Luka Esenko's blog » Asia

Tomohon and its volcanoes

Luka — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:09:29 +0000

Tomohon is a small town located in the mainland of North Sulawesi.It lies at footsteps of several volcanoes and the higher ground makes it ideal for agriculture. I decided to visit Tomohon for two reasons. First I wanted to climb a volcano, hopefully an active one and second reason – Tomohon culinary specialties at local market.

To get to Tomohon from Manado I used public bus. When in Tomohon I searched for a place to stay and arranged a guide for a volcano trek the next day. Since I had whole afternoon left I decided to visit a small sulphur lake not far from the town. To get there I stopped a microlet that took me to the Linow lake. Microlets are a great way to get around in Indonesian towns. There are plenty of them, they are cheap and you can always use it as a taxi (for additional fee). Plus its always a great fun to see how decorated they are and how loud the music can be (most popular music seems to be local pop love songs).

Linow lake surprised me with its colour and beauty. Soon I forgot about terrible smell of the sulphur and walked around. There were numerous interesting formations made by steam coming from the ground and boiling water (see the first shot of the article).

On the way back to main road I stumbled upon a pineapple plantation. it was interesting to see how pineapples actually grow!

Next day started in the middle of the night. Frangky, my guide and I started to climb Mahawu volcano we needed about four hours to get to the top, just before the sunrise. I managed to get a few night shots before the sun came out. On the photo above there is a view towards East. on the left there is Manado and Manado Tua island, the mountain in the middle is Gunung Klabat volcano and on the right there is Bitung port and Lembeh island.

Night sky.

Manado Tua and Bunaken island.

Lokon volcano with a side crater which is still active. Only fumes were visible…

My guide Frangky. I can recommend him as a guide. He knows the area intimately, speaks good English, very helpful and friendly and loves mountains. Walking up the mountain we had very fast pace. Usually I am the fittest on the treks like this but this time I struggled, partially because of the humidity and my heavy photo backpack and partially because Frangky is so fit. But I kept pushing to get to the top early enough for sunrise.

Walking back to Tomohon we saw numerous fields growing carrots, cabbage, onions and other vegetables. Unexpected to see in Indonesia.

Back to Tomohon we visited local market. I heard from other travellers that it is not the place for weak stomach and I wanted to see it personally.

One of the most popular meat is dog. People actually breed dogs just for meat. After they are slain they fire them to get rid of the hair. This is why they are black.

The other delicacy is fruit bats.

And the third delicacy (and in my opinion lest tasty looking) is rats.

For Western people this might look disgusting but in Tomohon this is an every-day scene. People buy dog-meat like we do beef or chicken.

Chillies.

After visiting the meat market I decided for a vegetarian breakfast. Frangky recommended a place and a local delicacy called Bubur Manado – a pumpkin soup with soy tofu. Together with Sambal (chilly sauce) it makes a wonderful meal!

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Diving at Bunaken Island

Luka — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 23:29:13 +0000

Bunaken island is one of the best places for diving in Indonesia and it is relatively easily accessible from Manado. I never have dived before and since I was already at North Sulawesi it seemed a perfect opportunity to give it a try. After an internet research I decided to go with Two Fish Divers, a small Bunaken based resort run by an English couple Nigel & Tina. It turned out a great choice.

Since I was late to Manado to catch Two Fish boat I decided to get to the island in “economy” style using public boat. Nobody could tell when departure is so I rather stayed with the boat not to miss it. It was damn hot and humid and I was already very tired from travelling to Manado from Tangkoko nature reserve. After three hours of waiting (and having fun with locals) the boat finally moved.

Indonesian playboy He spoke decent English and told me a lot of useful information for my further journey into central North Sulawesi.

Bunaken was nothing I expected it to be. Life on the island was still unspoilt by tourism and scenes like this one were a common sight. Very relaxed atmosphere – exactly what I was looking for!

Two Fish diving resort is placed on the Eastern side of the island in a beautiful setting with dense Mangrove forest.

After settling in to my room I met Lucy my PADI instructor. She was very professional explaining me every detail of Open Water diving course. We agreed to start next day. It took me three days to complete it and I had the privilege to be the only student. After completing the course I stayed four more days diving. Wonderful time!

Before my trip to Indonesia I purchased Ewa Marine underwater camera bag (or housing as they call it). I heard from a friend that it does the job. Must admit that I was a bit sceptical at the beginning. Well this was a great opportunity to test it properly. U-BXP100 housing is tested for 20m depth but I only took it to about 6-7m. No problems whatsoever.

Well I am certainly not an underwater photographer (yet) and cannot give proper review of Ewa Marine bag but I will share some thoughts about it. It is much cheaper than all serious camera underwater housings very basic but it does the job – keeping camera dry. If you are planning to buy one get a version where you can put hot shoe flash unit in. The drawbacks of this underwater bag is that you cannot use all of the camera control and its difficult to see through viewfinder. I ended up shooting with live-view mode which is a bit clumsy but still better than not seeing anything. Also the front glass of the bag causes heavy distortion and loss of sharpness in the corners of the image when using wide angle lens (maybe you will notice it in the photo above). But in the end I am glad I bought it – it comes handy from time to time. It was indispensable when we were shooting canyoning in July.

One of my fave images made using underwater camera bag.

Star fish – there were hundreds of them all around the island.

Fresh diver Photo made by my dive buddy John (one of the most experienced dive masters at Two Fish).

And a sunrise as seen from Two Fish dive resort. I really liked their service and the resort itself was very nice with friendly staff and excellent Indonesian food. Highly recommended!

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Volunteering at Tasikoki, North Sulawesi

Luka — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:18:13 +0000

In March when I was travelling to Sulawesi and Singapore I visited my gf who volunteered at Tasikoki wild animal rescue centre. She was there for two months but my visit was much shorter. Altogether I spent there one week helping other volunteers, making photos and i also tried out some time-lapse techniques. You can see results here below:

This movie was shot at night at full moon. you can clearly see small fishing boats with lights sailing left and right. Unfortunately its only 14 secs long cause Nikon’s built-in interval shooting option is quite unreliable and from time to time it just stops shooting Haven’t figured out why yet. Anyways usually I always use remote control with interval shooting…

Sunset over volcano named Two brothers which is clearly seen from Tasikoki’s view tower.

To learn more and to see more photos from Tasikoki read this article I posted at A2A website.

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Tangkoko Nature Reserve – North Sulawesi

Luka — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:44:10 +0000

March trip to North Sulawesi started with meeting my girlfriend Neja who was volunteering at Tasikoki Animal Rescue Centre. She could only get a few days off so we decided to visit a nearby Tangkoko nature reserve.

Since the distance was small we hired two ojek taxis (motorcycles) which turned to be a memorable drive through numerous coconut plantations and small villages. We decided to stay at Mama Roos homestay which is a friendly place located just opposite of the entrance to Tangkoko reserve.

It is not allowed to walk around the reserve by yourself. It is therefore obligatory to arrange a licenced guide which is a good idea cause they know where are the best chances to spot wildlife. Tangkoko is fairly small place and the animals are used of human presence and there close encounters are almost guaranteed.

The endangered Black Crested Macaque or Celebes Crested Macaque (Macaca nigra) and the nocturnal Spectral Tarsier Monkey (Tarsius tarsier) are the highlights of the reserve but the other wildlife is plenty and sightings of Hornbills, Kingfishers, Tarantulas and Cuscuses are often and rewarding.

A good idea is to make at least two walks. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. You should start the morning one well before sunrise in order to get to a place where the Black Macaques overnight. Soon after the sun is up they will start to make noise and come down the trees slowly one after another. Its a wonderful experience to be so close to them and watch how they interact between themselves. A knowledgeable guide can explain their behaviour and habits so talk to a guide before you make a commitment.

In the afternoon you can also track some Macaques but the main objective should be the Tarsiers. Local guides know exactly where they sleep and there is a reasonable chance to see this tiny primate when they wake up and start their night crusade. Seeing Tarsiers was awesome! They are even small than I imagined and their funny big eyes and funny fingers…

Run for your life – a Tsunami wave is coming!

Also the tiny fishing village close to the reserve was a nice experience. We went for an evening walk there and I ended up photographing local children who were competing who will entertain us better.

A female Black Crested Macaque.

Grooming time.

Tangkoko beach with distinctive volcanic black sands. A wonderful place for a swim. Too bad it is littered with plastic bottles and bags.

Inquisitive juvenile Macaque.

Bad hair day – every day

Each Macaque family is carefully studied by a scientist who research their behaviour. We spoke with this young French scientist who explained us a lot of interesting facts about the monkeys and the forest.

Hmmm, this doesn’t taste like I expected…

There was a heavy rain at night and Macaques headed to the beach to dry and to find some seafood delights.

Spectral Tarsier just after the nightfall.

Tarsiers are funny but cute creatures. Nothing on them seems to fit – their huge eyes, extra long tail, frog-like legs or Gecko-like fingertips.

On the way back to our homestay we found this giant Tarantula spider. Surprisingly shy and gentle creature!

We spent Three nights at Tangkoko Nature Reserve and it was well worth it. most of the visitors make a half day trip from Manado – usually enough to see the animals, but not enough to experience the forest and its life! So take my advice and spend at least one night there – you won’t regret it!

Update: Almost forgot to say something about photography… The forest itself is pretty much dark so you will need to use high ISO setting most of the time. The Macaques and the Tarsiers will let you get close and sometimes Macaques will approach you themselves. Do not make any sudden moves. I used 70-200 and 17-55 lenses and a macro lens for a Tarantula shot. Since there is frequent rain and the humidity is around 100% you should take a good care of your equipment. It happened to me that my 70-200 lens got foggy from the inside! I had to take it of and put to the sun to dry for half an hour.

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Bako National Park

Luka — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:41:44 +0000

Last few days on Borneo we spent in Bako National Park. This is one of the smaller parks of the island, but one of the most interesting ones. It is a place where you actually do see animals, also the “furry” ones:)Bako is less than an hour drive from Kuching by public bus. In Kuching we booked a hostel accommodation for two nights packed our luggage and went to bus station. The bus ride was fun. Watching the locals talking to each other, listening loud music on their mobile phones and singing at the same time… We met fellow travellers and we agreed to share the speed boat to the park.

It was damn hot and humid, but we liked the place from the beginning. The first creature we met was this young Proboscis monkey male which was climbing the trees just nearby the park HQ.

There are many beautiful beaches in the park and if you go to more remote ones you will probably have one just for yourself.

Mudskippers are common coast dwellers in Bako. The ones at Tarakan island were much bigger than these here.

Close to park headquarters there is a beautiful Mangrove forest. This is how it looks at low tide. A lovely place to observe Proboscis monkeys and shore birds.

Mangroves at golden hour.

The soil in Bako park is not very rich and this is why there are so many Pitcher plants around. We especially liked the small ones.

Beautiful caterpillar. Imagine how beautiful must the butterfly be?

This mustached pig is a celebrity at Bako. Usually he is hanging around the restaurant waiting for some leftovers.

Macaque monkey. These charming creatures can be a real pest! They are used to people and they are always around, waiting for the right opportunity to steal some food. We saw them come in big number and they just scared away all the tourists at the restaurant eating everything that was left on the tables. Be sure to hide your food in the backpack and to lock your room and close windows tight!

Mangrove forest at high tide.

Pit Viper. This beautiful snake was hiding in a bush just behind the restaurant. It was at the same place at least for the last two months. Our new friends from Montenegro and Canada both told us for it when we met them at Gunung Mulu NP. When we arrived to Bako this was one of the first things to check out – and yes – it was still there! Amazing.

Bako was one of the most amazing places we visited in Borneo. Although it is a small park it is packed with wildlife and it has a great variety of habitats. It is best explored on your own and all you need is a map of the trails and plenty of water. It was very hot and humid while we were there and because of that it was extremely hard to hike around the park. But it was definitely worth the effort. A perfect conclusion of out trip to this fascinating island, Borneo.

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Kuching – the city of cats

Luka — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:38:19 +0000

Kuching was our last destination on Borneo trip. The city lies on the North-Western part of the island in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is a small city easy to navigate and with pleasant, relaxed atmosphere. After a rough travel to several national parks we could finally rest a bit, wash our clothes, drink COLD beer and do some souvenir shopping. Kuching is also a starting point to some small national parks around and we made a two day visit to Bako national park, which is only one hour bus drive away. But more on Bako NP in the next post.

We walked around the city a lot and despite there is not big attractions we enjoyed the city and its people.

The white and blue building is a police station.

Selling fish at bus station.

A delicious noon snack.

Travelling around SE Asia I learned one important thing. Do not judge food by its look and smell – try it and then make an opinion. Usually it tastes much better than expected. And sometimes it’s better not to know what are you eating.

We met this friendly guy at bus station. He explained that he is a member of a punk rock music group and he is a big fan of Rancid and Sex pistols.

Raja Brooke’s palace.

One of the numerous statues of cats. And my catwoman posing in front of it:)

Jungle fern. A local delicacy. I really liked it. It goes well with the rice and chicken.

The weekend market of Kuching is supposed to be one of the most colourful on Borneo. And it is true – so many people selling so many different things.

Evil fish.

Local boys asked me if I would take a photo of them. Of course guys!

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Niah Caves national Park

Luka — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:29:03 +0000

Our next destination on Borneo trip was Niah Caves National Park. We wanted to explore the caves on our own and Niah Caves are a perfect place for this. From Mulu we took the flight to Miri and the with public bus to Niah junction and there we arranged a private taxi to the park HQ.
The fascilities at Niah caves NP are weathered and not very well maintained but the staff was friendly and despite arriving late they gave us a room for the price of the hostel. Nice gesture.

Strict rules of the park:)

Most of the day we were the only visitors exploring the caves (except for the bats and swallows of course).

Entrance to the big cave.

Bird nest pickers at work.

A beam of light. If you want to catch this beautiful moment be there before noon.

Most of the time there are wooden board walks, which makes cave exploration easier, but still you get the adventure like feeling. Your own light is a must.

Bird nest collector at work. Not an easy job, climbing the bamboo poles more than twenty metres high with little or no safety precautions.

Niah caves NP was fun. Unlike Gunung Mulu NP we were here just by ourselves and we enjoyed the caves in a relaxed pace. Next day we departed toward our end destination on Borneo Kuching and the adjacent Bako National Park.

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Gunung Mulu National Park

Luka — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:07:11 +0000

Gunung Mulu (Mt. Mulu) national park was on the top of my “places to visit” list when Neja and I were travelling around Borneo. It is located in north Borneo on Malaysian side of the island. It belongs to Sarawak state and it lies close to Brunei sultanate.There are plenty of activities to choose in the park and most of them must be booked in advance at the park HQ. We decided to stay five nights to fully experience the beautiful nature. Mulu is a bit more expensive than the other parks in Borneo, especially because of the transport there and back and the fact that most of the activities must be run by official guides. Sometimes it can be too touristy (especially the night walk and the regular cave tours), but you can still get the real rain forest experience.

The most convenient way to get there is by plane. The flight is not too expensive, but you should book your ticket in advance as it is often fully booked. We were flying with Air Malaysia and we booked online. The flight to Mulu is wonderful. It is short and it offers scenic views of the park. But unfortunately the primary rain forest is being cut day by day and you can watch the palm oil plantations in development as you fly from Miri to Mulu. Shocking.

Canopy walk of the Mulu NP is said to be one of the best in SE Asia. We were really looking forward to experience it! I disliked the idea that the only way to walk is in a guided group. But anyway, we booked the early tour, just when the sun rises in order to see more animals. The walk itself is amazing! You can actually see how does rain forest look like from the top of the trees in an easy and safe way. But the canopy walk is too busy with visitors and therefore it is very hard to spot any animals. We only saw a tree squirrel and a couple of bugs.

For most of the people the caves are the biggest draw in Mulu NP. The caves are magnificent indeed, but again, I was disappointed because the only way to visit the caves is with a guided tour. No tripods allowed – damn! Two reasons why we decided to visit the Niah caves NP later on – so stay tuned:)

Not allowed to photograph inside the caves I focused on details outside. This is a kind of one-leaf plant that grows in front of the caves at Mulu park.

The most popular trek at Mulu is to the pinnacles. It is a three day adventure that includes a visit to a local village, an exciting boat ride up the river, an easy walk to the camp, demanding climb to the pinnacles and on a third day the way back.

The boat ride was great! We spotted a few beautiful birds (including Hornbills) and magnificent Raja Brooke’s Birdwings (Trogonoptera brookiana). Not to mention a pleasant breeze in a hot tropical forest!

After a boat ride there is about 8 km walk through an interesting forest. Not demanding and there is a couple of suspension bridges to cross – always a big fun!

There were no other animals so I photographed this little fellow.

A tree detail.This is a kind of Ficus tree (yellow bark) that uses another tree for a support. Gradually it surrounds its supporter and it suffocates it. A slow but certain death!

On the day two we started to ascend to the pinnacles. The trail is only 2,4km short but the altitude difference is 1200m which makes it very demanding. At some places you have to climb and use ropes to get through! I wanted to catch a morning light so I started to walk much earlier than the others. On the top I was soaked with sweat and I drank almost three litres of water. The humidity makes climbing much harder than in more temperate places. It took me a bit more than two hours and I spotted two small Vipers and a squirrel.

This wonderful view was a proper reward for the hard climb! I enjoyed a silence for more than two hours until the others joined me. There was no nice morning light though. The pinnacles lay on a shady side of the mountain and the sun reached them later when the light was already too harsh. And there was no beautiful mists neither…

But still, the pinnacles are magnificient and it is definitelly worth to climb the mountain!

On the way back to the HQ we finally found a nice example of the Pitcher Plants. I have to thank Paul for this – he is one of the most interesting guys I met during my trip to Borneo! He is a biologist and he specialises in entomology – a true bug hunter – check out his galleries at Flickr!

Gunung Mulu offers some of the most fantastic natural wonders of Borneo, primary rain forest, mysterious caves, limestone pinnacles and rich plant life. Do not expect to see much wildlife though – the place is too busy with visitors and animals prefer to stay away from people. Neja and I had a great time during our visit, also because we met great people and with some of them we are still in touch even now when we are already back home.

And here is some literature we had during our trip:

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Sunset and nightmarket of Kota Kinabalu

Luka — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:50:32 +0000

Kota Kinabalu or KK is a base to explore Sabah, the Eastern part of Malaysian Borneo. We arrived to KK from Mt. Kinabalu NP and it was a love on the first sight. After three weeks of rough travel through jungles of Kalimatan we desperately needed a day or two in civilisation, to wash our clothes, eat some decent food and enjoy commodities of civilised world.Kota Kinabalu is famous for two things; fantastic sunsets and its lively night market. The best thing about it is that you can enjoy these two highlights at the same time – enjoy the sunset while dining on best seafood you can imagine.

There are hundreds of fishing boats that deliver fresh seafood every day. It is a great feeling to know that the food you are eating at the moment just arrived from these boats here…

A bit of romance…

Locals say that stunning sunsets are almost guaranteed. KK is situated on the northern coast of Borneo not far away to the mainland there is mighty Mt. Kinabalu. The proximity of the sea and the mountain makes a special micro climate for the city and the result is – magnificent sunsets…

And now the better part (at least for me) – seafood!

Not seafood but still excellent – spicy chicken wings.

Squids.

Hmmm, what to choose? This could be a problem sometimes. A good strategy is to observe what do locals eat and do the same way.

There is also a lot of other food available, but hey – with all this excellent seafood I really didn’t care about it…

We stayed two days in Kota Kinabalu and then we flew to Gunung Mulu national park. I could easily stay a bit longer…

And here is some literature we read during our trip:

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Mount Kinabalu National Park

Luka — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:00:18 +0000

Mount Kinabalu National Park is one of the most beautiful places we visited on our trip around Borneo. We didn’t plan to stop here because we didn’t take any warm clothes and sturdy shoes for hiking with us. But we changed our plans when we talked to other travellers we met. Everybody was saying it is a stunning place, worth visiting.
We arrived to Mt Kinabalu NP from Tawau. Bus dropped us off at park HQ in the middle of the night. Luckily, the guard on duty was very friendly and he let us sleep behind the counter at the reception. Damn it was cold! We couldn’t sleep because of the cold. In the morning we registered (reception was conveniently close:)), left ur backpacks in the storage room and headed to the park. At the HQ we got a map with walking trails which is a must have if you want to wander around the jungle.

As soon as the sun touched the forest, lovely mists started to rise out of the canopies.

There are numerous streams with clear water – ideal for long exposure photography.

The highlight of the park (second only to the mountain itself) is definitely its vegetation. For a moment i thought we were in the Jurassic Park movie when we saw ten metres high jungle fern.

Detail. This is a kind of a palm tree.

Pitcher plants. These amazing plants are subject of every book on Borneo, many postcards and documentaries, but in reality they are quite hard to find. We were lucky and we met an American volunteer who was stationed at the park for several months already and he told us where to find these beauties on the photo above.

Well camouflaged frog. I think its eyes were glowing?!?

Grasshopper. Do not expect to see big animals here at the park. Some squirrels and birds yes, but not bigger and “furry” animals.

Carson fall. It is just after the first checkpoint at summit trail.

When you start ascending the mountain, the vegetation changes dramatically every few hundred metres. We climbed up to approximately 2200m above sea level and it was already totally different world.

The views are fantastic! It pays to get up early in the morning, even if you do not climb the mountain, because the clouds gather quickly after the sunrise.

And the mighty mountain itself! Mt Kinabalu with its 4069 metres is truly magnificent view.

Althought we didn’t have oportunity to climb the mountain we really enjoyed its forest. We spent there two days and we walked more than 30km around its trails. We were dead tired, but the climate is pleasant and the nature so beautifully unfamiliar that we just walked, and walked…

Read the previous posts on Borneo and come back, I am not finished yet!

And here is some literature we had during our trip:

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Luka Esenko's blog » Asia

Tomohon and its volcanoes

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