Flora and Fauna from Cendrawasih Land

Kawasan pesisir dari Kabupaten Tambrauw, sama seperti daerah pegunungan, memiliki pemandangan yang indah sekali. Saya beberapa kali melintasinya baik dengan kapal maupun speedboat saat menemani wisatawan. Wisatawan Selandia Baru di perairan Tambrauw Hutan hujan tropis yang ada di kawasan ini juga kaya dengan berbagai spesies hewan dan tumbuhan. Di beberapa lokasi pantai, karena berhadapan langsung dengan lautan bebas, pada bulan-bulan tertentu yakni Desember, Januari, dan Februari, ombaknya cukup besar. Itu adalah saat yang tepat bagi pencinta olah raga selancar air untuk berkunjung ke Tambrauw. Pada beberapa tempat tertentu dari pesisir pantai Kabupaten Tambrauw ada terumbu karang dengan air lautnya yang jernih. Ikan-ikan tropis dari ukuran kecil seperti Orange-skunk Anemonefish, Moorish Idol, Stripe Surgeonfish, parrotfish sampai yang berukuran besar seperti Humphead Wrasse bisa kita lihat saat menikmati aktivitas snorkeling. Terumbu karang di Perairan Tambrauw Para

Gunung Sakofsiah dan Lembah Ases adalah habitat alami bagi berbagai spesies hewan dan tumbuhan Papua yang menarik untuk dilihat oleh wisatawan. Kedua tempat ini terletak di pedalaman Tambrauw sekitar 30 menit naik kendaraan 4WD dari Fef, ibukota Kabupaten Tambrauw. Wisatawan Prancis di Distrik Ases, Kabupaten Tambrauw Selama beberapa tahun belakangan ini wisatawan internasional mulai tertarik untuk berkunjung ke sana. Mereka menghabiskan waktu kira-kira 4 hari hingga 1 minggu di sana untuk menjelajah hutan, sungai dan daerah perbukitan yang ada di sana. Wisatawan Ceko dan warga setempat di Gunung Sakofsiah, Kabupaten Tambrauw Air di Sungai Ases jernih sekali. Ada banyak ikan yang bisa dijumpai di sana. Saat berjalan menyusuri tepian sungai, wisatawan bisa melihat berbagai spesies burung seperti kakaktua putih, kakaktua raja, taun-taun, nuri kepala hitam, raja udang paruh kuning, rufous-bellied kookaburra, kumkum, jagal papua, mino muka kuning, mina emas, pitta perut merah

The tropical rainforest of West Papua is very rich of birdlife. As a tourist guide, I often guide visitors to lowland and higher montane forests. We travel to various areas in this province to watch and take pictures of birds of paradise and other tropical birds. In the past, I used Nikon Coolpix P500 and Fujifilm HS50EXR. Now I use Canon 200D with Tamron 150-600mm lens. Red Bird of Paradise Most of the pictures were published in my blogs and websites as well as my facebook naturelife page and personal accounts. In this slideshow, I reused the photographs again and added them with my newest pictures. After adding transitional effects and instrumental music to the slideshow, I published it on youtube. Birds play very important role in the ecosystem of rainforest. They disperse seed, they provide fertilizer through the poops that they release everyday and they do pest control by eating insects, small mammals and reptiles in the forest. Birding or birdwatching tourism

Here is a short slideshow of some of the birds that can be watched in Arfak mountains. I used Canon 200D with 150-600mm Tamron G2 lens and Fujifilm HS50EXR to make the above bird photos. For nature lovers and avid birders, Arfak mountains are very good destination not only for watching birds but also for seeing beautiful scenery and unique culture of the indigenous Papuan people. There are two big lakes in the mountain range i.e. Anggi Giji and Anggi Gida. They are located at around 2,000 meters above sea levels. Colorful flowers can be seen growing around their slopes. Anggi Gida Lake in Arfak mountains According to the website of Papua Insects Foundation, Prince Leopold and Princess Astrid from Belgium used to visit the Arfak mountains and the lakes in 1929.

Last January three Russian tourists visited Raimuti island. It was the smallest island in the Dorey bay of Manokwari Papua. These Russian tourists were Mikhail, Dima and Inga. They spent two weeks hiking around Table Mountain, the Mansinam island, and then they went snorkeling and fishing in the Raimuti island. According to their opinion, Raimuti was a small but beautiful place. It was located near Arfai beach, only around two hundred meters from the main Papua land. There were some mangrove trees growing in the island. These vegetations helped prevent the island from erosion that could eliminate the whole island from Papua map. Fortunately, not many people visits the island, that's why it still exists until now. Raimuti has been used by fishermen as a resting place or as a place to find fish bait. A friend of mine, an indigenous Papuan said that there is a sunken warplane wreck around the waters of the Raimuti island. Unfortunately, he did not mention the exact locatio

Wooden boats, similar to modern seagoing steel ships, are used to transport goods and people from one port to another. In the Dorey bay of Manokwari city, I saw some traditional wooden boats in a small jetty in Anggrem area during my walking tour yesterday afternoon. The hull and superstructure of one of the boats are painted with white and yellow coatings. On the average, the boats are powered by 200 horse power marine diesel engine and conventional three or four blades propellers. I was able to climb its top deck and took some photos of other boats around the area. There was a steel ship belonged to the local government. I know that it has been used as ferry connecting small coastal villages in the northern region of Papua island. Although the boats were constructed using traditional tools, they are quite safe and stable to sail across the sea. When we are talking about traditional wooden boats design and building in Papua, we cannot categorized them as cargo ships and passenger

My travel story today is about going around the farmland of Minahasa. After arriving at Sam Ratulangie international airport and staying for one day in one of the hotels in Manado city, the next day, you will want to begin your tour around Minahasa highland. What place will you visit first? I will suggest that you go to Tomohon. It is not far from Manado, the capital of the Province of North Sulawesi. Tomohon municipality is a small town located around 45 minutes drive from Manado. It is also called as Kota Pelajar or Town of Students. There are a lot of schools in this town. Here, tourists can enjoy the fresh cool air of the town and visit the traditional gardens the local farmers are working on. They grow vegetables such as cabbage, carrot, onion, cauliflower, and read beans. Many farmers also grow flowers. After taking pictures and talking with the farmers, you might become hungry. There are many restaurants along the Jalan Raya Tomohon serving local, Chinese and Western cuisines

An earthquake resistant house designs have been a compulsory construction for home owners living in the ring of fire areas such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philipine and Japan. Just building a concrete houses will not be enough. Architects who design earthquake resistant houses must add steel frames inside the concrete beam and columns to reinforce them. A building information modeling software such as Archicad and Revit must equip themselves with structural analysis features. So far, only Revit from Autodesk that has got the structural features which can help architects design and analyze the structure of buildings. For traditional wooden houses, the material which is mostly used is of course the wood. Wood if well preserved and dried is one of the best construction materials for houses. In Minahasa of North Sulawesi, people build houses mainly from wood. Minahasa is a region in northern part of Sulawesi island. There are a number of active volcanoes which often erupt and cause e

After visiting Tincep village, I continued my travel to another village named Leilem. It is where the locals make furniture. They have extraordinary craftsmanship in furniture production. Although they don't study product design, their furniture design is very good. Many travelers like to buy tables, chairs, bookshelves there. Unfortunately, the local government does not provide assistance for the shipment of the furniture abroad. This, of course, discourages the furniture maker to expand their business. In addition, wood as the primary raw material is getting scarce. Sonder town in North Sulawesi of Indonesia I think, it is important to have a sustainable furniture industry in the area by replanting the forest with woods that have high economic value. Farmers in North Sulawesi have planted Teakwood Trees since approximately 20 years ago. Leilem is located between Sonder and Tomohon. I went back to Sonder and at night was invited to have dinner with some of my relatives ther

Have you ever traveled across the mountainous region of Minahasa? If you haven't then you can read this story as a preview for your next travel to this beautiful place. Traveling across North Sulawesi Okay, now I will begin my travel story about it. Minahasa is a mountainous region located in the northern part of North Sulawesi. It is part of the province of North Sulawesi. Most of the people there work as farmers. They grow clove, vanilla, corn, rice and any agricultural commodity that is now the prime mover of the region's economy. There are some active volcanoes which you can visit. They are Mahawu, Soputan, Lokon and Klabat. Another one which is not too high and now has been converted into an inter-faith tourism destination region is Mount Tanderukan. Now, people like to call it Bukit Kasih or Love Hill. Near the love hill, there is a traditional sacred place called Watu Pinabetengan. It was where the tribal leaders of Minahasan people met and vowed to be one as a n

Japanese have been famous for their house design for years. Whether you are an architect who designs a house by drawing it manually or drafting it with BIM software, when you design an earthquake resistant house, you need to learn more about Japanese wooden house. The style of the house is simple. Its construction does not have rounded wall. Most of the walls are straight ones with partitions from thick white paper. Temples have rounded or curved roofs. The floor is covered with special mat made of rice straw and dried woven grass called Tatami. When we walk on the Tatami, we will feel that these Tatamis are soft. The tatamis are aligned on an arrangement that forms T joints and not the Cross joints. an alleyway in Kyoto If you are interested in learning how Japanese build and arrange their houses, I recommend that you visit Kyoto. It is a traditional city of Japanese empire. NHK, a state owned TV station, frequently aired programs about that city, one of them is about the alley

Houses that are built in active earthquake zone must possess high modulus of elasticity to withstand the ground movement. Usually for traditional houses, people use wood as the framework of their houses. Wood although strong and elastic in nature is combustible. Therefore, for modern building, walls are built from concrete whereas the wood pillars are covered with concrete or other non-combustible materials to prevent them from getting burned during a fire accident. Rumah Kaki Seribu (meaning A thousand leg house) In tropical region, wood is one of the most favorite home building materials. Besides it is strong enough to support the dead and live loads of the building, wood can stabilize the indoor temperature of the house. Unfortunately, special design concept and wood treatment have to be applied to wooden houses to prevent them from being wholly consumed by the termite. Earthquakes are mostly tectonic and volcanic. When a volcano erupts, it will release sulphur ash that is

I just ate a bar of chocolate tonight. I liked it a lot. It was sweet and little bitter. Dewi bought it this morning for twelve thousand rupiahs or around 1 US dollar. I know that a lot of people like chocolate. It is a favorite past time snack for young and old. I don't eat chocolate everyday. Maybe you do it every week. The price of a bar of Silver Queen chunky bar is getting more and more expensive but people keep on buying it. Silver Queen is a famous brand in chocolate business in Indonesia. I used to read in a blog that Malaysian conglomerate bought it. So, it is not an Indonesian company anymore. It's OK for me. In today's open economy anyone can have a company that is running overseas. That's the way the capitalism works. Well, talking about chocolate and its rising price, I wonder if the farmers who grow the cocoa beans, the raw material for making chocolate bar, live a prosperous life from their cocoa farming. The price of cocoa beans in the world market

I love growing flowers at the back of my house. I like many kinds of flowers such as rose, orchid, and canna. People said that growing flowers is women's hobby not men. For me, I don't care. I just love flowers, the colors, the fragrant of the petals, and the shape of them. They are so beautiful. Sometimes, I draw them on paper and upload them on the interned. I often watch in Western movies about how a man expresses his love to a woman with flowers, usually a bunch of roses. After receiving the flowers, the woman will smell it, smile and give a romantic kiss to her man if she also falls in love with him. It is not common to see such thing in this country. Flowers are traded across countries. The business of flowers is now an international business. People do not only see flowers as media for expressing love but also for creating a beautiful and relaxing environment both at indoor and outdoor spaces. Drawing of purple flowers using AutodeskbAutodesk Sketchup Charle

Recycling has been a hot issue in recent days. Global warming and reduction of CO 2 emission are now the concern of everybody. This concern can also be seen in Japan and China, two great Asian countries. Japan as the most industrialized nation discharges huge amount of used plastic bottles every day. They can be recycled and formed into other products such as jackets, shoes and even beds. Burning of plastic and biodegradable wastes at the beach of Waigeo island Japanese municipality authorities have been exporting used plastic bottles to companies in China for years. This operation, besides reducing the burden many Japanese businesses have to bear for reprocessing or recycling the plastics wastes, brings in a lot of profit to Japanese municipalities. During the current economic slowdown, the demand for plastic wastes from China is going down rapidly. In China, the plastic bottles are cut into smaller pieces, washed and processed into synthetic cotton as raw material for cloth

Super tankers have been part of oil trading since 1960s. They are responsible for delivering oil and gas from refineries or producing facilities to other ports around the world. The competition among companies and the increasing demand for oil and gas has been the driving force for the increasing size of the oil carriers. Tanker accident in South Korean Waters Frequently these supertankers besides having to cross large oceans such as the Pacific and the Atlantic, they have to pass by narrow yet busy straits and ports. The availability of modern navigational equipment does not guarantee that the supertankers will be free from any risk of collision with other smaller ships or boats. It is the ships' crews who have to safely guard their ships to the unloading ports. Several years ago, there was a tanker accident in South Korea. Oil spill from this tanker caused huge environmental damage to the marine life, and the larger ocean environment, the beach as well as the fisherman vil

Scuba diving and coral reef are two terms that always have close relation. Most of the dive centers are located near coral reef. We can see them in Sinai of Egypt, Great Barrier Reef of Australia, Bali and Lombok islands, Raja Ampat and Cendrawasih Bay of Indonesia and many marine tourist destinations around the world. Scuba Divers in Raja Ampat Although coral reef is important for marine tourism, its value is more. It plays a very important role in marine ecosystem. Coral reefs are home to millions of fish. They provide food for both the marine animal and human being. They do the photosynthesis thus absorbing carbon dioxide. Coral reef, with its abundant marine life is the tropical rainforest of the sea. So, it is similar to Amazon or other rainforest regions in Africa or Indonesia. Therefore, the development of marine tourism must not jeopardize the existence of coral reef along the coastal region and its supported environment such as mangrove forest. Beach hotels must tr

What is your resolution for the coming months or years? Everyone of course needs a better life. More income. If you haven't find a soulmate, you hope to meet a nice prince or princess for your heart. Listen all your dreams or hopes are closely related to how you interact with other people, God and Nature. The followings are my tips to live a friendly life with nature. The release of hatchlings (baby turtles) in West Papua 1. Don't litter . A simple example, every time we go to a supermarket, we receive plastic bags where we put our goods in. When arrived at home, we throw these plastic bags into the garbage bin. More often these plastic bags fall on to the front yard and blown away. They then end up on the ditch and block the flow of water. When water cannot flow it will spill over the road. Later these plastic bags gathered at a river and run off to the sea. They cover to coral reef and block the sun light which is needed by the corals to carry out photosynthesis. Wh

Cycling is a fun activity. If it is done regularly, it can improve our health. Our body will be fitter through riding a bicycle. The health improvement, we get, is shown in reduced obesity, improved blood pressure and circulation. Most of us know well that obesity has become a major weight related problem in modern society. Obesity is found among 25 percent of adults and 10% of children. Unfortunately, many people still think that cycling is only for children going to school or playing round their neighborhood. Exercise will shape our body. But most people are reluctant to allocate a specific time for exercising because they are too busy working or finishing their office assignments. A Office Worker with his bike Around 41% of our daily trips are less than two miles. This is considered as short distance which can be reached through cycling in less than 15 minutes. As a way out of promoting cycling in the communities, cycling has to become an integral part of our daily life. G

Two or three days ago I walked around my neighborhood. I was accompanied by a four year old and beautiful niece, Grace. I brought with me a small but very good digital camera. It was a Sony Cyber-shot 6.0 mega pixels. I took some interesting pictures as I was slowly walking with Grace. A Dutch building that is now the clergy house of Roman Catholic church in Manokwari Today I have time to write about them. One of the pictures is a Dutch house built on top of a hill. An old Papuan named, Jan Manusawai, told me that the house had been around since before the World War II. It had been used as hospital before becoming the residence for Catholic priests. Now it belongs to the Catholic church of the diocese of Manokwari – Sorong. There are a lot of beautiful buildings, houses, and shops that were built by the Dutch in this town. Unfortunately, they are being demolished one by one and replaced with new ones. It seems that today’s rapid growth of population or development does not pa

Bakaro is the name of a beach near Manokwari city. I often visit it on Sundays or when I guide tourists who like snorkeling. White Sandy Beach in West Papua It has got a beautiful white sandy beach. From the beach, I can enter the water to see its marine life. Beautiful coral reef teeming with various species of fish, and other marine animals can be seen from reef flat  to its buttress and fore reef zones. Coral reef is like tropical rainforest. It is the Amazon of the sea. We will not see trees and birds in the sea but we can find sea cucumber, sea star, christmas tree Worm, lobster, sea turtle, sea snake, sea crabs and ornamental fish and a lot more I used to guide snorkeling tourists to this place and they liked the experience of swimming over the reef in crystal clear seawater of West Papua. Table Coral at Bakaro Beach From those trips to the beach, I took hundreds of underwater photographs. I used Nikon W300 or Fujifilm X2. Visitors who are interested in traveling to