OUR STORY
A way of life that has stood the test of time.
Travel with us into the heart of Mentawai, where every step brings you closer to nature and culture.
WHO WE ARE
Local guides, not an agency from outside.
We live in Muara Siberut and run this tour as a community. The families who host you are our own, and we take responsibility for you from the moment you land in Padang.
Mentawai owned
Every guide was born and raised on Siberut.
Money stays here
Host families, porters and boatmen are paid from the tour price.
OUR MISSION
To preserve, protect, and share the authentic Mentawai way of life — ensuring that culture, wisdom, and identity continue to thrive for generations to come.
When you travel with us, you are not just exploring a destination. You are becoming part of a story.
HISTORY & ORIGIN
Four thousand years on the same islands.
The Mentawai trace back to Austronesian and Proto-Malay people who reached these islands long before contact with the mainland. Isolation from Sumatra is what let the language, the beliefs and the daily rhythm survive intact.
2000 BC
A Proto-Malay group settles the Mentawai Islands. Migration continues until around 500 BC.
1621
Centuries of isolation end when Dutch explorers reach the islands.
mid-1700s
A British attempt to farm pepper in South Pagai fails. Trade with Sumatra, Chinese and Malay communities already existed before it.
1792
John Crisp lands on the islands, the first documented colonizer.
64,000
Mentawai people today
4
Main islands: Siberut, Sipora, North and South Pagai
1
Island we guide on — Siberut, where we live
5
Villages we travel to: Rorougot, Maopu, Matotonan, Attabai, Buttui
TRADITIONS
Three things you will see for yourself.
Arat Sabulungan
The belief that every object holds a spirit that must be cared for, or misfortune follows.
The Sikerei
Healer and spiritual leader, who keeps the balance between people and nature.
Tattoos
Each motif carries a meaning: identity, and harmony between a person and the forest.
Come and see it in person.
Three to five days with a host family in the forest of Siberut, from £215 per person.
