Snorkeling and Birdwatching Vacation in Numfor

Have you decided where you want to spend your time this Christmas? I recommend that you go to Numfor island in the Geelvink bay of New Guinea. Fly to Jakarta or Denpasar of the Republic of Indonesia and then take a domestic flight to Manokwari - the capital of West Papua province. From this city, you can go to Numfor by airplane (20 minutes) or by ferry boat (5 hours).

Coral reef in Numfor is a marine environment that is high in bio-diversity. If you go snorkeling off the coastal area of this island, you will be able to see various species of fish, sea star and corals. Don't forget to bring your own snorkeling mask, fins, weights, and underwater camera if you want to explore the beauty of the underwater world of Numfor.
Another snorkeling spot near Numfor is the Manem islet. This tiny coral island is just one hour boat ride from Numfor. When the sea is calm and the weather is good, traveling to Manem islet is highly recommended.

If you are a person who likes land and forest more than the sea, then you will be able to watch various species of tropical birds in this island. From kingfisher to parrots and from blyth's hornbill to sea eagles, you can see them flying over you in the morning and in the afternoons.
Private Guided Tour
As a tour guide, I provide private guided tour services for you to explore the Numfor island that has got beautiful nature, and meet the indigenous Papuan people who have unique culture.
I also can escort you on a hiking trip to Arfak mountains of Manokwari regency where you can spend one or two nights camping in the jungle that is the natural habitat of the birds of paradise and cuscus possum. I will make sure that you will enjoy your trip with me in a more affordable cost. If you are interested, please contact me via email: peace4wp@gmail.com by Charles Roring
Related articles:
Mangrove Forest of Numfor island
Traveling to Numfor island

Pretty Rainforest Flowers

Here are some pretty flowers that I found in the rainforest while hiking with tourists. Unfortunately, I don't know their English and Latin names. If you know, please e-mail me. As a matter of fact, the main attraction that I offer to tourists who travel with me around the tropical rainforest in West Papua is not flower watching but bird and wildlife watching. There are a lot of birds and wild animals that are endemic to New Guinea that tourists like to see. Most often, when the tourists see beautiful flowers in the jungle, they will stop for a while to take some close up pictures using the macro setting of their cameras.
I shot the following rainforest flowers using Nikon Coolpix P500. The tropical rainforest in West Papua is rich of colorful flowers including orchids.

Saturday 12 May 2012 Update

Today I am able to identify the above flowers. After searching in Google for a few hours on the internet using such keywords as rainforest tree flowers, or tree flower from tropical rainforest, finally, I got several web-pages that provide its name. In Latin, it is called Spathodea campanulata whereas in English, it is called Fountain Tree, African Tulip Tree and Flame of the Forest. This flower tree can easily be seen when we go hiking in the low elevation forest around Manokwari. The height of this tree can reach up to 25 meters. I still have to find the names of the flowers below. 

Most of the flowers that I shot were not far from me but the pink ones on the third picture above were  hanging on a vine some 5 meters above my head on a slope under a big tree. I had to walk through shrubs, and thorny vines to shoot them. After nearly 15 minutes shooting those trumpet like flowers, I finally was able to shoot them using the super zoom feature of my Nikon P500 camera. The result was a little bit blurred because I was shooting them in low light condition. Nikon has improved the capability of its point and shoot camera by increasing the super telephoto capability to 42 x in its newest product the Nikon Coolpix P510. This bridge camera is suitable for anybody who is interested in taking pictures of distant subjects. I recommend the Nikon Coolpix P510 to you if you need compact superzoom camera. With its 42x optical zoom (equivalent to 1,000 mm in 35 mm lens format), the Nikon Coolpix P510 now is a bridge camera with the highest super zoom capability.  

If you are interested in seeing flowers in the tropical rainforest of West Papua, and need a guide to accompany you around, please, contact me via my email: peace4wp@gmail.com.

Related articles: 

Baringtonia asiatica, 

Passion Fruit Flower

Snorkeling in Manokwari with ACI 2011 participants

A few days ago, I went snorkeling with some participants of ACI 2011 of Detik.com near Anggresi beach. They were Audrey, Diana, Suasti (trip coordinator), and Regi.

We went there at around 3 p.m. Manokwari time. The weather was not really good in Anggresi when we were going there by boat. Fortunately, it suddenly changed. The wind blew the clouds and the rain to the south. According to them the coral reef of Anggresi beach at the foot of Arfak mountains is not only worth snorkeling but scuba diving. They made a lot of pictures about this precious marine environment. Because each of the participants was required by detik.com to write at least 3 articles per day during their trip in West Papua, I think Manokwari and Raja Ampat will become more familiar in front of Indonesian people who know little about tourist destination in New Guinea.

Most of the tourists who visit Manokwari are from Europe, Australia and North America. Very few Indonesian tourists have come to enjoy snorkeling here. I hope that Regi, Audrey and Diana, through their articles that are posted in aci.detik.com, will be able to promote eco-tourism destination in Manokwari and Raja Ampat to readers of detik.com who are mostly Indonesian so that more domestic tourists will visit this tropical paradise. by Charles Roring
Related article:
Snorkeling along the shore off Arfak mountains
Snorkeling picture of marine fish from Manokwari bay