This photo was just deemed too offensive for Instagram

It dates from when I did my big trip around the equator in the early 90s and stayed with a traditional Mentawai family on Siberut in Indonesia.

The family lived in a wooden longhouse in the heart of the island’s thick jungle interior.

To celebrate my visit the locals put on a bit of a traditional song and dance show.

Families from other longhouses dotted around the jungle came from far and wide  to join in.

Especially after they heard that a pale foreigner would be donning a scratch bark loin cloth and joining in.

There were dances where my Mentawai hosts pretended to be monkeys, chickens and pigs. And songs about fabled hunting trips where the mental men returned with a bounty of meat.

I’m not altogether sure what this song was about. 

When they beckoned me to join in I just hummed along adding what I hoped would be a trance-like drone to proceedings.

The image was banned as soon as I tried to post it.

Instagram said that the image contained offensive nudity and sexual content.

To be honest, the only offensive thing about that night deep in the jungles of Siberut was my singing.