Indonesia Trip 2017 Day 9 & 10

Indonesia Trip Day 9 & 10 – Sunday 30th July 2017 and Monday 31st July 2017

Sulawesi with Mike Nelson from Bird Tour Asia.

The first part of our 6-week Indonesian trip was birding the island of Sulawesi. 

On the morning of Sunday 30th, July we left Sendy Guesthouse at 5.00 am to bird Lore Lindu National Park again. We birded until 10.30 am and then went back to the guest house for our bags and then head off for our flight after an early lunch at 12 pm.

We travelled to Palu, stopping by a bridge where we saw lots of Savannah Nightjar roosting as well as Red-backed Buttonquail which we had seen before in Queensland Australia. It was ridiculously hot and so it wasn’t a long stop.

It was Dad’s birthday today as he’s 2 days younger than Mum.

The best birds of the morning at Lore Lindu NP were Ashy Woodpecker, Rufous-winged Buzzard, Makassar Miner and Black-faced Munia.

We stayed at a very upmarket hotel in Palu, with a fancy glass surrounded shower. Mike arranged for a birthday cake for Mum and Dad, which was lovely of him.

The next day, Monday 31st July was a travel day. We met at 3.45 am with our bags, to catch a flight from Palu back down to Makassar, then another flight to Manado in the north of the Island.  We spent our time at Makassar Airport sitting in Starbucks, using their wifi with a big box of Dunkin’ Donuts for me!

As we flew into Manado airport, it was shocking to see how much of the land was destroyed and now Covered in palm oil.

Once in Manado, we had a 5-hour drive to Kotamobagu, where we’re were staying for four nights at the Patra Jasa Hotel. Its main benefits were a western toilet, warm shower, air conditioning and most importantly working (sort of) wifi.