Hiking and Birding in Lowland Forest of Manokwari

Lowland Forest of Manokwari

Lowland Forest of Manokwari
Birdwatching is an interesting activity. In Manokwari, there are several places that I usually visit to run birding tours. One of them is Menyumfoka river. Tropical rainforest that covers both sides of the river is the natural habitat of a lot of species of birds that live in lowland area. During my last riverwalk in the area, I saw Papuan hornbills (Rhyticeros plicatus), Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita), Brahminy Kite, Pinon Imperial Pigeon (Ducula pinon), Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus), and Eclectus Parrot (Eclectus rotatus). Big trees such as ironwood tree, strangler ficus tree and kayu-perahu tree can be seen in the lowland forest.

Eclectus Parrots in Lowland Forest of Manokwari

Birding along the river
To watch birds, I use a pair of binoculars. I also have got a spotting scope and a tripod. I like birding along the bank of a river because I could see birds easily. Huge clearing area created by a river enables birdwatchers to spot birds in distant trees and in the sky.
Birding Camera
I use an old Fujifilm HS50EXR. It has got 42x optical zoom that is equivalent too 1,000 mm. It is a very good camera for birdwatching. Unfortunately, Fujifilm discontinued the development of such camera.
As a tourist guide, I offer hiking and birding tours to lowland forest and montane forest of Manokwari.

Butterfly in Lowland Forest of Manokwari

Other Animals
The Lowland Forest of Manokwari is also the habitat of deers, wallaby, wild pigs, snakes, and a lot of colorful butterflies and beetles.
I made some pictures of mantis and butterfly and I went hiking in the area yesterday.

Camping
The average duration of the hiking and birding tour in the lowland forest of Manokwari is 3 days/ 2 nights. I provide tents, and sleeping bags for tourists so that they don't need to bring camping gear from their country.

Booking a rainforest hiking and birding tour
For customized Please, send text message (by whatsapp is also ok) to my cell phone: +6281332245180. You could also contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com

Things to bring:

• Clothing such as t-shirts and shorts for tropical climate. You could also bring swimsuit if you want to swim in the fresh water river.
• Watershoes
• Flip-flop
• Torch/ flashlight
• Binoculars/ spotting scope + tripod
• A camera with telephoto lens 
• Anti-insect lotion
• If you like fishing, you could also bring your fishing rod.

Coral Reef in Manokwari

Snorkeling and Staying in Mansinam Island
Most of the visitors who come to Manokwari also want to enjoy swimming and snorkeling.  I recommend that they go and stay in Mansinam island which is only 15 minutes by water taxi.
Accommodation
There is a guesthouse in the island. Its name is Doreri Guesthouse. The beachfront of the guesthouse is covered by coral reef. Parrotfish, pink anemonefish, damselfish, moorish idol, butterflyfish, boxfish and a lot of other species of tropical fish can be seen in the area.

Doreri Guesthouse in Mansinam island

Bedroom in Doreri Guesthouse of Mansinam Island

Bring your own snorkeling gear such as mask, snorkel and fins if you want to see the coral reef environment of the island.
Rates:
500,000 rupiahs per room per night for 2 people (including breakfast)
700,000 rupiahs per room per nigt for 2 people (including breakfast, lunch and dinner).
Visitors who stay in the island can also enjoy hiking, butterfly watching around the island.
Booking:
Just send email to me (Charles Roring): peace4wp@gmail.com or whatsapp message to +6281332245180 and I will help in arranging your stay in Mansinam island.

Coral Reef and Tropical Fish of Mansinam Island

Mansinam is a small island located in the east of Manokwari city. To reach it, visitors can go by water taxi (motorized boat). It takes around 15 minutes to land on the island. There is a long coral reef formation in the western coast of the island. Hundreds of species of fish can be seen especially along the drop-off area. Some of them include butterflyfish, angelfish, surgeonfish, unicornfish, moorish idol, damselfish (pink anemonefish, orange-finned anemonefish, clown anemonefish), demoiselle, snapper, emperor/ seabream, barracuda, anthias, parrotfish, wrass, scorpionfish, triggerfish and a lot more.

Coral Reef Preservation
There is a local initiative conducted by villagers in Mansinam island to preserve their rainforest and marine environment. Salo Rumadas who is now in charge of Doreri Guesthouse regularly conducts beach clean-up activities with her staff along the western beach area of Mansinam. They pick up plastic bottles and cans that drift to the shore of the island from Manokwari city.

The Forest
Most of the land of Mansinam is still covered by tropical rainforest. If we walk along the forest edge, we will be able to see birds, butterflies, and beetles as well as various species of wild-flowers that grow along the concrete road that circles the island.

Doreri Guesthouse
To support their works, Salo Rumadas, and the women of Mansinam island, runs Doreri Guesthouse. Visitors who go to Mansinam island can stay for several days in the island to enjoy snorkeling or hiking around the island.
Rates:
500,000 rupiahs (approximately 35 Euros) per room per night for 2 people (including breakfast)
700,000 rupiahs (approximately 49 Euros) per room per night for 2 people (including breakfast, lunch and dinner)

Extrabed (with breakfast) = 250,000 rupiahs per person per night
Extrabed (with breakfast, lunch, dinner) = 350,000 rupiahs per person per night

When you arrive at the airport of Manokwari city, you can ask taxi to bring you to Pelabuhan Ketapang in Kwawi area. The cost is 100,000 rupiahs (approximately 7 Euro) per taxi.
After that, you can go to Mansinam island by water taxi for another 100,000 rupiahs (chartered) or 20,000 rupiahs per person as regular passenger to the Doreri guesthouse.
If the boat driver cannot speak English, just show photo of this guesthouse, and he will bring you to Mansinam island.

Booking
Please, contact Charles Roring by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or send text message/ whatsapp to: +6281332245180.
If you speak bahasa Indonesia, you could talk to Salo directly to book a room in the guesthouse at this cell phone number: +6281284333345

In addition to snorkeling trip in Mansinam island, visitors can go hiking in the jungle of Arfak mountains and Northern Manokwari to see unique plants and animals. We can provide customized itinerary and cost for that purpose.

How to get there?

• Fly from Manokwari to your country to Jakarta city
• There are regular daily flights between Jakarta and Manokwari served by such airlines as Garuda, Sriwijaya, Nam air and Express Air.
• We can meet you at the airport.

Snorkeling Vacation in Manokwari

Manokwari is the capital of West Papua province of the Republic of Indonesia. It is a destination for visitors who want to enjoy snorkeling and hiking in the forest of northern Manokwari or Arfak mountains.  Visitors can spend 3 days/ 2 nights in the jungle and 3 days/ 2 nights or more at the beach.

Marine life in the sea of Manokwari

Snorkeling and hiking in Mansinam Island
Mansinam island is a good site for snorkeling. You could stay at Doreri Guesthouse for several days to enjoy the warm water of the sea and see a lot of species of fish. Bring your own snorkeling gear (mask, snorkel, fins). From my previous trips, I saw parrotfish, boxfish, damselfish, butterflyfish, moorish idol, anemonefish, and a lot of other species which I cannot identify.
In addition to snorkeling, visitors who stay in the island can do nature walk around the island along its concrete road. There are birds, wild flowers, butterflies and beetles which visitors can see during the land tour. There is also track to the highest point of the island. Local village is also an interesting site to visit. We can also organize multiple day snorkeling trips around Manokwari for you.

Jungle Tour
Visitors who come to Manokwari go to the forest of Northen Manokwari for watching birds. As a matter of fact, the lowland forest of Northern Manokwari is  an interesting site for swimming (in the river), bird and wildlife watching. Animals such as deer, wild pigs, cuscus possum and wallaby live in the jungle.  For birds, the lowland forest of North Manokwari is the natural habitat of pinon imperial pigeon, sulphur crested cockatoo, Blyth's hornbill, Western-crowned Pigeon, Palm Cockatoo and Beautiful Fruit Dove, Kingfisher and a lot more. There are also a lot of colorful butterflies.

Rainforest in Manokwari

As a tour guide, I have organized a lot of jungle trips for visitors who want to see wild animals. We stay in tents near a river in the jungle and do our nature exploration.

Photographic Device
Most tourists bring cameras. They like to take pictures of anything. Today, there are cameras that are cheap but can be used in many different environments from rainforest to coral reef. In the past, I used Nikon AW 120. The newest product from Nikon is the coolpix W300. Now, I use Brica B-Pro5 Alpha Edition. It is an action camera that is suitable for adventure tours.
How to get there?

• It is easy to reach Manokwari city. Just fly from your country to Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia)
• After that, fly to Manokwari. Airlines such as Garuda, Xpress Air, Sriwijaya and Nam Air have got regular daily flight to Manokwari.
• When you arrive in Manokwari, we can meet you at the airport and transfer you to the island or to the jungle.

Manokwari is located in the bird's head peninsular
of West Papua

Contact:
Please, contact me by email to me (Charles Roring) to: peace4wp@gmail.com for customized itinerary, cost and more info. You could also contact me by whatsapp: +6281332245180. If I haven't replied your message, perhaps, I still guide tourists in the jungle or at sea.
Also read:
Snorkeling with American tourists in Manokwari
Snorkeling in the coral reef of Manokwari

Birdwatching Tours in Sorong Lowland Forest

Dwarf Kingfisher

Transit Point
Sorong is a fast growing city in the west of New Guinea island. It is an important transit point for visitors who want to go diving, snorkeling and sightseeing in Raja Ampat islands. They will fly to Sorong and stay for at least one day in the city to buy food and other logistical needs before continuing their trip to the islands. After their tours in Raja Ampat, they will go back to Sorong city again and spend one night before flying back to their respective countries.

Pink-spotted Fruit Dove

Interest in Land Tour
There are visitors who still want to see more about West Papua, not only its beautiful tropical islands. They want to meet and interact with Papuan people who live in the mainland of New Guinea in their daily life and at the same time see nature. I have received emails from visitors who want to extend their stay in Sorong for a few more days and take land tour into the interior region of West Papua.

Birding in Klasow Valley
There is a birdwatching site in the lowland forest in the east of Sorong. Its name is Klasow valley. I have organized numerous birdwatching and rainforest hiking tours in the valley. On the average, visitors who take the tours stay there for 3 to 4 days to see birds such as Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor), Pinon Imperial Pigeon (Ducula pinon), Moustached Treeswift (Hemiprocne mystacea), Eclectus Parrot (Eclectus rotatus), Large Fig Parrot (Micropsitta desmarestii), Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita), Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus), Rufous-bellied Kookaburra (Dacelo gaudichaud), Magnificent Riflebird (Ptiloris magnificus), Yellow-billed Kingfisher, and etc.
Butterflies

Blue Wing Butterfly in Sorong ridge forest

In addition to birds, there are also other animals that make the forest of Klasow valley as their natural habitat. Some of them include beautiful butterflies such as The Silky Owl (Taenaris catops), Blue Mountains Swallow Tail (Papilio ulysses), The Cruiser Butterfly (Vindula arsinoe), The Meadow Argus (Junonia villida).
Visitors can see butterfly that drink the nectar from flowers that are planted by villagers in their village or also from wild flowers in the forest. As a matter of fact, butterflies are everywhere in the jungle.

Itinerary for Klasow Valley
Day 1
Arriving in Sorong city
Transfer by 4WD car to Klasow valley
Birding in the clearing area of a jungle village near Klabolo stream

Day 2
Hiking and Birding
Night walk to find wallaby

Day 3
Hiking and Birding
Transfer to Sorong city
End of the tour

The duration of the birding and hiking tour can be extended to 4 or even 6 days to explore the forest in deeper area such as to Klaglass forest.

Participants: Visitors can go there as single person, as a couple or as a group. Travelling as a group.

What to bring
Binoculars
Spotting scope
Camera with telephoto lens such as Nikon P900

Dolphins Lagoon in Raja Ampat

Rainforest and Snorkeling Tours in Raja Ampat
If you want to include Raja Ampat in your trip, you could enjoy jungle tour in Yenbekaki and snorkeling trips in Yenandau, Mamiaef island and the surrounding islands, and in the Dolphins Lagoon.
Itinerary
Day 1 Going by boat to Yenbekaki in the north east of Raja Ampat
Day 2 Rainforest and wildlife watching tour in Warebar river
Day 3 Snorkeling in Yenandau beach and Mamiaef
Day 4 Snorkeling in the sandbanks in near Mamiaef island
Day 5 Snorkeling and sightseeing in Dolphins Lagoon
Day 6 Transfer to Sorong city

Don't forget to bring your underwater camera and snorkeling gear.

White sandy beach in Yenandau region of Waigeo

If you plan to go to Sorong or want to take a rainforest tour in the mainland of West Papua after or before your snorkeling and sightseeing trip in Raja Ampat, please, contact me by using the contact form at the top right area of this blog or by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or send message to my whatsapp number +6281332245180. I will be happy to organize the trip and guide you to Klasow valley.

Also read:
Birding Excursion in Sorong ridge forest
Birding in Sorong regency
Hiking and Birdwatching in Sorong of West Papua
Nature Tour to Rainforest of Sorong city
Birding tour in Sorong regency of West Papua

Snorkeling Tour in Mansinam island of Manokwari

Manokwari is a nice recommended destination for tourists who want to enjoy snorkeling in affordable price.

White sand beach in Mansinam island

As a tour guide I frequently organize snorkeling tours for visitors who want to see coral reef and marine fish in Manokwari. There are a lot of snorkeling sites that can be seen by tourists. One of them is Mansinam island. Coral reef extends from reef-flat to drop off in the southern coast of the island. The length of the coral reef is approximately 2 kilometers. It is a nice spot for snorkeling.

Doreri Guesthouse in Mansinam island

Accommodation
There is a guesthouse at the back of the island with 28 bedrooms. The guesthouse is only a stone's throw away from the beach. So, visitors will need less then 1 minute to walk to the beach.
Standard Rate:
Overnight stay 500,000 rupiahs per night for 2 people (with breakfast)
Extra-bed: 250,000 rupiahs/ person.

Marine Bio-diversity
The coral reef reef of Mansinam island is the natural habitat of a lot of species of fish including striped surgeonfish, convict surgeonfish, parrotfish, moorish idol, damselfish, boxfish, butterflyfish, pink anemonefish, pipefish, and grouper. There are also Christmas tree worm, sea-cucumber, blue seastar, sea urchin, and various kinds of sea-shells that can be found at the beach of Mansinam.
At the beach, visitors could see crabs running on the sand and birds such as kingfisher, frigatebird, and starlings flying in the sky or perching on the branch of a tree.
Coconut, baringtonia asiatica, catappa and beach hibiscus cover the island.

Coral reef and tropical fish of Mansinam

Other Ecotourism Activities
In addition to swimming, snorkeling and free diving, visitors who stay in Mansinam island can also enjoy hiking in the jungle of the island, butterfly watching, jogging, and village walk.
As a tourist guide, I can organize snorkeling trips from Mansinam island to other coral reef areas in Manokwari waters. I also offer hiking tour in the jungle for visitors who want to see the ecosystem of tropical rainforest. During the rainforest tour, visitors will be able to see birds, butterflies and swim in a river.

How to get there?
It is relatively easy to come here.
Fly from your country to Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia)
Fly from Jakarta to Manokwari city (the capital of Papua Barat province)
I will be happy to meet you at the airport and organoze your transfer to Mansinam island

Booking
Please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or send text message to my cell phone +6281332245180