Wildlife Tour to Tambrauw Mountains

Adventure in Tambrauw Mountains

The mountain range of Tambrauw is a great destination for wildlife watching tour. It is located in the Vogelkop region of West Papua.  I have organized tours to the region for tourists who want to see tropical birds, butterflies, rainforest flowers, deers, bats, frogs, and fish that live in the rainforest of Tambrauw.

Two weeks ago, I organized a one-week trip to Tambrauw mountains for two American tourists - Naftali and Sarah. We started our trip from Manokwari city by a 4WD car.
Buying logistical supplies
Before leaving the city, we bought food supplies in yhe suprrmarket and traditional market such as rice, eggs, canned fish, fruits, and vegetables as well as coffee, tea, palm sugar, and biscuits. We would need them during the tour. We also loaded mattrasses, and portable dome tents into the pick-up car. When everything was ready, we left for Tambrauw.
Birding along the road
Our first destination was District Miyah. There, we watched tropical birds such as Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Brahminy Kite, Helmetted Friarbird, Brown Cuckoo Dove, Rainbow Lorikeet, and Pinon Imperial Pigeon. We spent 1 night in that district and then the next afternoon we continued our adventure trip to Mount Sakofsiah.

Most of the mountains are covered by pristine tropical rainforest. Along the way to the mountains, we saw Blyth's hornbill, Black-capped Lory, and a lot of other birds.
The road to Mount Sakofsiah was an unpaved one. There were wooden bridges that were badly damaged. Our cars could not pass on them. So, we had to cross the river. This was part of the adventure. There was also one wooden bridge that was not safe enough for cars. We had to make simple repair to cross it.
We arrived at the foot of Mountain Range of Sakofsiah around 14.00 local time. The next road in front of us was very steep and dangerous. Our driver as an experienced driver. He skillfully drove his car to climb the steep slopes to reach the top of the mountains.

The landscape view on top of Mountain Ridge of Sakofsiah was very beautiful. I decided to wait on top of the mountains. Below us was Ases village. I asked the driver and my friend to continue their trip to the village whereas I and our American guests would wait on top of Mount Sakofsiah. We wanted to see if there were birds from the cloud forest that we could see before during sunset time. Unfortunately, we could only see Grey-streaked Flycatcher. As we walked down the slope to Ases valley, we saw more birds such as Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Black-capped Lory and Yellow-faced Myna.
Ases village was so quiet. There were only a few people living in it. My team had set up the dome tents, mattrasses and cooked dinner when we arrived.

Rainbow Lorikeet

Our next adventure in Ases valley consisted of riverwark, swimming, nightwalk and birdwatching. We saw birds, cuscus possum, lizards, lizards, butterflies, rainforest flowers, deers, and frogs. We spent 5 days/ 4 nights exploring the mountain ridge and valleys. The forest was in very good condition. The trails were not clear. Visitors must not walk alone in the huge forest. A local guide must accompany them.
In the last day when we were left the Mount Sakofsiah, we saw big deers and cassowary. It was a nice and unique adventure. I like it very much.
If you are interested in Traveling to Mount Sakofsiah and want me to organize your tour, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.
Birding and Wildlife Tour in Tambrauw Mountains
Birding and Snorkeling in Tambrauw regency
Palm Cockatoo in Tambrauw Mountains
Birding in Tambrauw Mountains

Birding in Tambrauw Interior Region

I have just returned from Tambrauw mountains with 2 American birdwatchers. We spent one week exploring the rainforest of the interior region to find tropical birds.
There were several sites that we visited. Some of them were District Miyah and Mount Sakofsiah. The avifauna in this regency was in very good condition.

Long-tailed Buzzard

From our jungle walks, we saw Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Golden Cuckooshrike, Spangled Drongo, Palm Cockatoo, Rainbow Lorikeet, Red-flanked Lorikeet, Azure Kingfisher, Great Cuckoo Dove, Wompoo Fruit Dove, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Double-eyed Fig Parrot, Red-cheeked Parrot, Grey-streaked Flycatcher, Vulturine Parrot, Lesser Birds of Paradise, Helmeted Friarbird, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, and Oriental Dollarbird, Lowland Peltop, and a lot more.

Little-pied Cormorant

During the tour, we had several night walks in the jungle to see other wild animals such as deer, cuscus possum, fruitbats, frogs, and squirrel.
The scenery of Mount Sakofsiah was very beautiful. We really enjoyed the tour to this forest.
For taking pictures of birds, I used Nikon 200D with Tamron 150-600 mm G2 telephoto lens. For sceneries and macro subjects, the camera that I used was Fujifilm XQ2.
The trip to this forest is expensive due to the remote location of the forest. So, I highly recommend that visitors come in a group of at least three to four people to share the cost. If you are interested in traveling to Tambrauw mountains to do birdwatching and wildlife watching and want me to organize your trip, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.

Camping and Birding Tour in the Forest of Tambrauw Mountains

I organized a camping and birding tour from 15 to 17 August of 2016 for two tourists in the forest of Tambrauw mountains. They were Sophie and Sonia - two ladies from France. We went there by a 4WD car that brought us on a 4-hour ride from Sorong city to Sunai river and then back to Syuan river.

On the second day of our trip, we enjoyed snorkeling to see coral reef and tropical fish that made Tambrauw waters as their natural habitat. Some of the fish that we saw were parrotfish, damselfish, moorish idol, pipe fish, striped surgeonfish, fine-lined surgeon fish, lined bristletooth, black-tailed dascyllus, anemonefish, table coral, sea star and a lot of other marine creatures which I still could not identify by myself.
At night, we saw a huge colony of firefly that was gathering in a tree not far from our tents.

During the trip we were able to watch Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor), Palm Cockatoo (Probosciger aterrimus), Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita),  Eclectus Parrot (Eclectus rotatus), eagles at a mountain ridge located in the east of Syuan river and at a forest clearing near Sunai river. We also saw crayfish in the river, wild flowers and various colorful butterflies.

It was a wonderful experience for the French ladies.
We returned to Sorong city in the afternoon where we watched street carnival the next day. School students were wearing traditional clothing, dancing and playing drums. The carnival created long traffic jam in the streets. After a short tour in traditional market where we saw various kinds of vegetables, fruits, and other consumer goods, these French ladies returned to Swissbelhotel.
As a tour guide, I offer rainforest camping and birding tours in the jungle of Arfak range, Tambrauw mountains, Klasow valley of Sorong regency and Manokwari.
I can prepare a customized itinerary for you, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com for more info