North Sulawesi, Indonesia - Known for its rich marine life, great for adventurous diving travellers, but we were there for their endemic birds/wildlife. We arrived Manado one day before our trip started and left two days after due to the limited flights there. Our Guide, Mr Noldi, rendered us his best service by offering to pick us upon arrival despite the tour starts the next day.
It was Day 1 of our tour and we were picked up at around 8am. After a one night stay at a nearby airport hotel, we were off for our adventure to Tangkoko Nature Reserve. We arrived at our homestay in Tangkoko 2 hours later. It was too early for lunch and Guide said we unpacked and get ready to move out. The weather was a little cloudy, not sunny though. The nature reserve was only 5 minutes away from the homestay, and we were like almost practically staying next to it. We began our walk into the reserve, led by our Guide and his partner. They tried to hunt for the Blue-faced rail but in vain. As we walked into the forest, we saw some small birds, but due to low light environment, shooting them was tough. Then we saw a Black Macaque on the tree, and started taking pictures of it. Guide said "No need to shoot, later got many near the shore." We stopped and resumed our bird watching. Then we started to walked through the forest towards the shore, and indeed, many Macaques were roosting on a huge tree near the shore. They were listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).
The day started to drizzle a little and we made our way back to the homestay for lunch. The moment we arrived, a downpour came and lasted throughout lunch till late afternoon. The rain lighten at around 3pm and we got ready to move out.The guys were all in raincoats but the ladies wore only a hat. We were going to try our luck on the Green-backed Kingfisher. As we were walking in the reserve, the rain started to pour heavily again, and Guide brought us to take shelter at an educational site while they went to hunt for the bird. As the rain didn't stop and day getting dark, our Guide came back and decided to call it a day. It was a very long walk to make our way out of the reserve. At 6pm, the whole forest were already pitched dark. We washed up and get ready for dinner, the only thing to looked forward to.
We started out pretty early on Day 2. At 6am, we had finished our breakfast and already making our walk through the forest to hunt our first target. We were lucky to catch a glimpse of nocturnal animals going to bed like the Sulawesi Bear Cuscus and the Spectral Tarsier. Lighting was super dark still so we just take some record shots for the Bear Cuscus.
The tarsiers were an eye opener for us because they are one of the smallest monkeys in the world, and not everyone has the chance to actually see one. We saw two of them hidden in a tree-hole, and they were so tiny that if Noldi did not point it out to us, we may not even see them. We also managed to get the Ochre-bellied Boobook, which was a rare owl, and endemic to Sulawesi and few nearby islands.
We continued our hunt for the star birds - the Kingfishers, combing the forest of Tangkoko. Seriously Tangkoko birding is really not for the physically unfit. We easily clocked 10k steps in 3 hours in the forest terrain, going up slope and down slope, where one of our team guy, slipped and slid down the slope. And because we are in the middle of the forest, you can't afford to stop and give up because the moment you stopped to catch your breath, the team moved on, and you get yourself lost inside. We also visited the nesting of the Red-knobbed Hornbill which were along the way before the kingfisher hunt started. We waited for while before the hornbill returns to feed.
The hunt for the Lilac Kingfisher was much easier than the Green-backed. The Green-backed kingfisher was the most skittish and hardest to get. After few attempts of chasing it, I guessed it also gave up flying away, finally perched and allowed us to fire some shots. We shot it on a slopping terrain, imagined us trying to balance ourselves, panting, and fogging up our viewfinder, while trying to shoot this guy. What an experience!!
Our last Kingfisher before we stop for lunch - Sulawesi Dwarf Kingfisher. Noldi told us that there are two locations for this kingfisher. The first location was in the same forest as the previous two kingfishers, but no show after sometime. So we drove over to the second location, where we had to cross a small river and made our way into the forest. I felt that chances were higher here because it was a wetter environment. The earlier place was drier with no water source. While the Guide does his job, one of his guy spotted the female Green-backed and another Lilac kingfisher. I didn't managed to get the female Green-backed but I got the other Lilac though it was the same bird this morning. Finally after a hour plus or so, they found the Dwarf Kingfisher, tiny and on a high perch. It was not easy to find a shooting spot because the kingfisher was smaller than the tree branches.
At last we can make our way back for lunch. It was a really tiring but rewarding morning. We managed to get all 3 kingfishers within 6 hours of walk and hunt. Indeed a great adventure and an experience to remember, with fun and laughter along the way and how we move together as a team.
We had a break after lunch to relax and chill before moving out again to do some mountain top birding. Guide brought us to a place where you can overlook a vast amount of green scenery. It was a beautiful place, but with a ton of mosquitoes, hahaha. Birds were all far far away and were all endemic, so just do some record shots. Some of the birds seen were the Sulawesi Hornbills, the Sulawesi Black Pigeon, White-necked Myna, Grosbeak Starlings, Blue-backed Parrot and some other small birds which were too fast for me to photograph them.
As the sun began to set, we quickly made our way out because by 6pm, the place would be pitch dark. On our way back to our homestay, we had one last bird to photograph - the Sulawesi Scops Owl. We were early and saw some birds like the Black-naped Fruit Dove and the Sulawesi Malkoha. Lighting was very bad and it was tough to shoot as they were moving around. Finally the whole place darken, and we made our way into the mountains walking along a vehicle trail. We waited for awhile in perfect darkness letting Noldi and his partner do their job. At last, the little owl appears!! We ended our rewarding day full of satisfaction.
It was raining on Day 3 when we got up. We had our breakfast and laze around waiting for the rain to stop. As the rain lightens, and yes, we moved out. Guide said cannot wear shoes so we went back to change because we were heading out to sea today!! We were all very excited, chasing birds on boat, how adventurous!! We reached the beach and it was covered in black coarse volcanic sand, wasn't easy to walk. We climbed onto the outrigger and off we went, to the mountain cliff facing the sea. It was already pretty fun and exciting even without the bird. As we approached the cliffs, we saw the Great-billed Kingfisher already waiting for us. It was pretty challenging to shoot on waters coupled with the rocking of the boat.
We completed our mission in one hour and we were headed back to shore. Noldi drove us straight to a mountain top location for some flower birds. The other vehicle went back to the homestay as one of our team mates fell into the water while alighting from the outrigger. They came over later in proper jungle attire while the three of us whom arrived earlier were in slippers. Because of that, they got the Sulawesi Serpent Eagle and the Rusty-breasted Cuckoo. Over at the mountain, we also gotten the endemic Yellow-sided Flowerpecker both male and female, and also the Purple-winged Roller, which was heavily blocked by the branches.
We made our way back to our homestay for lunch, packed up and get ready to set off for Tomohon. We arrived at Tomohon at around 4pm local time, settled down, freshened up and relaxed, then to gather for dinner at 7pm. It was a beautiful place with temperatures around 19 degrees, and birds were already flying around our resort. Though it was drizzling, we were still able to see some birds like the Gray-sided Flowerpecker, Scaly-breasted Munia, Oriental White-eyed and the Olive-backed Sunbird. As I was relaxing on my porch, I saw the Olive-backed Sunbird perched so beautifully on a branch, couldn't resist not to photograph it when I saw four of our teammates busy chasing it.
Luckily at Tomohon, we do not need to get up so early the next day. We had our breakfast at the resort and set off to get our targets. Our target this morning was the Sulawesi Pitta!! The journey to our destination was a very scenic drive along the highlands where you have great mountainous view of the local plantations and volcanoes. The air was cool and weather was good. We reached our destination after 30 minutes, at the foot of a hill. Noldi said we need to climb up the hill to reach the Pitta hide. Our jaws dropped when we saw the newly dug path for us. We did not expect the hill to be so steep. Slope gradient was at more than 45 degrees, and due the rain, the ground was soft, and the newly dug steps soon became sloppy, making the climb even worse. One of our team mates fell due to the slipperiness of the fallen leaves when we stepped over it. Finally after a panting hike, we reached the hide, it was also newly created because the location of the pitta had been changed. We set up our gears, catch our breath, and waited quietly for the arrival of our star bird. At last it appeared, fulfilling us with happiness and satisfaction!
The other location for the Scaly-breasted Kingfisher was on the opposite side of the main road, within the plantation of some orang asli. The terrain was on flat ground so we felt pretty much relieved. We went round and round the whole area and at last, nailed it. It was very skittish so we were asked to photograph it one by one.
Sadly, it flew off after the third person. Hence, the last three guys could not get it. We continued to look for it, giving them priorities to shoot first. We were actually quite orderly, which was a good thing, so that everyone would have a shot of it. As the sky started to darken, and still we couldn't find the kingfisher, we quickly made our way out of the forest. Guide said to walk and follow the path out. So one of our team mates whom liked to chiong in front, took the lead and brought us to "Holland" - we were lost in the forest and ended up in a plantation instead. Luckily two of us with some directional sense, managed to track the route out, met the other Guide along the way. We went for a late lunch at Gardenia Country Inn, where flowers were grown all over the place to beautify and attract birds. We settled down and while waiting for our food to be served, we were also waiting for birds to stop by the flowers around us.
A red bird caught our attention and we were all actively chasing it. It was the Sulawesi Myzomela, another endemic bird. As the food came, we quickly gobbled up as we couldn't eat in peace because of those birds flying everywhere around us. Therefore, we quickly get down to business - photographing the birds. We spent our afternoon here shooting these small birds.
We had came to the last day of our Birding Trip, Day 5. And this morning, there were only 5 of us as the 6th member decided to sleep-in. We went back to the same place to hunt for the kingfisher and this time, we split into two groups (3 & 2), trying to ambush the kingfisher from both sides. And finally, we found it. The three guys whom did not get the day before managed to get their records at least. The two of us were on the other side when they saw the kingfisher. This sensitive guy took off before I could even focus. Due to our greediness, we continued to hunt for the kingfisher again. We needed a better shot! We followed Noldi's partner uphill and downhill on the newly opened path. Two of our buddies had an incident while descending downhill - one kicked down a tree and the other slipped and fell back down. Luckily they were alright. As there were still time, Noldi and his buddy proposed to try the hill top area where the pitta was. It was another really crazy climb up the hill on all fours. After some terrible crawl like an animal up the 70 degrees gradient hill, we found the kingfisher, it was a female (the male was seen earlier and yesterday). We were both trying to balance ourselves on the steep slope and shooting the bird at the same time. All I had was a lousy record shot, because it was not easy to shoot, with your exhausted breathing really fogging up your viewfinder. I had just one shot, and the bird took off.
It was time to leave and luckily bird no show 😁 We went back to our Resort, washed up and get ready to check out. We went back to Gardenia Country Inn for lunch and had our last round of shooting before making our way to the city. Some of the other birds seen at the Country Inn were the Eurasian Tree Sparrows, the Sooty-headed Bulbuls, the Black-crowned White-eye, the Cinnamon Bittern, and the Sulawesi Waterhen.
Noldi had invited us over to his place for dinner later that day as a form of appreciation and also sent us to the airport two days later. He had rendered a great service to us and we had great satisfaction for this trip.
Noldi had invited us over to his place for dinner later that day as a form of appreciation and also sent us to the airport two days later. He had rendered a great service to us and we had great satisfaction for this trip.
Can easily find him on Facebook: Endemic Guide Noldi Kakauhe.
Our Team Members: 
Thank you for reading my long story!! :))
Very Nice...👌
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