Rainforest Birding Tour in Sorong Regency


Golden Myna (Mino anais) bird in lowland forest of West Papua
Golden Myna (Mino anais)
Duration: 4 days/ 3 nights
Availability: All year round
Destination: Rainforest in the east of Sorong regency.
Contact: peace4wp@gmail.com
Price: it depends on the number of participants and duration of the tour (usually 3 to 6 days)
This price includes transportation by 4WD between Sorong and Klasow valley, food during the trip in the jungle, basic accommodation in the jungle hut, fee to local guides, cooks, contribution to the villagers).
The price does not include airfare to Sorong city, personal expenses, and travel insurance, hotel accommodation in Sorong city before and after your tour. I can also arrange a snorkeling trip to Raja Ampat after the jungle tour.

 Introduction
Almost all visitors who want to go to Raja Ampat will fly to Sorong city. They go there to enjoy scuba diving, see beautiful islands, coral reef and tropical fish and the landscape of karst islets of Wayag and Pianemo. After completing dive trips in Raja Ampat, some of them still want to do land tour in the mainland New Guinea,
As a tour guide, I frequently receive requests from visitors who are interested in trekking, camping and wildlife watching in the jungle near Sorong.

Lowland and Lower Montane Forest of Sorong Regency
There is a forest region outside Sorong city.  Its name is Klasow valley. It is approximately one and a half hours by car and one and a half hours walk to the heart of the valley. I have guided tens of visitors to the region. They went trekking, and watching wild animals in the jungle. They saw lesser birds of paradise, western crowned pigeon, and yellow faced myna, golden myna and many other birds in the forest. At night they saw wallaby (a kind of ground kangaroo) that makes Klasow valley as its natural habitat.
There is no hotel in the jungle, visitors will stay in a basic accommodation in the jungle.
For watching wild animals, I recommend that visitors bring a D-SLR camera with telephoto lens or buy a bridge camera that is powered with super telephoto lens such as Nikon Coolpix P900. This camera has got 83x zoom (equivalent to 2000 mm in 35 mm lens camera) which is the highest zoom in the world.

Itinerary
Day 1
I will meet you at the airport of Sorong town. We will stop for a while at a traditional market to buy some vegetables, fish, and fruits that we need during the tour. After that we can continue our trip to Klasow valley by 4WD car. The car will stop in the valley and then we need to continue walking through the jungle. Along the way, we will be able to hear the sounds of birds such as kingfishers, cockatoo and hornbills.
Palm Cockatoo or Kakaktua Raja (Probosciger aterrimus)
Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus)
Day 2
You will need to wake up early in the morning at 04.30 local time. There is some hot water available for you to make tea or coffee. We will start walking when it is still dark to reach the display tree of birds of paradise. We will watch the birds until approximately 09.00.
After that, we will walk back to the village where we will be able to watch birds, butterfly and see various species of tropical plants that grow in the jungle.
During the day, we can start to have a tour around the forest to see plants that the indigenous people use as herbs, to make hunting gear or to construct their houses.
European ladies walking in the forest of Sorong, Indonesia
Hiking tour in lowland forest of Sorong regency
Leg-cramps and muscle pain are not very common among tourists, but there were some cases where tourists experienced them. Dehydration, salt depletion and fatigue of long day walking on the trails caused these severe leg cramps. When these signs happened, I immediately stopped the hiking tour and returned to our guesthouse. In the jungle guesthouse, I served instant noodle and gave it to my client who suffered it.  The soup of the noodle contains salt that would reduce the cramps. The noodle soup resupplies her body with new electrolytes. To ease the soreness or pain in the muscles and joints, I gave gentle massage using coconut oil. I applied the oil on my palms, warmed them up and then gave relaxing massage to the tensed musles.
Massage also increased the flow of blood that brings nutrients and oxygen to underlying tissues. It relieved muscle tension, and stiffness. Birding could be continued around the clearing area of the forest.

Pinon Imperial Pigeon (Ducula pinon)
Pinon Imperial Pigeon (Ducula pinon)
Day 3
We will explore the jungle deeper and see plants (tree, shrubs, creeping plants or vines as well as mushrooms), insects, birds, reptiles as well as marsupials that live in the valley. In the mornings or in late afternoons, sometimes we could see wild northern cassowary enter the village to ask food from the villagers. They give banana, papaya to the bird. After that, he will return to the forest again.
We will do night walk to find wallaby (a species of small ground kangaroo that usually comes out at night to find food and mating).

Day 4
We still have time to see the wildlife of the forest. After breakfast and saying good bye to the villagers, we can walk slowly to the main road. Birds fly over the canopy of the forest and butterflies will find nectar in the wild flowers that grow in the jungle.
You will be transferred back to Sorong city.

Large Fig Parrot (Psittaculirostris desmarestii) in tropical rainforest of West Papua
Large Fig Parrot

Birds:
Here are some of the tropical birds that visitors can see in the jungle of Klasow valley:
  • Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor)
  • King Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus regius)
  • Magnificent riflebird (Ptiloris magnificus)
  • Twelve-wired Birds of Paradise
  • Northern Cassowary (Casuarius unappendiculatus) 
  • Moustached Tree-Swift
  • Glossy Swiftlet
  • Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus)
  • Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)
  • Eclectus Parrot (Eclectus parrot)
  • Large Fig Parrot (Micropsittaculirostris desmarestii)
  • Lowland Peltop
  • Golden Myna (Mino anais)
  • Yellow Faced Myna (Mino dumontii)
  • Pinon Imperial Pigeon (Ducula pinon)
  • Pink-spotted Fruit-Dove
  • Beautiful Fruit-Dove
  • Wompoo Fruit-Dove
  • Orange-bellied Fruit Dove
  • Yellow-billed Kingfisher
  • Forest Kingfisher
  • Dwarf Kingfisher (Ceyx lepidus)
  • Rufous-bellied Kookaburra (Dacelo gaudichaud) 
  • Papuan hornbill (Rhyticeros plicatus)
  • Hooded Pitta
  • Northern Cassowary
  • Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus)
  • Black Sunbird
  • and etc.
Male Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor)
Male Lesser Birds of Paradise were performing courtship dance to attract female ones

 How to get there?
If you are interested in taking a rainforest hiking tour or birding tour in Sorong regency, the route to get there:
  • Fly from your country to Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia)
  • Fly from Jakarta to Sorong city (by one of the domestic airlines such as Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya Air, Lion Air)
  • I will meet you at the airport and organize your tour to 
Booking
Please, email me (Charles Roring) to: peace4wp@gmail.com whatsapp: +6281332245180
Klasow valley of Sorong regency
Lowland forest of Sorong regency

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