I often accompany foreign tourists on various rainforest tours in Manokwari regency. Manokwari is the capital of West Papua province of Indonesia. Today, the number of tourists who want to go hiking and wildlife watching in the forest is increasing. Most of them choose the rainforest of New Guinea because they want to see the wealth of its bio-diversity. There are hundreds of species of birds, nocturnal animals, mammals, reptiles, insects, flowers, and green plants in the jungles of Manokwari.
As a tourist guide, I opened a new tourist destination in the middle of the forest of Inggramui village last month. From my recent trip with 2 Dutch tourists there, I was able to make some pictures of flowers, butterflies, rivers and tropical trees. For example, the photograph of white petal flowers below was shot by me using a pocket camera - Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT3. These flowers are called Glory Vine (Faradaya splendida).
Another new picture was taken from my rainforest hiking tour along a river in the north coast of Manokwari. I made it using Nikon Coolpix P500 - telephoto digital camera that is suitable for shooting distant subjects. My main intention of buying that camera is to make promotional photographs for my ecotourism project in West Papua. I believe that ecotourism can help the indigenous Papuan people improve their living standard and at the same time preserve their environment.
The Nikon Coolpix P500 is also good for macro shooting. The close-up picture of the eupholus beetle looks sharp and beautiful among the green leaves of the surrounding plants. I didn't use any macro lenses to create this picture. This rainforest insect did not run or fly away when I shot it from close distance.
The tour to tropical rainforest can help the indigenous Papuan people preserve their forest because they will be able to make some extra money from their natural resources without having to cut trees or hunt wild animals.
To visit Manokwari city, first you need to fly from your country to one of the major cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Makassar or Manado. After that take a domestic flight served by Batik Air, Lion Air, and Sriwijaya Air to Manokwari. Check traveloka.com or their respective websites for further information about the flight schedules and ticket prices.
If you are interested in taking a tour inside the tropical rainforest of Manokwari, please contact me (Charles Roring) via email at peace4wp@gmail@gmail.com
Also read:
Birding in Raja Ampat
Morning Bird Tour in Waigeo island
Hiking, Camping and Wildlife Watching in Arfak mountains
Flowers in the Rainforest of West Papua
Traveling around Anggi Lakes
Traveling around Arfak mountains
