I live in tropical island
Hi, I am a full time blogger and I work as a tourist guide. I live in Manokwari, a city in the tropical island of Papua. Papua is the second largest island in the world after Greenland. But it is the largest tropical island. The eastern half is govern by a free state Papua New Guinea and the western hal is ruled by the Republic of Indonesia. With a population of around 2.3 million people, West Papua seems empty. Papua also has many smaller satellite islands around it. The famous ones are located in Raja Ampat regency and Geelvink bay, two best snorkeling and scuba diving sites in the world. Beatiful coral reefs decorate the waters of many tropical islands there. Resort owners from around the world have visited the regions and are thinking of opening their branches there. Some have run diving centers in Raja Ampat while others prefer to open big beach hotels in Manokwari city - the capital of West Papua province to serve both the local citizens and tourists who want to enjoy snorkeling in Mansinam, Lemon, Raimuti and Kaki - four tropical islands located near the beach city.
A tropical island that is very rich in natural resources
West Papua (the western half region of New Guinea island) is very rich in natural resources. Much of its land is still covered with dense tropical rainforest. The waters are rich of fish that have high economic value such as tuna, grouper and various species of coral fish. Coral reefs in the Raja Ampat islands and Geelvink bay are considered the best in the world. Beneath the ground is a very large deposit of precious minerals such as gold, and copper, oil and gas. Well, talking about a tropical island, one will think that it is a land covered with coconut trees, and tropical rainforest with hundreds of kilometers of white sandy beach. That's true. In addition, the sun shines all year round (including during the rainy season). I have seen a number of westerners in this city. They said they like living in this tropical island. Perhaps you might wonder how these westerners earn money to support or meet their daily needs?
Listen, Indonesia is not a poor country. It is one of the states in the world that is now enjoying high economic growth. Every year millions of tourists from Europe, Asia and America come to this country. Most of them go to Bali (the most famous tropical island in the world) but there are also many people visit Papua island.
Papua - the largest tropical island in the world
Papua island or also called New Guinea is the largest tropical island in the world. If you see on the map, it is located above the continent of Australia. The eastern half of the island is ruled by an independent state of Papua New Guinea whereas the Western half by the Republic of Indonesia. The Western Half is called Papua or West Papua before 1998, it was named Irian Jaya by Indonesia.
Manokwari, the capital of West Papua province, is considered as the most beautiful city in the world due to its location in the Dorey bay that is surrounded by the beautiful blue Arfak Mountains and the green Table Mountain. In the middle of the bay, three islands - Mansinam, Lemon and Raimuti islands are frequently visited by tourists from around the world to watch birds, and to enjoy the beauty of the underwater world of coral reef and shipwrecks. Two lakes at the foot of the Arfak Mountains provide beautiful panoramic view of the tropical island of Papua.
Arfak mountains have been famous to many birders because a unique species of vogelkop bowerbirds like to perform courtship dance in the morning to seduce their female birds. They also build display stage that are appreciated by world class architects. There are also magnificent birds of paradise that are often considered as the king of seduction in the avian world. The tropical rainforest of Arfak mountains is also home to the world's largest butterfly
Some Westerners Work in Travel and Tourism Industry
That's how a number of westerners make money here. They promote this island as a tourist destination. They sell tour package on the internet and if there are people buy it, they will be the tour leader guiding the tourists travel is island. If you type Raja Ampat islands or Cendrawasih bay national park in search engine Google or Yahoo, you will read a lot of information which say that They are the two best marine park in the world that are rich (the highest in the world) in terms of marine bio-diversity. Also shipwrecks around Mansinam and Lemon island in the Dorey bay of Manokwari city are considered as the best wreck diving site in Indonesia. The Table Mountain that is located near the city has wonderful natural caves where tourists like to visit and enjoy caving and bat watching there. Some westerners have opened and run diving resorts there. The number of tourists who come to Papua is rising rapidly now.
How Westerners Live in Papua Island
I also know that there are Westerners who work for giant multi national companies in mineral mining, oil and gas. These companies have got operations in West Papua including gold and copper mine in Tembaga Pura, and LNG processing factories in Tangguh Bintuni bay area.
Or if you are a kind of person who is a nature lover, you can also live in Papua as business owners. They open beach or dive resorts in Raja Ampat and promote their scuba diving services to tourists. There are also expatriates who live in Bali and offer various kinds of tour packages across Indonesia for foreign visitors.
To a certain extent there are small number of westerners (mostly from the Netherlands) who come and live permanently in this Papua island in their retirement age. Why? Because they had spent their youth life here when the Dutch governed this territory until 1962. They built nice houses by the beach, and live with the local indigenous people of Papua as their friends and brothers.
Well, Papua is special in Indonesia. It enjoys huge amount of special autonomy budget provided by central government in Jakarta. Every year trillions of rupiahs or billions of US dollars is being injected into this island to accelerate the development of this territory. Roads into the interior region are being built, high speed internet access have been provided by national state owned telecomunication company, Telkom, and schools and health centers are being constructed.
For more information, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.