Category Archives: Out in the Jungles
Gorontalo, Sulawesi, Indonesia
I made a quick work visit to a copper exploration site (and then took the weekend to scuba dive). The site is in the middle of a dense tropical jungle.
Gorontalo is on the northern part of Sulawesi. The province has been influenced by several foreign cultures over the centuries including the Portuguese and Spanish (who introduced corn, tomatoes, chili peppers, horses, and the afternoon siesta!). Like most parts of Indonesia, the Dutch took control of the spice trade and ended the power of the local kings of the time. The area is currently in the midst of an economic boom driven by the export growth of their primary industries (e.g. fish to Japan, corn to the Middle East). Despite its potential, tourism has been very low key.
Gorontalo has over 24 dive spots that are based off a narrow, shallow coral shelf that rims the coastline. There is only one dive operator run by an American from Miami, Florida, called Ratnje Wilson. The dive center is called Miguel’s diving and Ratnje has been in Gorontalo for close to 10 years providing a very professional diving operation. Unfortunately, I was only able to get in 2 dives but they were exceptionally good. The diversity and quantity of marine life was incredible (e.g tuna, crabs, Salvador Dali sponges, baby blow fish, Nemo fish, a massive school of Trevali and a turtle. I will definitely be back to explore some of the other sites next season.
The other divers were a group of friendly American English teachers who were based in Gorontalo, Makassar and Manado. Each are part of US foreign diplomacy programs that teach English at local schools and universities across Indonesia. We enjoyed some great seafood, cold beer(s) and tales of living and working in Indonesia.
Tips:
- Recommended restaurants include; Golden Fish and Samudera Indah. Rantje can advise you on some other places which I didn’t have the chance to go to.
- If you’re happy with basic accommodation stay at Oasis Hotel which is where Miguel’s Diving’s administrative office is based, but bring mosquito spray or cream though as there are a lot of them buzzing around. If you want more luxury then the Quality Hotel is the recommended hotel in town.
- The primary mode of transport is the Bencol. They’re cheap, clean and fun. For short distances expect to pay around 2,000 Rph, for longer distances that may take 10-15 mins around 10,000 rph (anymore than that and you’re paying bulle tax).
Gold & Silver Mine, North Sumatra
A fresh site for me in North Sumatra. This time its a gold/silver mine situated an hours flight + 2 hours by car from Medan in a place called Martabe. The mine has had multiple owners over the last 6 years and its finally on track to start production.
The flight to and from from Medan was on Susi Air, a small passenger and cargo airline that has an interesting history. Started by Susie Pudjiastuti and her partner, it was originally formed to service her family’s seafood business. Since then it has grown and has a small fleet of new planes and they employ expatriate pilots. They have become known for being the training ground for Indonesian pilots before they are poached or are lured by the bigger airlines like Garuda and AirAsia.
The camp site itself reminded me of a mountain retreat. Clean, green and scenic. Most of the structures are temporary and use 20 and 40 foot containers. The accommodation facility reminded me of a Japanese capsule hotel.
Surprisingly, the food was excellent and was better than most of the sites I have already visited. The workforce agree and they seem to quite happy with where they are.
No helicopter ride this time, but a very scenic and unique flight experience back to Medan flying over Lake Toba. My colleague and I took the back seats and enjoyed the best leg room we’ve ever had. When we landed we saw an abandoned plane which we were glad wasn’t our interconnecting flight.
After visiting a local private hospital in Medan, I stayed the night at the Aryaduta hotel which is a luxury hotel but priced at a very affordable (corporate) rate. Highly recommended and the food, particularly Chinese, is excellent.
Travel Itinerary (Update)
Almost 2 months into the new year. It goes quick!
- Feb (2nd week) - Medan/ Martabe
- Feb (3rd week) - Belitung Island
- Feb (4th week) - Back in Jakarta
- Mar (1st week) - Vietnam
- Mar (2nd week) - West Papua, Rajah Ampat/Birds Nest
- April (1st week) – Singapore
- April (2nd week) – Sumba
- April (3rd week) – Goronotalo
Nickel Mine Visit 2010
This was my 2nd trip to the same mine. See earlier post for the first trip.
After flying into Ternete from Gosowong where I was visiting a gold mine, I met with my colleague Dr Areswari, who was visiting local hospitals. Ternete is a town and island and was once the world’s single major producer of cloves. In the precolonial era, Ternate was the dominant political and economic power over most of the “Spice Islands” of Maluku.
As we had time before our chopper ride to WedaBay, we went for lunch at a great restaurant overlooking the sea and the cone shaped islands which are featured on the 1,000 rupiah note.
Lunch at Florida restaurant – A great view!
Our ride to Halmahera
Medical Team
Sunset at WedaBay
Gold Mine 2010 (Gosowong, Halmahera Island)
Here we go again. Air Fast Bell Chopper from Manado to Halmahera Island.
In progress –
Views from the Chopper
Kalimantan (First site visit for 2010)
Here we go! My first site visit for 2010. This time its to Kalimantan (the island of Borneo) to see a mining construction contractor in Sangatta and a number of other clients based in Balikpapan. Sangatta is on the east of the island and is the base for a large coal mining operation.
We get there by a Twin Otter plane from Balikpapan’s airport. The flight takes approx an hour and on this flight there happened to be a few too many ‘large’ passengers. This forced the airline to send our luggage on a separate flight as the plane was overweight.
Accommodation
The Clinic
Mine Pit Operations
The Moon Surface
Travel Itinerary (1st Quarter)
Travel itinerary (1st quarter 2010)
Looking forward to great trips for work and fun next year.
- Jan (2nd week) - Kalimantan – Balikpapan (Coal Mine)
- Jan (3rd week) - Manado/Halmahera (Gold Mine), Bunaken Island (diving)
- Jan (4th week) - Jakarta
- Feb (1st week) - West Papua, Rajah Ampat (diving), Birds Nest (Mining site visit)
- Feb (2nd week) - Medan, Martabe (Mining site visit)
- Feb (3rd week) - Belitung Island (diving and fun) – long weekend
- Feb (4th week) - Jakarta
- Mar (1st week) - Vietnam (travel for fun – quarterly vacation)
Let me know if you’re around or want to tag along.
