Mountains, lakes & rain around Tomohon

Lake Linow
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The Marpaung family drove us to Tomohon, stopping at a couple of interesting places along the way - including Watu Pinabetengan, a rock with ancient inscriptions from around 670AD when the land was divided between various tribes of the Minahasan peoples.

Happy Flower Homestay was a nice place to stay - a handful of small cottages with friendly & helpful staff.

On Tuesday (10th Jan) we caught a mikrolet and were dropped off at the road leading to Lake Linow. A 15 minute walk brought us to the lake, a strange green colour with a number of sulfurous vents around it. We'd brought a picnic lunch, and shared the only shelter on the lake with another picnicking family - watching the rain pour down once again! When the rain eased, we walked a little further around the lake along the jungle road. Unfortunately the rain came down again, but we were able to shelter in a small bamboo hut by the side of the road. Fortunately just as we decided to head back, a mikrolet appeared out of nowhere and we were able to ride all the way back to Tomohon.

Fishing activities - Lake Tondano
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The next day we caught another mikrolet (there must be millions of these tiny blue buses in North Sulawesi!) to the town of Tondano, changing to another one heading along the shore of Lake Tondano. We got off at the Lake Tondano Restaurant - it was a little early for lunch so we walked around the edge of the lake enjoying watching the various fishing activities going on. We made it back to the restaurant just as the rain started and had a delicious meal of fresh barbequed fish (mujair). There was a nice view of the rain pelting down, so we stayed there for about 3 hours until it eased off enough for us to catch the series of mikrolets back home.

Lunch at Lake Tondano Restaurant - it's raining!
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Thursday morning we caught yet another mikrolet to the foot of Mt Mahawu, a nearby volcano. We had decided against climbing the higher Mt Lokon due to the inclement weather and the difficulty of the climb. It was about 2 km to the peak of Mahawu, a pleasant walk through the vegetable fields, turning to jungle further up. The last couple of hundred meters was pretty steep - remember, Wendy doesn't do "up"! Unfortunately the clouds rolled in just as we got to the top, so no view except looking down into the crater where small amounts of smoke were being emitted.

The slopes of Mt Mahawu
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On Friday (the thirteeth!) the Marpaungs arrived, along with nieces Lisa and Cindy, to drive us to our next destination, Tangkoko Nature Reserve, about 60 or 70 km away. It turned into a rather long trip, as we had to stop in Manado for a couple of hours while Pak Albiner attended to some business. then another stop to visit friends in the town of Bitung on the south coast. Bitung is the main port of the region, a not particularly attractive town full of copra processing plants and fish canneries - under the magnificent backdrop of two volcanic mountains.

Mt Mahawu - crater
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From Bitung to Tangkoko we were in the dark, arriving by about 8pm at Mama Roos Homestay right on the edge of the nature reserve in the village of Batuputih. The rooms here were quite adequate considering our remoteness - but we were soon to discover that the meals were fabulous, worth the trip!! Saturday was spent exploring the village - a fishing village with black sand beaches and not a lot else. We made arrangements for a guide for the following morning - at 5 am! This is the time you have to enter the park to catch sight of the black macaques in the jungle. So a little bleary-eyed we set out with torches, first seeing an enormous tarantula. As dawn broke we were lucky enough to see a pair of hornbills high up in the trees, then wandered around the forest for a while while a guide disappeared at intervals to look for a monkey troop. On our way back to the entrance he got lucky, and we spent half an hour or so being entertained by the antics of the macaques - a troop of twenty or so.

Batuputih beach
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After breakfast there was nothing for it but to head back to bed for a while, that took us up until about, oohh, lunchtime!  A quiet afternoon until 4.30 when we headed back down to the park entrance to meet our guide again - this time we were on the look-out for tarsiers.  It starting pouring with rain not long into the walk - our guide headed into the jungle and returned shortly with three large palm leaves, the perfect umbrella.

It took almost an hour to reach the strangler fig tree where a family of tarsiers is in residence and accustomed to being looked at as they come out to feed just before dusk.  We only had to wait a few minutes before the first appeared, extremely cute - the world's smallest primate.  Its body is smaller than a fist, with a very long tail, and huge eyes.  We  watched in delight as three or four others eventually made their way out of the tree hollows and started leaping around the nearby shrubbery in search of insects.

Crested black macaque
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As darkness fell we made our way back to Mama Roos, well satisfied with the tarsier encounter.

Next morning we were to make our own way back to the main road near Bitung, where Pak Albiner had said he would pick us up.  Local transport in this area consists of a pick-up with four boards across the back for passengers to sit on.  We flagged down the first pick-up we saw coming along the road, turned out not to be a public one but a man on his way to Bitung who was happy to take us anyway - he already had a family on board.  Wendy chose to sit in the cabin, Keith shared the back with the family and a Dutch girl we had met.  The road we had travelled in darkness a couple of nights before turned out to be very pretty - lots of jungle, with small farms along the edges and the ubiquitous coconut palms.

Tarsier
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We made it back safely to the main road near Bitung where we eventually found a cafe next to a wartel - unfortunately Pak Albiner wasn't answering his phone, but eventually an SMS came through saying he was almost there - Keith went out and waved at his car, but he drove straight past!  However, the car was soon back, we said hello and headed into Bitung for lunch.

After Pak Albiner had completed his business in Bitung we headed back to Manado, about an hour.  Unfortunately Wendy was suffering severely from a migraine so didn't enjoy the trip.  In Manado we booked into the Minahasa Hotel, which had been recommended as a few nothches up from the Hotel Celebes we had stayed at previously.  Keith spared no expense with Wendy in her debilitated state and got a very comfortable and large cottage room looking over the courtyard garden.  With both hot water and airconditioning!

Birthday celebrations
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Having booked in we drove off again back to the village of Tumpaan, where we had been invited to a party.  We weren't exactly sure what the party was, but it turned out to be a combined birthday party for Ibu Marpaung's sister and brother-in-law (Uncle Sam - he was turning 50), as well as Pak Albiner and Ibu Marpaung - all of them celebrating birthdays in the same month.  The opportunity was also being taken to celebrate Lisa's graduation from university.  The party was a very formal affair and we felt distinctly under-dressed.  There were speeches, prayers, hymns and readings before we tucked into the sumptuous food.  Shortly after the food was consumed, most people headed for home!

Farewell Manado
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Not us - our hosts had arranged for a relative who was a masseur to give Wendy a workover to hopefully ease the migraine.  Wendy was very happy with the result - she did get some relief.  Keith was forced to have a massage as well - oh well, might as well enjoy it!

Uncle Sam and Lisa drove us back to Manado, and the following day, Tuesday, was spent quietly.  We had intended to visit the provincial museum, but it appeared to be in a terminal state of closure.  Having already exhausted the few sights of Manado there was little for it but to head to the air-conditioned mall for lunch and shopping!

We celebrated our last evening in North Sulawesi with a slap-up meal at a waterfront fish restaurant - delicious.

And so on Wednesday 18th the Marpaungs, Uncle Sam and Lisa arrived to take us to the airport and we bid a fond farewell to our gracious hosts and to North Sulawesi.  Next stop, Singapore, for "one more sleep"!