SULAWESI, TIMBUKAR - THE MIGHTY RAPIDS - 12 JULY 2017

We woke to the sounds of rain pattering on the tin roof of our room. Very soothing!

After breakfast, we were off on our white water rafting trip with Denny to Timbukar village. The village was quaint and pretty.

We were soon in the water after meeting our guides Dolly and Adry. The river was a series of rapids that were long and short. It was heaps of fun. We stopped at one bend and walked to a very small, pretty and powerful waterfall. We swam in the waterfall pool and tried to get close to the falls.

Back in the river for more rapids and fun. I fell off shortly afterwards. It wasn't so bad but at one point the raft went over the top of me which wasn't pleasant when I wanted some air. It wasn't a big drama and it was fun getting more wet. We continued on and eventually stopped after about 7 kilometres.

There was an open back truck waiting and it was another adventure driving back to the start in the back of the truck.

We cleaned up, had lunch and drove back to the hotel.

On the way back, we stopped at Woloan village to looked at the making of the wooden houses. We wandered inside one. It would be nice to own one. :)

The rest of the afternoon was relaxing. There were two very heavy downpours of rain during the afternoon..

We contacted Denny and Captain Rikki for our transport to Bunaken Island tomorrow.

SULAWESI, TOMOHON - UP TO THE HIGHLANDS - 10 JULY 2017

I woke early and walked down to the village beach for a swim. It was quiet and the water was clear and very warm.

Back at the hotel we had breakfast, packed, paid our bill, said our goodbyes and were off to Tomohon. Denny (cost 450 000R) picked us up at about 9:30am and we drove to Waruga in the Minahasa Highlands to look at the  pre-christian tombs. The graves were hollow stone boxes above the ground with a stone lid that looked like a house roof. There were often decorations on the lid - designs and people. The first grave sitting by itself was of the first person to settle in the Minahasa highlands - Wahru. The other graves were the followers. It is amazing to think that the grave was actually, THE first person.

We continued on to Mountain View Resort and Spa in Tomohon. We unloaded, paid Denny, made arrangements for tours over the next two days, checked into the hotel, settled into our rooms and had lunch. We met a lovely German couple from Hannover travelling with their 12 year old daughter.

After lunch settled, Jacinta and I went for a walk/hike. We just followed the road and took two dirt track turnoffs to see where they would take us. Well, they took us up and through the rainforest jungle. There were a lot of bird and insect calls along the way. The mosquitoes were ferocious whenever we stopped. We had insect repellent on but we had put on another dose.

Back at the hotel, we crossed the road to The Explorers Bar. It was nice and relaxing. Jacinta started with a cocktail and then we had a few beers.

Back at the hotel, we had dinner then to our room. I was asleep in minutes, as usual.