Raja Ampat Island - Wonderful Place of Indonesia

Back in Manokwari ,we called Yoris who is listed in the LP . Met him and went on a birdwatching tour with him. He was not , in our opinion,a good guide . He was expensive and didn't know any of the few birds that we saw. We were not impressed. To give Manokwari its due, it is the base from which to explore the Arfak Mountain area which is renowned for its birdlife. I have just read another report on T Adviser and see a man called Charles Roring does guiding in that area . Looks as if it would be fantastic

The motto of the story is - if you want to go birding in Papua with a local guide, set it up before you go, as that is where we came unstuck. But when we left home in July, we didn't even know if we would end up in Papua !

Anyway ,we finally made it back to Sorong after 5 days of flight issues. and got met by a representative of the Raja Ampat Dive Resort . He took us to the ferry terminal where the boat was about to set off for Waigeo island - our destination.

The boat trip took 3 hours and then we were transferred to the resort by speedboat.

The resort sits right on an idyllic beach with clear clear water , and great snorkelling right off the beach .

The resort is owned by the government and was not cheap - It cost as much as if we were divers, but still cheaper than the private resorts. But the service was shocking - they had no coca cola, or any other soft drinks - let alone beer . Then when they did get some it was a constant battle to get them to keep it chilled.

The accommodation was very nice- a big bungalow just metres from the water. We had resident KusKus in the trees in the gardens and many many gorgeous birds.

we went out snorkelling a couple of times with the dive boat but found that the snorkelling was not as rewarding as we had found in other places. Not because the marine life is not there, it is one of the BEST dive areas in the world, but the reefs are shallow and have strong currents flowing across them which makes snorkelling less easy.

Anyway we found there was a road at the back of the resort which provided amazing birdwatching potential . So every morning for the week we were there we got up at dawn,5 a.m, and set off . We had some fantastic finds, like a Red Bird of Paradise pair just feeding nonchalantly in a tree by the roadside !! We had planned to make a special boat trip/ trek in search of these while we were there , and there they were , just for us .

Then we found out from the manager that there was a quite a colony of Wilson's Bird of Paradise - the little fellow with vibrant colours who clears a bower ., quite near to the resort. He showed us where and we sat in 2 different hides, several times and had great sightings of several birds of the species. It was a fantastic week , and if we were to go again , same thing applies, - we would find out about a good local guide , but doubt we would go through one of the expensive tour companies , because the birds are there, everywhere, and not at all hard to find .

Our time in Papua was over and we had done and seen more than we had ever imagined. What a great adventure and still a place untouched by mass tourism

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Write by: Dj Eviena - Wednesday, March 12, 2014