SULAWESI, TANGKOKO - HORNBILLS, TARSIER AND JUNGLE - 8 JULY 2017

We were woken at 4:45 am, dressed, had breakfast and were driven to the start of the Tangkoko National Park jungle trek. Our guide was a local lady named Rina.

We walked along the dirt service road surrounded by rainforest until we reached a house for researchers. There were a lot of black monkeys there - walking around, sitting in the trees and playing.

Next, we turned off the service road and onto tracks into the rainforest.

The tracks were easy, narrow and fun. Along the way at the beginning, we heard lots of birds and saw glimpses  of them high in canopy - a kingfisher on a low branch, hornbills high in their nest and flying.

We stopped at a tree which was really strangler vines left behind after the tree had inside had died. It was hollow in the centre and the vines were like a ladder. I climbed up to about 6 metres. I couldn't go to the top as there was a hive of bees.

Rina spied a juvenile eagle on low branch. We watched and listened as it made a long screeching call.

Towards the end of the hike, we saw a tarsier inside a tree hollow. They are so small with large eyes like a possum.

Just at the end, we stopped at tree with a small  hole. Around the hole was a mass of baby tarantulas. They swamped quickly inside when they sensed our presence.

It was a fun five and a half hour trek -hot, sticky, long with things unexpected.

Back at the hotel we cleaned up, had lunch and rested.

Late in the afternoon, we wandered down to the village and the black sand  beach and watched the locals at play and the lap of the waves on the shore.

SULAWESI, TANGKOKO - DRIVE, HIKE AND SWIM - 7 JULY 2017

We woke, had breakfast, lazed about the hotel room, checked out and were on our way to Tangkoko National Park.

The drive took 2 hours from Manado through traffic then narrow roads and finally along narrow and windy mountain roads.

We arrived at Tangkoko Hill Cottages, met Franky - the owner, and settled into our room. The room was clean, aircon/fan, a good bed and a small verandah. Thee room was 400 000R per night with three meals (+6281340302444) 

Lunch and all other meals were serve in a large dining area on a small hill inside the property. The lunch was rice with about five dishes of meat and vegetables. It was very tasty.

Later, we went for a walk along the road and through the village to the black sanded beach.  As we walked, we smiled and said hello to lots of people who smiled back and said hello.

The beach was long, steeply sloped, strewn with local boats, black sand and cresent in shape. One end of the beach which was at the far end of the village had a headland and the other end stretched off towards Tangkoko National Park. In the water, boats were anchored a little offshore and there were a number of large wooden fishing platforms moored close to shore and out to sea.

We walked along the beach and sat in a quiet shady spot under a tree. I had a swim in the ocean. It was eerie swimming as the sand was black, the water clear and the current strong.

We wandered back to the hotel and had dinner. We met two lovely Swiss girls and two German guys - Felix and Jo. One of the girls, worked in an Internayional School in Singapore that other lived in Switzerland. The girl from Switerland was beaming with excitement over her whole trip. It was so nice to see such enthusiasm and geniune happiness.

Malaria tablets night.