Sixteen Days in Indonesia, Part 2

(Click here if you missed Part 1)

1. “The pictures were so … blue� says a mate of mine of the photos I took of Bunaken, an island about 15 minutes boat ride west of Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi. Bunaken was where we stayed for 5 of the 8 days we were in Sulawesi, and wow, were they a nice 5 days. Sulawesi is a rather large island situated between Kalimantan and Irian Jaya, and looks a bit like a four fingered hand. The thin northern tip is North Sulawesi, where we were. We touched down at Manado Airport at around midnight, and after getting our bags and so forth (ours were last off the damn plane, go figure), we headed out into the chaos. Out of the blue, we were approached by a couple of locals asking for my friend, telling us they were to drive us to our hotel. Which was strange, as no one had told us that, but they seemed to know where we were going so we followed along.

2. Cue, strangeness. The younger of the two guys that came to pick us up seemed quite interested in Jen, which is not unexpected, being young, pretty and the only white girl there. But I was practically invisible. Like, totally so. I’ve often found myself in situations where I’ve insulted someone and found myself ignored, but this was a whole new level of being ignored, so much so that even Jen noticed straight away. And weirdness continued in the car, I was now ignored by both locals, whilst the younger guy tried to get Jen to go to another hotel. Are you getting suspicious yet? I was, and was desperately outpaced — we were in a car with strangers in a place we’d never been to with no map, no guide (apart from the Lonely Planet) and no weapons. We were obviously foreigners, we had big bags that must have something valuable in them, and it’s a pretty sure bet we had money as well. To quote Jon Stweart, “Un-comf-ta-ble….â€?

Manado

3. But, I needn’t have worried, they took us where we wanted to go, there were no shenanigans, we paid them for their time and they went their merry way. We’d got to our hotel, and our room just fine.

4. Oh, the room.

5. Picture a small, tiled, very clean room, with two white narrow dolls beds. No, really, they were like oversized beds more suited to doll houses. With freezing cold air-conditioning. But they were clean, and the beds comfortable, and it was close to 2am. And when it came to the bill they had no problems seeing me.

6. After checking out in the morning we found an ATM for me, and breakfast at a bakery for both of us. Here comes another tip — Indonesia, not really a Customer Service Country. You’ll get what you need … eventually. It took a while to get our food, then it took a while to pay. But at least you can smoke inside.

7. A bit more bumbling around and we meet Lorenzo, the owner and operator of the home stay on Bunaken, who also is our lift out there. Bunaken is beautiful, ringed by coral reefs, mangroves, beaches and palm trees (in that order). Lorenzo’s place (called Lorenzo 2, this is one of two homestays that he runs) sits just behind the beach in a beautiful garden setting, circled by trees, with the cottages sitting on paths lined with knee high flowering shrubs. Small insects buzz by, the warm air smells salty and humid. Tension melts in its grasp, leaving you restful, even lazy. It is paradise indeed.

Bunaken

8. The next week was a lazy routine of waking late, meal, snorkel, meal, read, meal, beer and great conversation, more beer, and sleep. Meals were served in a communal dining hall, so Lorenzo’s was the sort of place where you could get stuck with really boring (or boorish) people. Luckily, we had fantastic company, three sets of couples from all around the world. Nights were spent talking about traveling, sights seen, how good the food was (and damn it was gooood), and where everyone came from. I think it was here where I caught the travel bug…from the vivid descriptions of their homelands and stories of the places they have seen on the way to Bunaken. I found myself desperately wanting a story of my own.

9. Next we headed back to the mainland, and after a short stint in a Manado net cafe to catch up on the London bombing news, we headed to Tomohon, another bustling town an hour’s drive or so south of Manado. Tomohon sits roughly 800m above sea level, and the change in climate was staggering. It got cold in Tomohon. Jumpers and blankets and hot water cold. So here I was, cold in a tropical country, with damp clothes because I had to do some washing the day before we left. Surprise!

10. In Tomohon we organised for a driver to take us into the Tangkoko-Batuangas and Dua Saudara Nature Reserve to see the local wildlife, particularly the Crested Macaque and the Tarsiers. The nature reserve is about two and a half hours from Tomohon, winding through narrow and mostly damp mountain roads. Our driver Fritz, who was probably in his early 50s, was a bit of a character. He dressed like a cross between Travolta and Elvis, drives a black Toyota Kijang with a tan interior and gold badging, and has a strange penchant for Atomic Kitten and some other atrocity. Luckily, his driving was better than his taste in music, and while I can’t say I was scared at any stage, I am amazed that there wasn’t any major accidents on our trip there.

Tarsiers

11. We arrived too late to see the Tarsiers in the evening, but in time for a beer and food. The air here is thick with moisture, sweat mingles with the humid air so much that it’s hard to tell if you are still sweating or not. I’m pretty tired at this point, but sleep was impossible especially when the generator clicked off at 1am. No fan, no sleep, soaking wet bed. And a 3.30am wake up call.

12. We had to be up early to see the tarsiers at dawn. Neither of us had any idea what the hell we were in for, I for one thought it was an easy morning stroll into the jungle. There may have been a neon sign over my head flashing “City Slicker” at this point. Setting off at 4am for a hike in the dark, me with my camera gear (two lenses and an external flash unit) and a bottle of water, no sleep, I was beginning to wonder what the hell was going on. I started sweating before even taking a step. About half an hour later, we stopped by a huge old tree. This is a regular spot for the guides, and there were big fern leaves that had been cut as mats for us to sit on. There was no sound, no wind, aside from us catching our breath, when suddenly a loud high pitched squeal rang out. Just one, then another a few minutes later. The squeal was the Tarsier’s morning call. Soon enough, the air was filled with these squeals, what seemed like hundreds of animals calling out to each other. I was wide awake now.

Crested Macaque

13. Tarsiers must be natures answer to Pokemon. About the size of a human hand, they have these huge eyes on a head that can rotate 180 degrees. They have really long, powerful legs that let them jump 3-4 metres from tree to tree hunting for insects. They have hands and feet kind of like humans, spindly digits articulated like human hands to grab onto branches, and a long tail for balance. And they’re fast, the first couple went by me in a flash, and it took a bit for me to anticipate where they would be. Our guide was fantastic, he would spot them out for us. I managed to get a heap of good shots with my telephoto lens and the flash.

14. I’m not sure how long went by, but the sun was up by the time we left to find the Macaques. I think it was about 45 minutes, but it could’ve been longer. Time slowed watching them…live. Another half hour or so of hiking and we met up with the other group who had seen the Tarsiers the night before. The Crested Macaque lives in groups, in this case we saw around about 30 to 40 animals, and spends daylight hours on the forest floor. At night they retire up to the canopy, and we arrived just as they were coming down. The whole thing was a bit freaky, you can hear the thumping and the rustling branches and the occasional flash of small black bodies. And up close didn’t allay those fears, especially when they yawned and showed that huge set of canines. They seem wary, but certainly not afraid of people. They are really curious, and very bold. One of them put on a great act with one of the guides trying to get at a banana in his pocket. Meanwhile, the other animals in the group gathered around on the ground stretching their limbs and teasing the little ones to our great amusement.

15. We made our way back to our room, and daybreak showed us how far we had walked. We got back at about 8.30am, I had breakfast and crashed hard. Well deserved reset I thought, and it was cooler in the morning than it had been all night. But I would’ve given up a lot more sleep to stay a little longer.

16. Stay tuned for part 3.

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