Riverwalk, Birdwatching and Camping Tour in Rainforest of Manokwari

I organize riverwalk and camping tour in several rainforest areas of West Papua such as in Waigeo island, Tambrauw regency and in Manokwari. Tourists like the activity because they are able to watch birds, insects, reptiles, and mammals that live along the banks of the river.

The duration of the tour is around 3 to 5 days. Before doing the tour, I buy food materials such as rice, smoked fish, eggs, tempe (fermented soybean cake), fruits and some vegetables. I also prepare dome tents, mattrasses, a big sheet of plastic tarp, cooking and eating utensils, binoculars, spotting scope with tripod, camera, and solar powered lights. There are jungle vegetables that we harvest when we stay in the forest. Some of them include ganemo, kangkung, or sayur paku (fern leaves that are edible as vegetables).

Riverwalk Tour in Manokwari

Watching birds and other animals along the banks of the river is easy because there are a lot of open spaces. Birds such as Blyth's hornbill, and Sulphur-crested Cockatoo often fly over the river.
I hire some local villagers to work as porters, and cooks. During the tour, I teach them how to identify birds and how to cook food for tourists. Hopefully, they could become tourists guides who will protect their forests in the future.
One of the destinations is Mesirrokow forest. It is located in Manokwari, the water current in its river is not strong. So, we could enjoy birdwatching in the mornings and in the afternoons.  I have organized tens camping tours in Manokwari each of them is with different participants. In the previous tours, participants came from France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and China. They came in a small group of two to four people but there was also solo traveler who took the tour.

Our Camping Site in Mesirrokow forest 

During the camping tours, we saw several species of birds including Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Palm Cockatoo, Eclectus Parrot, Moluccan King Parrot, Black-capped Lory, Pacific Baza, Coconut Lorikeet,  Glossy Manucode, Helmetted Friarbird, Brahminy Kite, Variable Goshawk, Lowland Peltop, Pink-spotted Fruit Dove, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Little Egret, Little-ringed Plover, Yellow-faced Myna, Oriental Dollarbird, Willie Wagtail, Large-tailed Nightjar, Blyth's Hornbill, Eastern-Yellow Wagtail, Rainbow Bee-Eater, and a lot more. There are several species of birds of paradise in the ridge forest on both sides of the river but our focus of attention was on them. There were various kinds of tropical trees and wild flower plants that we saw. I had some pictures of them.  At night, we saw some fruit bats. Soa-soa monitor lizard was seen on the branch of a tree above the river. We often saw foot-prints of wallaby, deer and boar on the sandy banks of the river.

Large-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus)

To do this trip, we need to bring clothes that are suitable to the river environment such as some t-shirts, and shorts, hat. For walking along the sides of the river, we need water-shoes, flip-flops. Sometimes we do night walks so we need flashlights. Manokwari is located near the equator whose atmosphere is warm all year round. We will need sun-block lotion and anti-mosquito or bug spray when we explore the forest. Some vitamins and food supplement will also be needed.
Because the whole world is still effected by the spread of coronavirus disease, the riverwalk and camping tour to this forest cannot be conducted at this moment. However, I can receive bookings for visitors who are interested in future trips perhaps starting from June or July.

If you want to take camping tour in Manokwari or other parts of West Papua, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by e-mail to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to +6281332245180.
Also read: Trekking Syugrar River