Best Snorkeling Spots in Manokwari

Snorkeling is a healthy water sport that can improve your body metabolism and widen your knowledge about the marine environment. Manokwari, the capital of West Papua province of Indonesia, has got several  snorkeling spots that are suitable for anybody who wants to explore the natural beauty of the underwater world of tropical sea. As a tour guide, I frequently accompany tourists who want to enjoy snorkeling along the coastal areas of this town. Here are some of my best spots:

Anggresi - located at the foot of Arfak mountains, the coral reef of Anggresi is a world class snorkeling and diving destination. It takes around 40 minutes to reach the spot by a motorized outrigger boat. The marine environment in this spot is still in its pristine condition. Because of its remoteness, very few people have snorkeled in Anggresi. Hard corals and ornamental fish such as the striped surgeon fish, butterfly fish and parrot fish can be seen at depths between 1.5 to 7 meters. If you do the snorkeling or diving in this spot, you need to equip your camera with flashlight. Flashlight can improve the quality of your underwater photographs. Don't snorkel too close to the beach or high swell will push you into the hard and sharp rocks of the corals.

Asai - Go to this place if you want to relax for several days or weeks in Manokwari. Here, the sea is your front yard where as tropical rainforest is your back yard. From hiking in the jungle to snorkeling in the coral reef, you  can enjoy them both in Asai. I really like this place because its seascape is really beautiful. There is a wooden house overlooking the blue sea.

A Dutch family who owns the house has provided two rooms for visitors who want to rent them. The rate per night for two people is Rp. 300,000. The owner plants a lot of tropical flowers around the house including hibiscus, heliconia golden torch. In the morning, when the sky is clear and the sunlight hits the fresh flowers which have just bloomed, butterflies, and bees come to collect the nectar. Visitors who are interested in taking a hiking tour in the jungle will be able to see dendrobium orchids and other tropical flowers along banks of the Asai river.

Raimuti - this is also a nice spot for snorkelers who want to see colorful reef fish that thrive just outside Manokwari town. The reef extends from north to south for around 500 meters from Raimuti island parallel with the beach of Arfai towards Arfak mountains. Pristine coral reef can only be accessed by boat.

Mansinam Island - this is relatively a nice snorkeling spot for travelers who are traveling on a budget. Bring your own snorkeling mask and fins. To go to the island, just take a water taxi in Ketapang boat harbor of Kwawi. The normal rate for each passenger of the boat is Rp. 3,000. The best snorkeling spot in Mansinam is along the southern area of the island. Coconut trees, pandanus and beach hibiscus flower plant grown near the white sandy beach of Mansinam. I also see some flower plants that look like canna.

Manim islet - you need more efforts to reach this spot. First, you have to go to Numfor island (by airplane 20 minutes or by ferry boat 5 hours). Then you need to continue your trip to Warido village where you can rent a boat to bring you to Manim. From Numfor to Manim, you will spend 1 hour. Bring extra batteries if you want to take as many pictures of fish and coral reef in the island as you like. Beautiful tropical birds like to perch on the branches of trees that grow in this tiny island.

Manim's waters are rich of marine life. by Charles Roring

Camping in the Jungle of Manokwari

From 16 to 19 October 2011, I went hiking through the lowland rainforest of Manokwari with two Dutch tourists, Thomas (father) and Sandra (daughter). Our destination was the rainforest behind Inggramui village. Because I and the hunters had not constructed a permanent house for tourists, we had to stay in a camp built by hunters near Dopi river. This is a nice place for watching birds and observing flowers that grow along the banks of the river. There was a beautiful and fragrant flower plant that I saw. It was a vine called Faradaya Splendida. Terrestrial orchids from genus Spathoglottis also live there.

Two large blue plastic sheets cover the camp to protect our belongings from rain. To reach this camp, we had to walk for more than three hours. Usually the time needed is two hours but  Sandra liked to stop when she saw interesting insects, birds, or flowers. She would turn on her D-SLR camera - a Nikon D40 to shoot these beautiful subjects.
Recommended Place for Birders
The rainforest of Inggramui is home to various species of birds that are endemic to New Guinea - the largest tropical island in the world. It is a must see destination for tourists who are interested in bird watching. Visitors need to bring binoculars, spotting scope or super telephoto camera if they want to watch birds. During our walking tour inside this lowland forest, we saw cockatoos, a lot of hornbills, pigeons. Butterflies flew around us to find nectar in every wild flowers when we were walking through the woods. In the morning, not far from our camp, we could hear the sounds of young birds of paradise dancing on the branches of the trees.

After spending 3 nights in this tropical rainforest of West Papua, we considered this camp as our home. I made the above picture using Nikon Coolpix P500.
Protecting digital camera and other electronic devices
Heavy rain often falls on the rainforest. If you plan to travel to this wet environment, prepare some plastic sheets or plastic tote bag which you can use to cover your electronic equipments. I use plastic bags which are given for free by supermarkets when we buy some food. The lens of the camera can become foggy due to high humidity. Moisture that has collected on the surface of the camera can cause the photographs that you make to be blurred.
What you need to bring for traveling in the rainforest of Inggramui of Manokwari - Indonesia
There are a number of things that you need such as sleeping bag, and raincoat. Because this is a lowland rainforest, the temperature is quite warm around 27 to 29 degrees Celcius. You don't need warm clothing. A pair of trekking shoes or jungle boots is a must to help you walk along the pathway in the forest which sometimes muddy because of the rain.
Please, contact me via email: peace4wp@gmail.com if you are interested in hiking and camping in the rainforest of West Papua by Charles Roring

Sunflower from Tomohon

The picture of sunflower (helianthus anuus) with some red canna which you see on this blog post was taken several years ago in Tomohon, a trading hub or commercial town in the mountainous Minahasan regency. It looked weird to see that these sun flower plants were growing just beside a busy street which should be allocated for pedestrian path. The street was not far from Tomohon traditional market where thousands of people gather to buy and sell goods. I haven't visited this town for four years and I wonder if these sunflower plants still exist. Now, Tomohon has become a new municipality in Minahasa. Years ago it was a famous flower town.

In Minahasan towns and villages, people usually grow flowers at the front yards of their homes. City dwellers from Manado and Bitung often come to buy flowers from them. So, beside they function as decorative plants, the flowers that are growing in front of the villagers homes are important agricultural commodity.  Sun flowers that they grow are not meant to be used for their oil as an alternative energy but to beautify the landscape. If you are interested in visiting Minahasa to see various flowers there then I should recommend a small village named Tincep. There you can see a lot of species of flowers from roses, to orchids. by Charles Roring

Allamanda Cathartica the Golden Trumpet Flower

Several years ago I visited a village in the province of North Sulawesi. Its name was Sonder, one of the districts of Minahasa regency. On one afternoon when the rain had just stopped, I took a walk around the village. The yards of the houses along the roads of the village were fully decorated with various colorful and beautiful flowers. There were roses, bougainvillea, canna, sunflower, and etc. One flower plant that really attracted my attention was golden trumpet. The flowers of this plant looked like small trumpets or bells. The leaves of the plant was dark green whereas the flowers looked freshly yellow. Flowers are not only used to express love but also to decorate house indoor and outdoor areas. Minahasan people like to grow flowers around their houses.

Years later, when I began to write more articles about decorative flowers, I remember this golden trumpet. Its funnel shaped flowers and glossy dark green leaves are perfect decoration for houses in the tropical region. From the articles that I read on websites, I know that the latin names of the flower or plant is Allamanda cathartica. Its height can reach around 4 meters if grown on fertile lands that receives sunlight all year round.

So, if you are now thinking of decorating your frontyard with flower plants, why don't you try alamanda or the golden trumpet?

If after reading this blog post, and become interested in visiting Sonder and its surrounding villages to see beautiful flowers there, then I will recommend another village named Tincep. This village has been famous in Indonesia as the center of flower market from North Sulawesi province. Here, you can see a lot of species of flowers that you can buy both for indoor and outdoor decoration. Remember to ask some advice from the flower farmer whether the flowers that you intend to buy are suitable to the climate condition in your country or city. by Charles Roring - contact email: peace4wp@gmail.com

Beautiful Flowers from Tomohon

My sister ordered some bunches of flowers from Tomohon for decorating our Catholic church during the Christmas mass. The flowers arrived 12 hours late and they could not be used during the Christmas eve celebration. The distance the flowers had to travel was very far. From Tomohon in the Minahasa regency, her friend who bought the flowers had to bring them to Sam Ratulangie airport and handed them over to cabin crew of Batavia air. After that the flowers would be flown to Hasanuddin airport in Makassar city where it would then be transferred from the airplane to another one that would be flying to Rendani airport of Manokwari in the Province of West Papua. So, the flowers need around 8 hours flying not including the time they needed on land from the airport to the church before they could be used for decorating the altar.

Because of the late arrival of these flowers, my sister decided to use them for the New Year's eve celebration. To keep the freshness of the flowers, she put them in a number of baskets that have been filled with water. Also she put them near our bathroom to keep the temperature lower.

Flower farmers in Tomohon have exported their products to customers as far as Jakarta and Balikpapan. Although on the map the distance between Manokwari and Tomohon is not too far, there is no direct flight between these towns. Flowers have to be transported by car or Datsun trucks from Tomohon to Manado and be flown to Makassar before taking another flight to Manokwari.

Selling Flowers can be a good business especially during the economic downturn like what many people experience right now. Growing flowers can be done at backyards where unused lawns have been converted into flower patch. The favorite and expensive flowers that customers like to buy in this town are cut flowers such as red roses, orchid and possibly Adenium (mostly sold as live plants) Less expensive flowers such as Canna is also good for home interior.

When buying flowers, customers must know that beautiful flowers from high land areas may not grow well in lowland areas. So it is better to ask the vendors about the kind of flowers which are suitable for lowland. by Charles Roring
Also read: Barringtonia Asiatica beautiful but poisonous flower

Expressing Love with Flowers

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.
Is it still relevant to express someone's love with flowers? I personally agree even though I never do that when I fall in love. When I fall in love, I will say it to the one whom I am falling in love with. It's that simple. I don't want to be a complicated person.
So, in today's internet age, how can we still express our love to our loved ones using flower. In Bahasa Indonesia language, the terminology for flower is bunga. The terminology for the interest a bank gives to someone's savings account is also bunga. So, bunga does not only mean flower but also interest. Modern women in this country might be willing to receive the bunga in the latter meaning rather than the real flower in the former term. by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua - Indonesia

The concept of Biodiesel

Biodiesel constitutes an easily handled fuel with a high energy density, comparable with that of mineral oil and substantially higher than natural gas or hydrogen. Biodiesel can already be employed in a thermal engine such as a diesel engine economically and highly efficiently for mobile applications.Biodiesel, which is sold at over 1,700 filling stations in Germany and Austria, is therefore a genuine alternative to conventional diesel. However, a complete substitution is impossible. It is estimated that five to seven percent of the diesel fuel consumption could be replaced by biodiesel production with indigenous raw materials. 10 percent is conceivable within the European Union. The biogenic fuel biodiesel is therefore now at the peak of all alternative fuels and, together with other concepts such as hydrogen engines and fuel cell technology, biodiesel will assume a supporting role in the mobility of the future, when the mineral oil wells have run dry.

The restriction of the potential quantities results from the requirement of crop rotation of the rapeseed plant. It can only be cultivated economically and within ecological reason every third or fourth year. In contrast with grain or maize, rapeseed is not selfsustaining and monocultures are therefore impossible.

Taking account of these requirements, a maximum potential cultivation of approx. 1 million hectares is ecologically achievable in Germany. Increases in the yield of oilseed cultivation and the reduction of the consumption of vehicle fleets is not taken into account in the estimated potentials. With the East European countries entering the EU, the potential area and thereby raw materials in the European Union will increase very significantly. Also, other vegetable oils can be transformed into biodiesel.

In view of the overproduction of agricultural products prevalent in our region, the cultivation of so-called regenerative raw materials for exclusive use in technology and for their energy opens a reasonable alternative to traditional food production for the agricultural industry. Instead of turning agricultural areas into fallow land due to overproduction, they can be used to produce energy. The cultivation of plants for their energy will then not compete with food production, an apprehension often expressed in connection with the discussion of raw materials. These areas will be available at any time according to the demand for food production - in contrast to permanent fallow.