Riverwalk Tour in Manokwari

The lowland forest of New Guinea is a very rich environment. It is the one that exists in northwest region of Manokwari. To explore the forest, the best way is by walking along the sides of a river that passes through the forest. Recently I guided 3 French visitors on a 3-day/ 2-night riverwalk and birdwatching tour to the lowland forest of Manokwari. The name of the forest was Mesirrokow. It was the natural habitat of a lot of species of birds including Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Eclectus Parrot, Palm Cockatoo, Blyth's Hornbill, Yellow-faced Myna, Little-ringed Plover, Dollarbird, Brahminy Kite, and etc.
Other animals such as wallaby, wild pigs, deer, cuscus possum, and soa-soa lizard, as well as beetles and butterflies also live in the forest. The variety of the vegetation is very high including iron wood tree, pandanus tree, creeping plants, shrubs and grass.
Camping and Riverwalk

We built tents on higher ground near the river and then did the riverwalk tour every mornings and afternoons-before sunset time. When the weather is good, we can walk along the banks of the river easily.  One of the guests brought his Swarovski Spotting Scope and Leica binoculars. They greatly enhanced our birding experience. I personally carried my Visionking 10x42 mm binoculars. With these birding optics, we could watch Glossy-mantled Manucode (Manucode ater), Lowland Peltop (Peltops blainvillii), Pink-spotted Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus perlatus), Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).

Our Camping Site in Lowland Forest of Manokwari

We bring big size 8x6 meters waterproof plastic sheet as our roof tent, several dome tents, mattrasses, and pillows. We also bring cooking and eating utensils to serve our customers. Food such as noodles, canned fish, coffee, tea, and fruits are bought from the supermarket but we get most of our vegetables from the surrounding forest. Our guests said they really enjoyed the camping trip in open nature. In addition to camping, riverwalk and bird/ wildlife watching, they could enjoy swimming as much as they liked.
Preparations

Riverwalk Tour in Manokwari Lowland Forest

Visitors need to bring a good pair of binoculars, a waterproof spotting scope is also needed. For riverwalk, please wear a good pair of watershoes, t-shirt and short pants. Some visitors apply sunblock lotion. I recommend anti-insect lotion.

How to get there?

• First, visitors need to fly from their country to Jakarta (the capital city of Indonesia)
• After that they could take a domestic flight to Manokwari city. Airlines such as Garuda, Sriwijaya, Batik and Lion/ Wings Air have got regular flights to Manokwari. 

Booking
Please, contact me (Charles Roring) by e-mail to: peace4wp@gmail.com.

Also read:

• Birding and Photography Tour in Tangkoko and Minahasa Highland
• Birdwatching and Photography Tour in Minahasa Highland

Trekking in Syugrar river of Tambrauw Forest

I have just returned from the jungle of Tambrauw mountains after organizing a tour for 6 Polish visitors who wanted to see tropical rainforest. They spent 2 weeks of their vacation period scuba diving in Raja Ampat and walking in the jungle of Tambrauw. While in Raja Ampat, they stayed in comfortable bungalows of Kri Eco Resort. In the contrary, when they went into the jungle, they had to stay in dome tents battered by heavy rain.
We went trekking and camping at the bank of Syugrar river (approx. 4 hours by 4WD car).

During the tour, we saw various species of birds including lesser birds of paradise, sulphur crested cockatoo, blyth's hornbill, deer, wild pigs, cuscus possum, beetles, butterflies, and a lot of species of plants. We built tents and stayed in the jungle for 4 days/ 3 nights. We did day and night walks in the jungle. As a tour guide, I provided several dome tents for them.

We also had a riverwalk where we explored the forest by walking through Syugrar river. Its current was not so strong so we could walk against it.

If you are visiting West Papua (Sorong town and Raja Ampat) and want to combine your trip with jungle tour, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.