Naked Lady - rainforest flowers in Manokwari of West Papua

While I was walking around the campus of Papua university, I saw some flowers. I didn't know their name at that time but Mr. Robert Power - an Australian tourist who was walking with me said that its name was naked lady. It's a beautiful flower isn't it? Inside the tropical rainforest of West Papua, if we go hiking in the morning, we can see various kinds of flowers. From the grass to the branches of big trees, flowers bloom and attract insects such as bees and butterflies to them. I don't know whether these naked lady flowers are endemic species from New Guinea or not but they really look beautiful when planted at the front yard of our homes.

There are a lot of flower plants that are used by the indigenous Papuan people as medicinal herbs.

Naked Lady flowers

At coastal lowland areas, bougenville, hibiscus and paradise birds flowers dominate the front yard of the houses in Manokwari city. But inside the rainforest, orchids are the most common species that we can see. The price of orchids from West Papua is expensive in big cities in Indonesia triggering extensive hunting by the local people who want to make money from selling flowers. I hope that through the promotion of eco-tourism, the destruction of rainforest in West Papua can be minimized.

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Interested in visiting West Papua and need me as your private guide? Please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or send text message to my cell phone: +6281332245180

Also read: 

• Birdwatching in Sulawesi
• Birding in North Sulawesi
• Birding in Sonder of Minahasa
• Birdwatching in Minahasa
• Manado City: Birdwatching and Sightseeing Tour
• Rainforest Flowers Pictures
• Tropical Rainforest Orchids

Rainforest Insects Millipede

When I go hiking or mountain in the tropical rainforest of the Table Mountain, I often see insects. One species that is mostly found walking on the ground is millipede. An adult black millipede can reach a size of 15 cm. When it is young this insect has red color. When you accidentily step on it, its body will brake. This rainforest insect climbs a small plant at night. It will sleep there until morning time. Millipede is not an endangered species in the rainforest. There are a lot of species of insects in the tropical rainforest of West Papua. Some are facing extinction due to continuous hunting by butterfly and beetle collectors.

The photograph of the millipede above was made by a Mikhail Trokhimenko a Russian tourist who came with his wife and friend Dima to Manokwari in January 2010. Insects play a very important role in the ecosystem and food chain of rainforest. They assist the pollination of flowers and are prey to birds and reptiles particularly reptiles. by Charles Roring
Also read: Rainforest insects

Photos of Papuan children wave surfing at Abasi beach of Manokwari

As I said yesterday that I would come back again the next day to take pictures of the Papuan children wave surfing at Abasi beach of Manokwari. When I was taking their wave surfing action, I remembered the time when I was still at sixth grade trying to "conquer" the waves also using simple wooden board wave surfing at Amban pantai beach.

These Papuan children have the potentials to be world class wave surfers if they are supplied with standard surfing board that has fins and more buoyancy. by Charles Roring

Papuan children wave surfing at the Abasi beach of Manokwari

Regular visitors of this blog know that I like mountain biking on the afternoons. This time I want to share my little story of riding my Polygon Cozmic Dx 2.0 - a Dirt jump bicycle this afternoon to Abasi beach just around three kilometers from Pasir Putih beach. I started pushing my bike out of my house at 5 p.m. and began cranking it up along the Brawijaya street (formerly known as Panorama-weg when West Papua was still called the Netherlands Nieuw Guinea). I stopped for a while at the Pasir Putih beach to buy a bowl of rujak - a spicy fruit salad. The lady who sold the rujak put it into a plastic bag which I then tied to the handle bar of my bike. I would eat it at home. After that I continued riding my bicycle to Arowi area where usually many children will call me, "mester-mester", or "sepeda gunung (mountain bike)." Arowi is a crowded new settlement area which the local government of Manokwari regency had built for victims of Manokwari Tsunami that happened several year ago.

I did not plan to stop at the Abasi beach initially. I planned to ride my bike to Cape Bakaro but then I decided to stop at the Abasi beach after seeing some children in the middle of the blue sea wave surfing with their simple wooden boards. I turned right and headed to the beach. I stopped under a coconut tree just a few meters from the breaking waves. The children did not know that I was watching them.
I was sad to find out that I did not bring my digital still photo camera - Sony DSC-W310 at that time. I only had a cell phone in my pocket. I immediately took it out and activated its camera feature. It was a Nokia Xpressmusic 5630. Its digital camera does not have the optical zoom device. So, I could only take pictures of these Papuan children doing the wave surfing without being able to magnify their actions into my photographs. To get clearer photographs of their actions, I walked closer to the beach near the breaking waves. But I had to walk back several times to avoid myself from being washed by the waves. Then the Papuan children were able to see me taking pictures of them trying to be on top of the wave slopes with their very simple wooden surfboards. They were calling me, "mister, mister" I smiled at them and waved my right hand to them.
After taking some pictures of their wave surfing actions, I walked back to my mountain bike again. I decided not to continue cycling to Cape Bakaro. The scene of the Papuan children wave surfing at the Abasi beach was a good view that I had that afternoon. When I was leaving the beach, they called me again, "mester-mester, besok lagi (meaning mister-mister, tomorrow again)." Then I replied to them, "Ya, besok lagi."
When I was a child, I used to try wave surfing at Amban Pante beach in the north coast of Manokwari. The waves there are bigger between December and February than the ones that I saw at Abasi beach but more dangerous due to the big rocks that are scattered around the shallow waters of the beach. I will go back again tomorrow to the beach for taking pictures of these Papuan children doing their wave surfing actions. I will bring my digital camera, of course. These very potential Papuan children can one day become natural world class wave surfers should they receive supports from the national committee of Indonesian sports (KONI) in the form of better boards supplies and proper guidance from experienced athletes. For advanced surfing techniques, I think, they will be able to master them naturally.
Abasi beach is not as popular as the Pasir Putih beach but it is a good destination for those who are brave enough to conquer the waves of this tropical island.  by Charles Roring Also read: Mountain bike tour to Cape Bakaro

Rainforest insects Dragonfly from the Table Mountain of Manokwari

Dragon fly can easily be seen when we go hiking in the tropical rainforest of the Table Mountain of Manokwari. A dragonfly looks like a helicopter often hovering above running water or standing still on a tiny stalk of a plant. I like to watch a dragonfly from a close distance. I don't know the number of species that we can find in the rainforest of the bird's head region of Manokwari - West Papua but I believe that there are many of them. Some have red bodies whereas others have dark black or brown colours.

If we want to watch dragonflies from close distance, we must move slowly. Our digital camera should be ready before we walk towards the insects. I saw many dragon flies while hiking a long the banks of a small river in the morning time when the weather was clear. Besides watching dragonflies, we can see other species of rainforest insects in the mountain. by Charles Roring