Thursday, July 6, 2023

Tourist Attractions in Sorong City

Sorong city which is the main gate for visitors who want to travel to Raja Ampat has got a number of interesting attractions: Usually they spend one or two days in Sorong city before continuing their trip to Waisai town or flying back to their country. Here are some of the attractions. 

Birdwatching in Sorong
Sahul Sunbird

  • Rainforests in Sorong are located along the coastal area and in the hills behind the city. The forest that can be visited easily by birdwatchers is the mangrove forest. It has got boardwalk that allows visitors to watch birds, butterflies, beetles, lizards, fish, crabs, and see mangrove trees. 
  • Hill Forest - There are several hill areas at the outskirts of Sorong city that is good for nature walk and birdwatching or butterflywatching. Visitors need an experienced birding guide and a rent car to visit these places.
  • Traditional Market is the place for visitors who want to see goods and services that city dwellers buy and sell. Various kinds of fruits, vegetables, meat, kitchen equipment, electrical appliances, clothing and etc. 
  • Islands - There are several interesting islands around Sorong regency. Visitors can go to the islands to the villagers or watch birds and other wildlife. 
Wildlife watching outside Sorong city
Sorong city has got supermarkets, department stores, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, spa, car rental, boat rental, traditional market, fast food restaurants, souvenir shops, and etc.
If you are interested in exploring the natural and cultural attractions around Sorong city and want me to organize your tour and guide you, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by whatsapp to +6281332245180. 

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Friday, June 16, 2023

Birding in Mangrove Forest of Sorong City

Mangrove forest of Sorong city is a good place for visitors who have short time to enjoy birding before they fly back to their country or continue their trip to Raja Ampat. It takes around 20 to 30 minutes to reach it. Visitors need to bring a good pair of binoculars, a camera with telephoto lens. The best time to start watching birds is early in the morning at 06:00 or in the afternoon at 15:30. 

brown-backed honeyeater, shining flycatcher, olive-backed sunbird
Birds in Coastal Forest of Sorong

The common birds in mangrove trees are Brown-backed Honeyeater, Metallic Starling, Orange-fronted Fruit Dove, Shining Flycatcher, Sacred Kingfisher and Olive-backed Sunbird. There are also White-bellied Cuckooshrike, White-breasted Woodswallow, Willie Wagtail, and Helmetted Friarbird. 

I used to see Australian Ibis, Blue-Black Kingfisher, Nankeen Night Heron in the forest. However, they are not so common. 

When I guide visitors, I bring 2 pairs of SVBONY 10×50 binoculars. I use one pair for myself. The other pair is mounted on a tripod to function as spotting scope, so every tour participant will have the opportunity to watch the bird. Binoculars on tripod are perfect tools for finding birds in distant branches of trees. 

Orange-breasted Fig Parrot (Cyclopsitta gulielmitertii)
Orange-breasted Fig Parrot
I usually combine this short birding trip with tour to traditional market of Sorong city. 

For extended tour, a 4-day/3-night birding in Waigeo and a 3-day/ 2-night birding trip to Klasow valley of Sorong regency or Tambrauw regency can be offered to interested visitor(s). 

The birds in these regions include Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Yellow-faced Myna, Lowland Peltop, Red-cheeked Parrot, Eclectus Parrot, Palm Cockatoo, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Red Bird of Paradise, Wilson's Bird of Paradise, Beach Kingfisher, Whimbrel, Striated Heron, and a lot more.

The number of participant for the long birding tour can be one visitor to a group of eight birdwatchers. 

Sorong city as tourist destination
Flight Route to Sorong City

Sorong city can be reached by plane from major cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Makassar, Manado, Ambon, and even Jayapura. Garuda, Lion Air, Batik Air as well as Sriwijaya have got regular flights to Sorong city. 

There are a lot of hotels in Sorong. Some of them include Kyriad M, Swissbel Hotel, Aston, Waigo, and etc. 

Booking

If you are interested in taking a birding tour in Sorong city, Raja Ampat islands, Tambrauw regency of South West Papua province of Indonesia, and want me (Charles Roring) to organize your trip and guide you, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180. 

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Saturday, June 3, 2023

Birding in the forest near Sorong city of Indonesia

Sorong city is the entrance gate for visitors who travel to Raja Ampat. Usually after long flights from home, visitors who have just arrived in Sorong feel tired. They want to take a rest for at least one night in a hotel of the city. They are also interested in exploring interesting places such as its restaurants, traditional markets, the nearby village or island. Visitors who have just completed their holiday in Raja Ampat may also want to explore tourist attractions in Sorong city.

birdwatching in indonesia
This bird picture was taken using Fujifilm HS50EXR

Bird or animal watching is an interesting activity that visitors can do. As a tourist guide, I have organized tours for solo or group travelers to watch birds in a forest not far from Sorong. 

West Papua birding trip
Olive-backed Sunbird

We usually start early in the morning at 06:00. I bring 2 pairs of binoculars 10×50 binoculars. One pair is mounted on a tripod to function as spotting scope. I use the other pair to find birds. I also bring laser pointer and a small loudspeaker to call birds. However, in order not to disturb the bird, I don't play the bird very often. 

The lowland mangrove forest of Sorong is the habitat of tens of species of beautiful birds and butterflies. Based on my previous trips, the species that I have seen include White-bellied Cuckooshrike, Olive-backed Sunbird (now also called Sahul Sunbird), Brown-backed Honeyeater, Australian White Ibis, Nankeen Night Heron, Sacred Kingfisher, Orange-breasted Fig Parrot, Hooded Butcherbird, Orange-fronted Fruit Dove, Blue Black Kingfisher, Emperor Fairy Wren, Oriental Dollarbird, Rainbow Bee-eater, White-breasted Woodswallow, Yellow-faced Myna and a lot more. 

For butterflies, there are Priamus butterfly, Silky Owl Butterfly and etc. 

birding trip in Sorong of Indonesia
Flight route to Sorong city

I bring a bridge camera Fujifilm HS50EXR. It is an old photographic device with 42× optical zoom that is quite powerful in shooting flora and fauna in distant or tall trees. The birdwatching or animal watching tour lasts until 09:00 morning time. 

orange breasted fig parrot
Birds in the lowland forest near Sorong city

After the tour in the forest of Sorong, I can extend the trip to the nearby traditional market or to a nearby island. Some visitors even request 4 to 6 days animal watching trip both in the forest of mainland West Papua and in Waigeo island of Sorong city.

If you are interested in taking the birding trip and want me (Charles Roring) to guide you, please, contact me by email to peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180. 

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Thursday, May 25, 2023

West Papua Birding Tours in Waigeo and Sorong City

I have just completed a 4-day-3-night birding and wildlife watching tour in Waigeo island of Raja Ampat and mangrove forest of Sorong city. I guided Mike who is an American visitor from Florida of the United States. 

waigeo raja ampat and Sorong regency
Birds in West Papua

We spent 3 days 2 nights watching birds along the roadside of Saporkren as well as the hill forest of the island to look for such birds as Red Bird of Paradise, Wilson's Bird of Paradise, Glossy-mantled Manucode, Palm Cockatoo, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Eclectus Parrot, Red-cheeked Parrot, Pied Imperial Pigeon, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Claret-breasted Fruit Dove, Dwarf Fruit Dove, Western-crowned Pigeon, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Hooded Butcherbird, Helmetted Friarbird, Shining Flycatcher, Yellow-faced Myna, Pacific Swallow, Common Sandpiper, Willie Wagtail, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Osprey, Brahminy Kite, Papuan Boobok, Lesser Frigatebird, Olive-crowned Flowerpecker, Black Sunbird, Papuan Black Myzomela, Raja Ampat Pitohui, Blyth's Hornbill and a lot more. 

We enjoyed the magnificent view of the beach of Saporkren and also the hill areas in the north-east of Waisai's airport. It was a nice trip because we could also see cuscus, and flying fox. 

After completing the tour in Waigeo, we continued our birding trip to Mangrove forest the next morning. Birds that we saw there were not many because our time window was so little. We saw nice birds including White-bellied Cuckooshrike, White-breasted Woodswallow, Brown-backed Honeyeater, Orange-breasted Figparrot, Common Sandpiper, Emperor Fairywren, Sacred Kingfisher, Metallic Starling, Australian Ibis, Rainbow Bee-eater. 

It was a good trip because we could see a lot of birds that can be seen in West Papua's forest. 

I used a pair of 10×50 binoculars that I installed on a tripod. I gave us beautiful view of the birds that we saw in high branches of trees. Some of the birds that I mention in this blog post were shot Fujifilm HS50EXR. 

Well, if you are interested in birding and wildlife watching in Sorong, Raja Ampat and Tambrauw regencies and want me to organize and guide you, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180. 

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Sunday, May 14, 2023

West Papua's Birding Tour with 4 German Visitors

A few weeks ago, I guided 4 German visitors on a 3-day-2-night birding and wildlife watching tour in West Papua's Klasow valley. It was a great trip because we saw birds of paradise as well as a lot of other tropical birds that live in the region. 

wompoo fruit dove, beautiful fruit dove, rufous-bellied kookaburra, western-crowned pigeon

There were several species of paradise birds that we saw. They were Lesser Birds of Paradise, Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise, Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise and King Bird of Paradise.

In addition to paradise birds, we also watched a lot of other tropical birds including Red-cheeked Parrot, Large Fig Parrot, Yellow-capped Pygmy Parrot, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Palm Cockatoo, Blue-black Kingfisher, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Western-crowned Pigeon, Zoe's Imperial Pigeon, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Orange-bellied Fruit Dove, Beautiful Fruit Dove, and etc. 

klasow valley of Malagufuk village, sorong regency
Birding tour in West Papua with 4 German visitors

For night walk, we saw White-lipped Green Frog, Cuscus, Possum, and various kinds of insects. 

I used an old point and shoot camera. It was Fujifilm HS50EXR. This allowed me to take pictures of birds and other wild animals in tall trees. 

Flight Route

To enjoy birding in West Papua, your destination should be Sorong city. This is the flight route:

Jakarta Makasar Manado Sorong
Flight route to Sorong city from major tourism hubs in Indonesia

If you are interested in taking a birding tour in West Papua especially in Malagufuk, Klabili of Klasow valley or Sorong city and Raja Ampat, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180. 

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