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Published: April 7th 2013
No sooner we came out of the plane in Manado (North Sulawesi) then a worker of the tourist office showed up and asked if we needed an hotel. We did. After all problems we had faced in Papua she was very welcome. A quick taxi brought us to our hotel, the Celebes Hotel, which turned out to be one of the nicest hotels during our trip.
Manado and Tangkoko The famous naturalist Alfred Wallace wrote already how much he liked Manado. That was about 150 years ago. A lot has changed since then, but Manado has still that special atmosphere, which makes you feel at home. Nowhere on our trips we have met such a friendly people. There are pleasant restaurants along the sea. There is a big shoppingmall with all kinds of fruits and Indonesian herbs. But we did not come for Manado, but for Tangkoko Duasudara Nature Reserve in the North East corner of Sulawesi, about 2 hours driving from Manado.
Tangkoko makes clear how the Asian and the Australian fauna merge. Once Wallace drew a line across the Malay Archipel to mark the difference between the Asian (Sundaland) and the Australian fauna. During the
iceage sealevel was that low, that migration between the Asian continent and the islands of the Malay Archipel was possible, but between Borneo/Bali and Sulawesi/Lombok the waters were too deep to pass. Nowadays it appears that the line is not as sharp as Wallace thought. There is a transition zone. That zone is called in honor of Wallace 'Wallacea'. So we are in Wallacea now!
In Batuputih near te entrance of the reserve we find a nice homestay, simply called 'Tangkoko'. At 4 in the morning Armando, our guide, knocks on our door. It is still dark when we enter the park. After one hour walking we stop near a big tree. 'An Eggtree', says Armando, 'because the inner side is yellow and the outer side white.' We wonder if Armando is right with his names. During our hike we are often in doubt. When we see a woodpecker and ask him for the name, he tells with a most serious face it is a Woody Woodpecker. That said we must admit that Armando is a wonderful spotter. That is why we come across more animals than most visitors.
Meanwhile we are waiting near the 'eggtree'. It is
only 5:30 and already bloody hot. We are wearing a cap, long pants, a T-shirt with long sleeves, thick socks and sturdy shoes. All against the terrible gogones, the invisible midges. Apart from all these clothes i also used a repellant. Linda did not and was convicted to suffer a week long itching. We are waiting and then all at a sudden some gremlinlike beings are jumping from all sides of the forest just over our heads into our eggtree. Tarsiers! In Holland we call them spookdiertjes (phantom animals), because of their big eyes and their life in the dark. There are three species, which are endemic for the islands of South east Asia (greater Mindanao, Sundaland and Sulawesi). 'After the Iceage the water rose and the Tarsiers became isolated from eachother', tells Olivia. She stays at the same homestay as we do and is doing research on the speciation of Tarsiers for her master biology. Armando puts some grassshoppers on the trunk of the tree. A few moments later a couple of hands appear and with a quick move the grassshoppers are taken away. 'They love them', says Armando.
When we walk on we hear the sounds of
two different Forest Kingfishers. Kingfishers in the forest, who have thought of that? After a while we cross the path of a colony of Crested Macaques. 'The group is discovered two years ago and consists now of 78 members', tells Armando. In front the alpha-male is striding, together with some other males, then the females and the youngs. At the rear are some male assistants. They are watching at us, while we are on a few meters distance. Meanwhile they are making quick sounds with their lips. It is easy to imitate. So we have a little conversation with them.
A little bit further on we see how a strangler fig has killed an enormous tree. The tree has gone so that we can stand where once the tree was, completely surrounded by the strangler fig. We hear the sounds of numerous birds like Ornate Lorikeet, Blackbilled Koel, Sulawesi Owl, Lila cheecked Kingfisher, Blacknaped Oriole, Sulawesi Babbler, Whitenecked Myna... Most of the birds we cannot see, because they are high in the trees, but some of the birds are spotted by Armando, like Green Imperial Pigeon, Red knobbed Hornbil, Ashy Woodpecker, Sulphurcrested Cockatoo... We ask if we can see
the famous Amorphophallus companulata, the tallest flower in the world, which stinks like a Rafflesia, but Armando says he only flowers in July.
It is midday and it is unbearable hot in our thick clothes, while we try to follow Armando across the jungle. Every now and then we get trapped by plants in the undergrowth. 'Look a Fiery billed Malkoha', says Armando, pointing to something high up in the trees. I do not see it. My glasses are blurred by sweat. Linda takes a picture. When i look at the display i see it is a bird. Armando is really ambitious, he does not stop. 'Look a Flying Lizard (Draco reticulatus).' This time i see it. I see the brightly colored throatpouch. But he refuses to fly, so that i do not see its large pseudowings (patagiums).
We go on while struggling against the strangling plants, the heat and ourselves. Why are we doing this? 'Look at that!', says Armando. Even a guide with years of experience can become enthusiastic. 'What is it?', i ask. 'There high up in the trees!', he says. 'Of course', i say, 'where else? Is it a bird?' 'No cuscusses', he says,
Tangkoko Nature Reserve
Dressed against the midges'I never saw so many together. It is a whole family!' Finally I see them through my binoculars: 5 tree kangaroos with youngs. Very big and with a thick fur. How can they survive these temperatures, I think, while i wish i could take my clothes off and take a cold shower.
'We are lucky today', says Armando while we are walking back to the entrance. 'Still we missed one animal', i say, glad as i am that we are almost at the end. "And that is?', asks Armando. 'The Maleo's' I say, 'the famous Megapod birds which lay eggs in mounds, so that the high temperature breeds them.' Immediately Armando slows down. And yes, after a while he leaves the path to enter the jungle again. 'You hear that sound?', he asks. I hear asound as if a baby is crying. 'Maleo's!', he says. 'There are two species', he tells. This is the lesser one. It is called the Philippine scrubfowl. They have the same behavior as the bigger Maleo's.' We creep into the undergrowth. And then we see some chickenlike birds with a crest over their head. They hide away between the plants. Linda tries to make
Captains
On the nightboat to the Togeans we slept in the captainshut a picture, but it is impossible. At 4 pm we are back in our homestay. We have walked 11 hours.
From Manado to Gorontalo When we leave Manado i see a statue of a fish. Excuse me, did you say a fish? Yes a statue of a fish. That must be a very special fish. Indeed it is. It is a Latimeria, a living fossil. The first one was discovered in the waters near Madagascar in 1938. And now only 15 years ago a tourist couple saw one in 1997 on a traditional market in Manado. The locals calls them Ikan Raja Laut (King of the Sea). It is not quite the same species as the original Latimeria, but still it is one (Latimeria menadoensis). Since then several Latimeria's has been identified in Manado Bay.
The mountaneous coast is beautiful, while we drive to Gorontalo. Behind every corner another bay stretches out. The churches disappear and make place for mosques. Every 200 meter there is another mosque, often nothing more than a square concrete building crowned by a shiny cupola. Every now and then kids stand in the middle of the road with a basket, to collect
money for building still more mosques. It takes 8 hours to arrive in Gorontala.
Again we have a nice hotel (Hotel Melati). The owner (Alex) has Dutch roots. We meet him on the last day, just before we were about to leave. He still speaks Dutch. His grandfather was harbourmaster and lived in the house which is now an hotel. 'My parents did not go back to the Netherlands when they got a letter from the Dutch embassy', tells Alex. 'We liked it here.' From the lobby of the hotel I see the statue of Wartabone, the anti Dutch guerilla fighter. Yesterday there was a big political demonstration. 'Was it not difficult for the Dutch at the time?', i ask. 'Soekarno said we are not against the Dutch, but against the colonial system', he answers. 'That was the general atmosphere. I was born here, I went to school, my friends were Indonesians. We felt at home.' It is a pity we cannot talk a bit longer. Our motorised becak to the ferry is waiting. In the dark we are driving to the harbour. It is a small ferry which will bring us to the Togean Islands. We have a
nice hut: the hut of the captain!
The Togean Islands It took 12 hours sailing to come to the Togeans. We arrive at Wakai on the main Island. From there a little boat brings us within an hour to Pulau Kadidiri, a little Island. We sleep at the Kadidiri Paradise Resort. I always mistrust it when someone uses the word paradise. As soon there is a little white beach with a palmtree, it is called paradise already. But this is different. Once there were big expeditions to find Paradise. They never found it. Well, here it is!
In front of the beach is a beautiful coral reef with all kinds of fishes. We have just to walk from our cottage into the water with our snorkelinggear and we are surrounded by another world. We see corals, starfishes and squids. The food is fine, the beer is cold, we have a nice book and around is nice company (French, Bulgarians, Finnish and an Italian-Argentinian couple).
One day we leave with a little boat for another little Island. It has a saltwater lake. The lake is full of non stinging jellyfishes. Snorkeling in between them is like being
in a fairytale. Surrounded by hundred of jellyfishes it is as if we are crossing the universe, meanwhile meeting extraterrestrials beings, who are swirling around us like derwisjes. They are discovered only 3 years ago (So they cannot be the jellyfishes in ''Earth the Planet' of the BBC, probably those were filmed in Kalimantan). According to a Frenchman here there are 3 species and they lost their stinging tentacles, because no one predates on them. I do not believe that. In the Northsea between England and the Netherlands are also a jellyfish species which does not sting.
There is a animal here which is more dangerous than the jellyfishes. Coconutcrabs. According to Lonely Planet they have claws of 90 cm and they are the biggest terrestrial arthropods in the world. They live in holes in the ground, but at night they become active and climb in the trees. Linda and would like to see them, but it seems that no one around likes to take us on an excursion. After 3 times asking we succeed. After dark we leave with a little boat to an uninhabited Island. When we arrive we see the remnants of a resort. I see
a bar, cottages, chairs, toilets, but everything is broken and overgrown by plants. We ask why the people left. We do not get an answer. In the dark we wrestle ourselves through the vegetation. Down is a steep cliff. Every now and then we get strangled by trees and bushes. Every moment we expect to see a big claw hanging down from the branches, ready to cut off an arm or even worse our head. Then we see a light behind the bushes. It is our guide, who arrived here a little earlier. He is squatting down and points with his torch to something on he ground. 'Here they are', he says. When we look we see some crabs not much bigger than a fulgrown tarentula. 'These are small ones', says the guide. Though their claws are considerable, we are not so frightened anymore. A bit further on we see some bigger ones. The guide asks us if we like to take them to our resort. 'I think it is better to leave them here', I say, 'that is better for the crabs and also for the guests.' How could i possibly transport them, I ask myself.
Ampana It is never nice lo leave paradise. After 5 hours with the boat we arrived in Ampana to find out that real life is not easy. Ashore there was no mr Dudi, who would pick us up, but a young guy who tried to foul us and asked 200.000 Rp for the short trip to the hotel. In hotel Oasis they did not know of any reservation. We asked for a restaurant. 'A restaurant??? No, we have no restaurants here', said the girl at the reception. Trying several ATM's with three different cards, we still did not get any money. 'Breakfast??? You want some rice?' 'The bus to Tentana?' Oh sorry, it just left.' So we rented a car with driver who brought is in 4 hours and a half to Tentena.
Tentena When i sit at the balcony of our room of our hotel Pamona Indah Permai in Tentena i realize how peaceful it is here. We look out over the enormous Danan Poso Lake. Down is a ponton with a little hut. A lady is fishing there. I hear a choir practising in one of the buildings nearby. In the far end the bell of a
church is sounding. Tentena is a Christian enclave. There were clashes in nearby Poso with the muslims, but now everything is settled. So peaceful... There is a restaurant where we eat goldfish while looking out over the lake with its eeltraps. From here we would like to go the Lore Lindu Park to see the megaliths. We arranged already transport. 'To the Lore Lindu Park?', asks a man, who presents himself as a helper of the hotel. No he is working at the touristoffice, he tells later. 'No you cannot go the Lore Lindu Park and return the same day.' You like to rent a motorbike there? Who told you that? It is not possible. But i can arrange something for you.' You can trust the guides here, writes Lonely Planet. Also the guides who work for the Pamona Indah Permai Hotel? We left Tentena as soon as possible. So peaceful there.
Rantepao The nightbus (Ketty) from Tentena to Rantapao is not made for people of my size. The seats are worn out, small and hard and everyone is smoking continuously. The trip to Rantepao would take 11 hours. The road is terrible: curves, potholes, big stones and
sometimes just completely gone. After 12 hours we are not far from Rantepao, but then the driver decides to take a rest of one hour and a half. We were broken when we arrived at our hotel (Duda 88 cottages). It is a beautiful hotel with cottages in Torajan style.
Rantepao is quite touristic. Actually we like it, because there are nice restaurants and everything is well arranged. 'My name is Nicolaas', says our guide. He will take us on a tour across Tana Toraja. He on his motor and we on our rented motor. The landscape is gorgeous, like a hobbit country, mountaneous and with beautiful ricepaddies, though the roads are terrible: very steep ful with cobblestones, ruptures and potholes. Everywhere are traditional houses, the so called Tongkonans. 'They are shaped like a boat', tells Nicolaas. 'The Torajans came with a boat from Indochina. Some stayed in Sumatra: that is why the Menangkabaus have similar houses. As you can see, they use 4 colors: red for fight, yellow for hope, white for purity and black for death.' Death is the central theme in the Torajan society. The south is where the deads go. It is paradise. The north
is where the gods live. 'That is why the houses are north-south orientated', tells Nicolaas. 'The door is to the North. We sleep with our head to the North.' Everywhere we see skulls of buffalloos. 'The spirit of the buffalo bring the deads to paradise. That is why a buffalo is slaughtered when someone dies.' We pass big stones, megaliths and rocks in which the deads are buried. In some graves are presents like sigarets. Smoking can kill you, but here it does not matter.
At Parinding we see rockgraves of 700 years old. The coffins are rotting under the stalagmites. Everywhere are skulls. They are small like from a child. We drive from Parinding to Bori and then to Lempo and Batu Tumonga. The higher we come the better the views over the valley with its ricepaddies and volcanic boulders. There are coffee and cacaoplantations. And then we go down all the way, accompanied by torrential rains
Back to Makassar The nightbus to Makassar (Bintang prima) is great. I can stretch my legs and I can even sleep. Next morning at 5 we arrive. I will write about in our next blog.
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wij blijven jullie volgen.
Prachtige foto's. Ik heb soms het idee dat ik naar travel channel aan het kijken ben.Ik hoop dat jullie de foto's blijven plaatsen. Wonen jullie nog wel in Thailand? groeten, hans en agnes