Bunaken island
Even more incredible coral with steep wall drop offs and visibility of 20-30m. A living aquarium. Snorkelling every day whilst Sally dives. Planned to stay for 2 days, ended up staying for 7. So relaxed, easy island life! Stayed in private beach huts with all meals included for £10 a day and I would say the coral and visibility is comparable to the Maldives. Our house reef was a short swim from our huts. We also got on the dive boat most days to check out the other reefs around the island.
Mask faces!
Going down.....
Vera and Lea jumping
Picking up more waifs and strays following a snorkel excursion
Lembeh island
World famous for muck diving - all the weird critters and bottom dwellers in the ocean. Not known for its snorkelling, I actually found it kept me entertained whilst Sally was diving. I could swim down to 5 or 6m with a weight belt where the water was still crystal clear and got to see some weird shit. Most of the weirder things live deeper in the sediment around 20m which is more than my ears can cope with. The island is completely rugged volcanic covered in palms and banana trees just like the opening scenes of King Kong.
View from our beach huts
Crazy blue fish!
Our bay
Spot the stone (or is it a scorpion?) fish!
Colourful moray eel
Lion fish
A sweaty hike up the hill behind our huts
Beautiful anenome
Tangkoko national park
North Sulawesi is only place to find the endemic black crested macaque famous for this selfie...
We set off in pitch black at 4am in order to glimpse the tarsiers coming home to their sleeping tree for the day. Tarsiers are the World's smallest monkey - they can fit in the palm of your hand! However, a torrential tropical downpour meant that the tarsiers hid in the upper branches instead of coming home. We managed to see one with his huge eyes very briefly. The most incredible thing was to hear the jungle coming alive around 5am as daylight made its way through the canopy.
This was all we could see from 4-5am
We did, however, get a good amount of time watching the macaques sliding down trees to gather on the ground. The younger ones chased each other, but mostly they huddled in the rain just like us!
Apparently we saw a sun bear but for all I know it is a black blob high up in the branches. We also saw two hornbills.
We are smothered from head to toe in mosquito repellent which hopefully also keeps the mites that are attracted to warm bits including armpits and crotch away. Not a pleasant itch.
Tomohon -
Famous for its macabre meat market. In the morning, everything is alive - cats, dogs, snakes, bats. By the afternoon all have been bludgoned and barbequed and still not a pretty sight. Hearing the dogs whimpering in a cage is heart breaking but it's just a way of life here.
Bats and a dose of Ebola anyone?
Python
A dangerous spot to take a nap!
Ternate - part of Maluku. One of the ex Dutch spice islands.
The island is an active volcano. Touring by motorbike we scoot past cloves out drying in the sun. The entire place is filled with smell of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. We were sadly unable to find any museum or even a leaflet on the spice trade which made this island rich. It is a real off the beaten track destination with severe lack of anything useful for visitors. Hard work but fun.
This is one of many man made channels designed to take the lava flow from the active volcano to the sea, avoiding houses.
EVERYWHERE we go in Sulawesi (in Borneo also), we have celebrity status. Everyone wants their photo with you and I can only presume it is because white people are a rare sight. Everyone is also incredibly friendly with massive smiles and shrieks of 'hello mister'.
Sally and the lava rocks
Mikrolets are small mini vans which act as taxi/bus. For 30p you can get from one end of the island to the other (about 40 minutes). They zip along with their open door air con facility.
In town we discover pancakes filled with chocolate sprinkles (a staple of the diet here), condensed milk, chopped nuts and cheese. Yum!
Maluku within Indonesia's ring of fire is mostly made up of volcanoes.
Cloves as they are picked from the tree. At our homestay one evening we help to sort the cloves. You grab a bunch and snap them off their stalks by pushing them into the palm of your hand. They make a satisfying noise and hours of entertainment! They are then left out in the sun for three days to dry and turn black as we know them.
A long night ahead!
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