Flowers that are shown in the following photograph look like plumeria. I saw it at the top of Mt. Soyti. The mountain is part of the mountain range of Arfak. I was not able to identify it but later when a British girl from Kew Royal Botanic Garden visited Manokwari in her exploration of the flower plants in Arfak, she told me that these flowers are called Rhododendron. While updating this post, I did some research on the internet trying to find the name of the flowers. Finally, I found the answer. It is called Rhododendron Konori. They emit soft pleasant scent when I moved my nose closer to them. I took the pictures of these flowers when I was climbing the Arfak mountains with some Swiss tourists last July. These rainforest flower plants grow in one of the tops of the Arfak mountains. At the top, the main vegetation are small flower plants, moss. There are various species of orchids too particularly in the elevation between 500 to 1000 meters above sea level.
In addition to admiring beautiful flowers, tourists who visit Manokwari regency of West Papua can enjoy various eco-tourism activities both in the coastal areas, the lowland and the highland of Arfak mountains. From snorkeling in Manokwari bay to hiking in the mountains, the coral reef and tropical rainforest of New Guinea island can give visitors a new experience about how wonderful it is to be closer to nature. As a tourist guide, I accompanied tourists from Switzerland, Poland and Finland last month. They watched the magnificent birds of paradise when they were in Arfak mountains.
If you are now planning of traveling to Indonesia, please consider West Papua province as one of your destinations. I will be happy to guide you and show you around how beautiful this western part of New Guinea island is. by Charles Roring
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