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Hiking, Birding and Wildlife Watching in Tambrauw Mountains |
Last week I organized a rainforest tour for six Polish visitors. They had a 2-week vacation in West Papua. They spent their first week enjoying scuba diving in Raja Ampat and their second week trekking and camping in the tropical jungle of Tambrauw mountains from 8 to 12 Nov. 2015. While in Raja Ampat, they stayed at Kri Eco Resort. I met them at the Usaha Mina Speed Boat harbor in Sorong town and then arranged their transfer to Sausapor (the temporary capital of Tambrauw regency). After informing the local police about our arrival, we continued our trip to Syuan river. Heavy rained welcomed us. I and my friends worked fast in constructing tents for our guests. We would spent several nights trekking, birding and wildlife watching in the forest.
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Lesser Bird of Paradise |
The next morning we had a short walk into the jungle where we watched Lesser Birds of Paradise. It was a nice experience of the Polish tourists who saw the rainforest as a totally new environment for them. In addition to watching birds of paradise, they also had some conversation with local people about their marriage customs, what to give as dowry, hunting practices and things that were related to the daily life of Papuan people.
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Sulphur-crested Cockatoo |
In the afternoon, I decided to relocate the group to Syugrar river because the water current in Syuan river was very strong. I explained to them that if we moved to Syugrar river, we would be able to walk deeper into the jungle just by walking through the river. Syugrar and Syuan rivers were separated by a huge ridge from Tambrauw mountains. We walked back to the main road and wait for several ours for our 4WD car to transfer us to our new location.
I made a right decision. The next morning, we were able to walk deeper into the jungle through Syugrar river whose current was not as strong as Syuan. During the trip, we saw hornbill, cockatoo, lory and other tropical birds that live in the jungle. At the end of our trip, we had a short tour around Sausapor town and a walking tour around Werur village.