Wasior is a small town in Cendrawasih Bay. It is the economic hub of Wondama regency. There are a lot of attactions around Wasior which visitors can see if they want to take their holiday there. Some of them are described below.
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| Tourist attractions around Wasior town |
Rowi Stream - This is a fast moving stream that flows from Wondiboy Nature Reserve to the sea. It is located near the local government office of Wondama regency. Visiting this place, visitors can enjoy hiking along the sides of the stream and see the green trees of the rainforest. Picnics can be done in this stream too. The water here is cool.
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| Rowi stream in Rasiei area of Wondama |
There is an unused road that crosses this stream. It is a good site for birdwatching and insect watching. Birds such as Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Blyth's Hornbill, Black Sunbird, Olive-backed Sunbird, Grey Crow, Coconut Lorikeet are common in this forest.
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| Butterflies in Wasior town |
Flowers and Butterflies - The frontyards of local government buildings in Rasiei area (locally called:
kompleks perkantoran pemda Wondama) are decorated with various kinds of flowers plants. They attract butterflies such as the Silky Owl Butterfy, Cruiser Butterfly, and New Guinea birdwing butterfly. More butterflies can also be seen in
Perumahan Pemda (housing area of local government employees). There, visitors can see different colours of hibiscus and other tropical flowers grown by home owners in their frontyards. Because the flower gardens of these housing and building areas are located at the foot of Wondiboy mountains, they are often visited by insects especially butterflies.
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| Orchid garden in Wondama |
Still on the discussion about flowers, visitors can go to Karumatiri homestay located next to Ketapang Lima Beach. Visitors could see orchid garden at the backyard. The owner of the garden can provide a short tour for visitors to see the orchids and explain how to grow them.
Beach and Coral Reef
The coastal region of Wondama Bay has got a number of coral reef areas that are beautiful. Visitors can enjoy swimming and snorkeling there.
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| Tropical Beach and Coral Reef in Wasior |
Snorkeling can be done at Ketapang Lima Beach, Sobey Beach and its sand bank, Wandamui beach, the northern area of Rowor beach, and Cape Duairi of Aisandami village. As a matter of fact there are hundreds of coral reef sites in Wondama regency that are within the national park of Cendrawasih Bay.
Mangrove Forest and Sago Trees in Ramiki Village
Anyone who is interested in seeing the ecosystem of Mangrove forest can go to Ramiki village. It is a fifteen-minute ride from Wasior town. The best time to visit the forest is during the low tide. This can be checked using an Android based application such as Nautide.
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| Mangrove forest in Ramiki village of Wondama bay during low tide |
Visitors can meet local guide Eky Sawaki at Ramiki village to ask for guiding service to the mangrove forest and to a lot of other interesting places around Wondama.
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| Mangrove forest |
Visitors can stay in homestays that belong to the villagers and enjoy balobe (night time spearfishing) with local villagers. They can also see how local people extract sago starch from sago tree using simple tools. The starch can be baked or cooked in various kinds of menu. A freshly baked sago is often consumed in the mornings and in the evenings with tea or coffee milk.
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| Baked Sago from Wasior town of Wondama regency |
Kowi Viewpoint
The Wondiboy mountains behind Wasior town are great destination for hikers and mountain climbers. There are several view points which offer beautiful views of Wondama bay with its blue sea. This viewpoint is located above Kabuou village. Visitors can go to the village by ojek (motorcycle taxi) to meet the villagers who can guide them to Kowi viewpoint. Before starting the rainforest tour, visitors can buy water, biscuits and other food materials at small kiosks in the village or in Wasior town.
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| Kowi Viewpoint in Wasior |
The forest in this viewpoint is the natural habitat of a lot of species of plants and animals. Tropical birds that can be seen in the mornings include Blyth's Hornbill, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Black-capped Lory, Hooded Butcherbird, Slender-billed Cuckoo Dove, Beautiful Fruit Dove and a lot more. Possum, bandicoot, cicada, butterflies, beetles, and soa-soa monitor lizard can also be found in this tropical forest.
To reach this viewpoint visitors need to endure a 2 hour hiking up steep slopes. Camping can be carried out in coordination with local guides. The most recommended camping site is near water stream at one of the ravines of this mountain range.
Culinary
Wondama is a maritime regency. This is clearly reflected by the kinds of food that people eat. While most of the people in Indonesia eat rice, chicken, tempe and tahu, the main ingredients of food which people of Wondama eat consist of taro, sago, fish, shrimp, seashell, squid. Papeda is congee made from sagoo starch. It is the staple food of people in coastal region of West Papua. Fish soup is added to papeda. For vegetables, green leaves such as kangkung (water spinach), ganemo, paku (fern), and flower of papaya are the common ingredients that visitors will find when buying food at eating houses, and food stalls in town.
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| Typical ingredients of local food |
Food materials from the surrounding rainforest are often included in the daily menu of local people, they include wild boar and deer meat for protein and bamboo shoots as vegetables.
Where to stay and Where to eat
As a small town, Wasior does not have big hotels like what people will see in cities around the world. There are small hotels, lodges, and inns which visitors can choose while spending their holiday in Wasior.
There are a lot of eating houses and food stalls in Wasior town. A list of accommodation, restaurants, eating houses and shops in Wasior town. Here is a guesthouse for visitors at the Ketapang Lima beach.
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| Karumatiri Guesthouse at Ketapang Lima Beach of Wasior Town |
How to get to Wasior town
It is easy to reach the town. International visitors need to fly from their country to Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar or Manado. From these cities of Indonesia, they can fly to Manokwari (the capital of Papua Barat province). Regular daily flights between Manokwari and those cities are served by Sriwijaya Air, Batik Air and Lion Air.
There are hotels in Manokwari city for visitors who want to take a break for one or two days before their next trip to Wasior. The capital of Wondama regency is Rasiei. It is an integral part of Wasior town.
Arriving in Manokwari, visitors can continue their trip to Wasior by a small passenger aircraft - Cessna Caravan 208 - operated by Susi Air. Tickets can be bought at the airport of Manokwari. The capacity of the aircraft is 10 people.
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| Flight route to Wasior (Rasiei) in Wondama Bay regency |
There are also passenger ships that go to Wasior town. KM. Express Bahari 9E and KM. Margareth, KMP Napan Wainami sail between Manokwari and Wasior several times a week.
Motor vessel KM. Margareth sails between Anggrem harbor of Manokwari and Port of Wasior based on the following schedule:
- Thursday: Manokwari - Wasior
- Friday: Wasior - Manokwari
- Sunday: Manokwari - Wasior
- Monday: Wasior - Manokwari
The passenger vessel leaves at 17:00 local time and arrives early in the morning at around 06:00. The ticket price is 160,000 rupiahs per person. Beds are available on decks. For those who want to get more privacy, they can pay for a room with 2 beds at additional cost 500,000 rupiahs/ room. Payment of the tickets and the rooms can be done directly in the boat.
If you are interested in visiting Wasior town and want me to organize your trip and be your guide, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.
This is written by Charles Roring
