awe. You feel like you have arrived in some long lost tribe only ever seen on Planet Earth or read about in a Jules Verne book, in fact the last proper account of the Bajau Gypsies was actually on BBC's Planet Earth, (I think I am right in saying that). 

It was so difficult to put the camera down, I was constantly filming and taking pictures, wherever I turned there was an amazing picture to be had. 

The Bajau would zip around on their little canoes, their feet gripping to the edge of the boat, almost like hands, as they paddled their way from one hut to the other.  The children would stare at us in amazement, the little ones crying in terror, while the older ones would show off by diving in the sea to collect clams.




They are remarkable swimmers and can hold their breath for an extremely long time.

The young women were hauntingly beautiful, their faces covered in a sunscreen made from crushed leaves mixed with water and tapioca.






Their diet consisted of a very small fish, which they would dry out on the decks of their huts under the hot blazing sun.



   

I fee so privileged to have experienced meeting and seeing these people.

All photographs ©AdamDocker