As a tourist guide, I offer private tour from Sorong city to solo traveler or group of visitors who are interested in seeing the natural beauty of tropical islands of Raja Ampat or the interior region of mainland of West Papua.
Sorong is a city in Indonesia which has become the main gate for traveling to Raja Ampat. Visitors who arrive in Sorong after a long distance flight from home will continue their trip to Raja Ampat by fast ferry boat. Upon reaching Waisai town, they still have to carry on their trip by speedboat or by car to homestay or beach resort. It is a tiring journey.
In Raja Ampat, visitors can enjoy swimming, snorkeling or even scuba diving to see various species of fish and other marine creatures. To capture photographs and videos of the marine life, visitors need to buy an underwater camera such as Nikon W300, Olympus TG-6 or a D-SLR camera with an underwater housing.
The kind of activities for visitors who are interested in exploring the interior of Sorong regency is usually related to rainforest environment. Hiking, birdwatching and wildlife watching are popular among visitors.
The duration of the private tour can be as short as 3 days/2 nights to as long as 7 days/6 nights. Usually, the sequence of the tour can be described as follows:
- Day 1 - I will meet tour participant in Sorong city. We will start the tour by 4wd car to a village outside Sorong city. We will do birdwatching and wildlife watching. Evening to night walk along the forest edge can be done to look for fruit bats, possum and other nocturnal animal.
- Day 2- We will wake up early in the morning to make short preparation. We will walk to the lek of Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise. After that, we will continue our trip to watch King Bird of Paradise, Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher as well as a lot of other tropical birds of the region. After lunch, we will go to a river relax while enjoying the surrounding natural beauty of the forest.
- Day 3 - We will go hiking up the hill behind the village to look for Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Wompoo Fruit Dove, Blyth's Hornbill, Northern Fantail, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo as well as beautiful butterfly such as the Common Green Birdwing Butterfly (Ornithoptera priamus), Cruiser Butterfly (Vindula arsinoe), Blue Mountain Swallowtail (Papillio ulysses). In the afternoon after lunch, we will return to Sorong city. A stop at the Mangrove forest of Sorong can also be organized for tour participant to watch such birds as Sacred Kingfisher, Orange-fronted Fruit Dove, Brown-backed Honeyeater, and etc.
- Day 4 to 6 - The private tour can be continued to Raja Ampat islands for snorkeling, and sightseeing as well as birding and wildlife watching. Waigeo island is the destination of ferry boat. The cost to the island is more affordable than to other remote islands in Raja Ampat. However, the trip to other islands such as Batanta, Gam and Mansuar can be organized. Trip to such islands is quite expensive because a chartered speedboat will be needed to reach them. Participant of this Sorong private tour needs to bring binoculars, snorkeling device, sunblock lotion or oil, camera, and sunglasses.
Sorong city has got several islands that are also interesting for visitors to explore. The inhabitants of the islands are fishermen. Visiting one of them will allow tour participant to see the daily life of the villagers.
To get more info and book the tour, please, contact me (Charles Roring by e-mail to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.