Canoeing (Part 2)

How to paddle canoe


In a canoe, there are two places to paddle, ie on the bow (front) and stern (rear). Control the direction of the canoe paddle back, determine the speed and provide instructions on the front rowers. Kano experienced riders who generally occupy the rear, while beginners sat in the front. If you paddle on the right side, to keep the oar slack in the Palm of the left hand and keep the trunk right hand. Enter the eyes in the water before you depart with his right hand, raise your paddle leaves water, go ahead and repeat the movement. Then change the position of hands, if you want to paddle on the left.

Canoes capsized, although the water-filled, is a good and a raft of buoy not drown. Canoe may quant despite being in the bottom surface of the water.


Bow paddle is a simple motion of oars to enter the eye orientation and pull it straight back without touching the canoes. The body is kept always upright


Aft paddle is very useful for adjusting the direction when the front rower's powerful beyond the power of the back rower.

Paddle front steering  is simple movements to bend the bow to the left or right.




The swing of a quarter of canoe with sharp bend and fixed quickly. The paddle left and right is driven with a bow that widens and not too deep in the water.


Paddle steering at the back really pull off the movement. At the end of the regular release, hold paddles in a diagonal position.












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Canoeing

Family Challenges Outside The Home


Canoeing is an activity in the middle of nature. Invite someone who travels in a canoe for the first time, through the holding of the palette, and spontaneously he rowing, rowing which begins to enter the water. At the beginning, the movement will be a bit awkward, he got his rowing, rowing and too prone to lean in one direction. But after an hour had passed, he will be familiar with the movement of oars, paddles, and after one day, almost every person whether man, woman, children will be able to row well. After several canoes, he will be quite adept.
I believe that this is one reason why the form of canoes actually remained unchanged since the canoes of Indians was discovered by French explorers who went to North America in the 17th century. Both then and now, is a perfect canoe for transport in rivers and lakes. Assembly materials have changed but the same design and there is no reason to change it.
Canoe is the most popular in Europe made of plastic reinforced with glass fibers. You can still buy a canvas covered wood canoe. For the purposes of rowing race in the river and sightseeing in general, plastic reinforced with glass fiber and aluminum canoe the most potent. Canoe is a lighter, without the need to maintain and cheap.
If it gets cut by coral, canoeing of any kind will be easily repaired. If you have plans to canoe on the great lakes, it is the best type of upholstered wood canvas canoe, known as the Canadian canoe. A deeper level, the higher edge of the lip, the arc height and width to deal with large waves, and the cork buoys along the fence to adjust the balance.

The Boat

Before starting the canoe, recognize the boat that will drive for several hours. After wearing a life jacket, practice of exchanging seats with friends in places shallow and calm water. Standing in unison, advanced to the stern with the bow, keeping the balance of weight and motion to each other. Mastery of the reversed situation in shallow water exercises is the first thing to do for beginners, you will know how difficult it is to reverse the boat that seems out of balance. To reverse the canoe, the boat tilted to one side as far as possible until rolled back. Airspace under the bow deck and Stern will still float canoe which full of water, and will maintain your weight Furthermore, in order to restore the original canoe, one canoe paddler is still holding strong and the others draw water out of the boat with a scoop, a small tin, but, or hands. After a few outside the water, push the boat to the shore.


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Bali Botanical Garden

The Kebun Raya "Eka Raya", better known as Bali Botanical Garden (www.kebunrayabali.com), is one of four in network of Indonesian Botanical Gardens. The other three are located in Bogor, Cibodas and Purwodadi. Bali Botanical Garden was officially opened in 1959, but stagnated during the politically unstable mid-60s, and was only restored to its former glory in 1975  

Bali Botanical Garden contains over 2,000 plant species from eight families, namely orchid, begonias, ferns, cacti, roses, medicinal plants, aquatic plants, and ceremonial plants. The begonias are the highlight here, as the garden hosts about 25% of the world's begonia species.

In the Cyathea Garden, visitors can walk around on footpaths carpeted  with small stones, while observing fascinating collection of ferns. There is also a Usada Garden, which covers an area of 1,600 squares metres and which houses more than 300 plants commonly used in traditional Balinese healing. Meanwhile, the Cacti collection Green House is filled with various cacti, including desert cacti.

Apart from being a terrific recreational site for plant lovers, Bali Botanical Garden also functions as a research and conservation facility and runs various environmental educational programmes for students, from elemtary to high school, as well as offering gardening courses to the general public

Bali Botanical Garden is open every day (except during the Hindu Holiday of Nyepi) from 8am until 6pm. Facilities available here include the library, a garden shop, the Nyaka Loka Convention Hall which has a capacity of 250 people, and a guesthouse for visitors or researchers who wish to stay overnight.  

How To Get There

The Garden is located about 60 kilometres from Denpasar and direction to Singaraja. Drive along Jalan Pancasari-Baturiti up to the intersection to the west of the Danau Beratan Lake, then turn left and head north. 

Munduk Region | Turtle Conservation and Education Centre

Munduk Region

This region, located deep in Bali's interior, is rapidly becoming as popular as the island's beaches. After the much visited inland destination of Ubud and mount Batur, Munduk is now starting to attract some serious attention as a great trekking destination, as well as for its agritourism.

Trekking tracks at Munduk vary from soft beginner's trek lasting approximately two hours, to a stenuous trek lasting up to seven hours. The choice of route will determine what views you will see along the way. If you choose the soft trekking option, you can take in the beauty of the local villages and check out the number of clove, coffee, avocado, cacao and orchid plantations, before heading off to the Tanah Barak Waterfall. Two other waterfalls that are also popular are Air Terjun Melanting and Laangan, both of which are surrounded by coffee and clove forests.

Munduk's cultural aspects become more visible if you opt for some more moderate trekking. 

Trekkers are introduced to the Bali Aga tribe who live in the village of Pedawa. In addition to enjoying the unique local bamboo houses and traditions, you can also watch palm sugar processing. For those who love a bit of olde-worlde adventure, a historical trek will take you to the Tamblingan Temple. For around four hours, this endlessly fascinating trek, follow artefacts and building left by the ancient Majapahit Kingdom.

Although Munduk is relatively unknown, this charming village has historically played a central role in the history of Balinese trade. During their occupation of Bali in 1908, the Dutch build a guesthouse in Munduk as a holiday house for their staff. The Colonial Government then started exporting coffee, cloves and vanilla from the area via businesses which were later inherited by the local community.    

Turtle Conservation and Education Centre

The island's of the Gods Beaches are a paradise not only for sunset and muscle-relaxing massage lovers, but also for wild turtles. Often called "Turtle Island", Serangan Island to the south of Bali is blessed with one of the largest turtle population in Indonesia. In its turtle poaching heyday, up untill around a decade ago, thirty thousand of these lovely creatures were caught annually on average. This tragedy, coupled with a reclamation project carried out in 1994, contributed greatly to the declined of the turtle population here.

In order to stop the illegal trade in turtles and maintain their population, the local government, in cooparation with the USAID Bali recovery program and the WWF, founded the Turtle Conservation and Education Centre (TCEC) in Serangan on 20 January 2006.

At the TCEC, visitor can learn all about the life of turtles, and visit the hatching centre, the baby and adult turtle pond. Visitors can also check out the audio visual centre, in which marine-themed documentary films are screened. When visited the place, the TCEC staff explained that there were six kinds of turtle living in Indonesia. Three of these come to Bali to lay their eggs, namely the green, hawksbill and olive ridley turtles, and there also found out 500 eggs that hatch, ten of the junior turtles will survive and flourish if they are taken care of in the centres whereas, on average, only one will if they are released into the sea. Apart from turtles hunters threats come from the turtle's natural predators. 

Admission to the TCEC is free, however visitors are encouraged to make voluntary donations to support the centre's efforts to maintain the turtles population. Tip for visitors : don't take flash photograps of the turtles, especially close up, and do not make to much noise, because it can have an impact on the animals psychological wellbeing which, in turn, may prevent eggs from hatching. A more important tip for visitors : don't buy turtle meat......

Carnivorous Plants

Carnivorous plants are various types of flowering plants and fungi that capture and digest prey animals. Photosynthetic carnivorous plants live in habitats poor in minerals, and they benefit primarily from the mineral nutrients gained from the prey. Since the animals they capture are primarily arthropods and chiefly insects, canivorous plants are sometimes called insectivorous plants, or even vertebrates such as small frogs and birds. Carnivorousness has arisen independently  in several unrelated groups, and families once thought not to have carnivorous members have later been found to do so. More are likely to be found. Carnivorous plants may be grouped according to their trapping mechanisms (see table, which lists examples of eacht trap type), as well as according to the biological classification system.

TYPES OF TRAPS IN CARNIVOROUS PLANTS

Method of Capture
Trap types observed in carnivorous plants include pitfalls and "lobster traps", adhesive traps, and various kinds of mechanical traps.
Pitfalls exist in a number of unrelated groups of flowering plants. These traps consist of tubular leaves, or arrays of leaves, that are filled with water. Insects are captured when they fall into the fluid, which often contains wetting agents and digestive enzymes. So-called lobster pots also consist of tubular leaves. In this type of trap, however, the tube is often horizontal and is lined with hairs that guide the prey along a path leading to the digestive part of the trap. Bromeliads, of the pineapple family Bromeliaceae, may also be mentioned, because some have leaf bases that form definite cups in which water accumulates. Such plants do not trap insects, however, so much as simply make use of nutrients provided by dead vegetation and animal remains that fall into the cups.
Adhesive traps involve sticky surfaces. Sticky-haired adhesive traps exist in several plant families. Typically, flying insects are captured when they adhere to slime secreted by hairs covering the leaf. In some genera, such as Drosera, the leaf actively moves the prey to the center and wraps around it. Sticky-needed adhesive traps have only recently been observed but may be widespread. The seed of the shepherd's purse, capsera, a common lawn weed, attracts, captures, and utilizes nutrients from prey; soil bacteria do the digesting.
Mechanical traps of various types occur. So-called snap traps, including the Venus's-flytrap, are found in only one family, the sundew family. Droseraceae, and in only two genera, Dionaea and Aldrovanda, each with a single species. In these plants the prey is trapped by rapid closure of a set of lobes around the animal when it touches sensory hairs that trigger the closure. The action results from acid growth in the lobes within less than a second. Suction traps, found in the aquatic Bladderwort Ultricularia, are similar to the style of mouse trap in which a door allows the mouse to enter but not to exit. The prey trips a lever on the plant "door", which allows water and the prey to be sucked into the trap when the plant's concave side puffs outward. Snare traps are found in carnivorous fungi. One type, in the genus Arthobotrys, has a trap that looks like a small lasso with three segments around the loop. When triggered by a nematode, the segments bulge out to capture the worm. The fungus then grows into the prey and digests it.


Ecology
Flowering carnivorous plants occur in freshwater, in Sphagnum (peat moss) bogs and other swampy areas, on trees and old logs, and on hardened soils that are seasonally very wet. Plants in seasonally wet areas have dormancy mechanisms that they use druing the dry periods. (An exception, Drosophyllum, which grows in dry areas in Portugal, is reported to have to have a deep taproot.) The features common to nearly all habitats of carnivorous plants include low levels of mineral nutrients, at least a periodic abudance of water, and bright sunlight. Trapping mechanism often involve loss of water from the leaf and are likely to decrease photosynthetic efficiency. In a mineral-poor environment, these tradeoffs are apparently worth the supplementary mineral nutrients gained.


Growing Conditions
Carnivorous plants grown indoors should be provided with bright light, a lot of water, and a medium (such as peat moss) that is low in minerals. Maintaining high humidity and watering with rainwater or distilled water is desirable. The plants should not be overfed or given meat, because meat contains too much salt. The plants can catch their own insects or be fed a few small ones each week.

Raja Ampat Marine Protected Area | Bantimurung National Park | Kelimutu National Park

Raja Ampat Marine Protected Area

Raja Ampat is a paradise for lovers of underwater marine life. The one million hectare area is a habit for 1,318 species of coral fish (27 of which are endemic), 533 species of coral reef (representing 75% of global coral reef species), 699 species of molluscs, 15 species of marine mammals, and five species of turtles, it's surely no wonder that this site is nickname "The Amazon of the Sea".
With such an impressive portfolio of wildlife, this conservation park offers diving and snorkelling as its main tourist attractions. In addition to acquainting oneself with a wealth of sea creatures, one can also dive on the wrecks of airplanes and other war materials at several points.
For non-divers, the main attraction here is island hopping. Viewed from above, Raja Ampat is a cluster of 610 islands scattered across the blue ocean in a manner similiar to that of the "dragon back" islands in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam or Phi Phi in Thailand.
Towards the end of last year, Raja Ampat organised its first ever Marine Festival, and the local government plans to turn the festival into an annual event in order to promote a side of the region that has, until now, been under-exploited, namely its culture and cuisine.


How to get there
Raja Ampat is located in Papua. Fly to Domine Edward Airport, then continue your expedition on the Marina Express Boat, which departs everyday at 2pm from Pelabuhan Rakyat (the people's harbour). Information on Raja Ampat and its various tourist attractions can be found at www.gorajaampat.com.


Bantimurung National Park

"The Kingdom of Butterfly" is the nickname Alfred Russel Wallace gave this place. When visiting the area in 1857, The British adventurer saw 300 species of butterfly living in the verdant Bantimurung-Bulusaraung area. The findings of his explorations were then written up in an iconic book entitled "The Malay Acrhipelago", which was published in 1869. This was then used as the basis for establishing the imaginary Wallace line, a line of climate demarcation that runs between the islands of Sulawesi and Kalimantan. 
The  presence of a number of caves with a paintings on their walls is another unique phenomenom to check out in Bantimurung-Bulusaraung, and research has concluded that the caves were used by prehistoric humans. The 43,000 hectare national park also contains The Bantimurung waterfall, which has become a popular weekend destination for the people of Makasar. 


How to get there
Bantimurung-Bulusaraung straddles two Districts in South Sulawesi, namely Maros and The Islands of Pangkajene. To get there, fly to Makasar, then continue your journey overland for 40 kilometres. Information on  Bantimurung-Bulusaraung can be found at www.tn-babul.org.




Kelimutu National Park

The Main attractions here are the three lakes that sit at the top of Mount Kelimutu (1,700 metres above sea level) which have waters that myteriously change colour. The lakes are named Tiwu Ata Mbupu, Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai and Tiwu Ata Polo. The exact moment when the lakes change colour cannot be predicted, but it is claimed that the canges are result of a combination of the refraction of the sun's rays, the presence of micro biota in the water and chemicals on the walls of the lakes. 
in addition to the lakes, the national park also boasts various plants and animals, some of which are endemic of the area. Fauna here includes Wallacea owls, Florenese eagles, bulls and anteaters. 


How to get there
The National Park of Kelimutu is located in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). Fly to Kupang, and then on to Ende, and then continue your journey overland for the last 100 kilometres. The Kelimutu National Park Office has constructed an access road to make it easier for tourists to enjoy beauty of the lake . Information on Kelimutu can be found at www.tnkelimutu.com.

Buffer Zone Management

Some people think that to implement a conservation project means, we have to think conservatively, and that the techniques used should follow conventional rules. Preserving a conservation area is not an easy task, and there are many threats and challenges which require individually well thought out strategies to solve the problem.
Therefore, in our observation it's clear that management strategy for a buffer zone areas is depend on the local conditions. Furthermore, that perspective taken during implementation of the buffer zone concept relies heavily on the manager who takes the decision in the field.
The buffer zone has been defined by act no. 5 1990, conservation of living resources and their ecosystems to be those areas outside nature reserves, thus further emphasizing that the conservation area contains an important heritage with a high priority for preservation. To do so, we need highly innovative solutions in managing the land adjoining conservation areas. 


The application of three principles to speed up buffer zone development can taka several forms. For example in the Arfak Mountains, there continues planting of Aristolochia spp the food plants of birdwing butterflies. Planting occurs in the buffer zone so that butterflies from inside the reserves fly out and lay eggs in village gardens. The resulted pupae represent the harvest and are sold as an economic incentive for the people out side the reserve.
This activity is also directly linked to the quality of the forest habitat - if it is damaged then the number of egg laying females will fall.
Kerinci Seblat National Park takes another approach. In the Lempur river waters catchment area to prevent expansion of farm-land into the park, the local community is involved in setting the Narional Park boundary. It is recognized that protection of the catchment area serves as an entry point, but the management objectives in the Lempur Village can be to other thing, lika a feeling of responsibility for the collectively chosen protected area; this would protect the National Park abutting the Lempur headwaters.

Another obstacle faced in managing a conservation area is not only human encroachment upon that area, but it can also the other way around wild animals living in the conservation area can also encroach upon people's gardens, as is the case in the Way Kambas National Park buffer zone area is outside the conservation area, so that there is no signifant conflict in terms of forest encroachment by the local people. "However, there is a unique obstacle there, namely the elephants which disrupt the hybrid coconut plantation owned by the plantation office, whis is adjacent to the conservation area. In order to prevent the above encroachment, a boundary of ditches need to be erected 
                               as a physical obstacle in the buffer zone, or trees planted which are 
                               disliked by elephants ". 


The search for alternate management techniques, is not limited to the above examples, as there are many other activities, like the increased cooperation with farmers in the Social Forestry and Agroforestry schemes which have been carried out in the buffer zones of several conservation areas in Indonesia. Yet whenever new concept is implemented, it will certainly have its own constraints and obstacles. For examples, the Social Forestry Program faces obstacles due to the unclear chain of supervision, confusing objectives of the program, conflicting perceptions amongst program participatns about these objectives, inadequately skilled technical staff, isolation of migrant farmers, bureaucratic problems with new methods, and lack of concern and comitment to address the problems faced by forest group.

"What about people who have already encroached upon the conservation area ?"
Solving this problem is not easy, for example in the case of Kerinci Seblat National Park, where areas which have been encroached upon and inhabited need to be stablized (or status-quo) to prevent furhter encroachment. Further more, the local government (PEMDA) and Kerinci Seblat National Park will need to review and evaluate the situation, and then to atempt a rationalization, take necessary steps to stabilize the interaction between human activities and Kerinci Seblat National Park, and finally produce a sustainable development program around the park.
What needs to be emphasized is the fact that the management of a buffer zone very much depends on the target group living in the area. The solution should be based on their adjusted to the desired objectives i.e. the preservatin of the conservation area and the walfare of the surrounding communities.

Buffer Zone Concept

The buffer zone concept is easy to explain, but difficult to implementing the field, particularly in conservation area and nature reserves in Indonesia. Although complicated to establish a buffer zone, it does not mean there are no efforts toward the realization of buffer zones in nature conservation in Indonesia.
For the lay man, buffer zone is defined as an area established outside a nature reserve which serves to hold back destructive activities or pressures on the nature reserve. However, the idea of a single protection layer is not translatable to field conditions as approaches to guarding the conservation area connot be limited by exact area and distance from its boundaries.
And the other problem arise from the act no. 5 of 1990 which states that the buffer zone area is outside the conservation area, and up to now there is no clear understanding of the status of buffer zones, of what we should do if the buffer zone is inside the conservation area. So, the status of buffer zone is still confused in the terms of its area; it might be questioned where the real location of a buffer zone is ?


Three Principles
Relating to implementation in the field, at least three principles are being tried in The Kerinci Seblat National Park to speed up the establishment of a buffer zone. 


Access

Means serveral features related to ownership of community land. THis has meant a firm clarification to the communities about ownership of their land. The classic problem met with in nature reserve management is generally rooted in the expansion of the local population leading to encroachment on the protected area. This problem is worst if supported by local customs and traditions. If there exist clear land ownership, this is turn will give more freedom of activity to farm a garden; automatically people with land inside the reserve must leave without argument.      
                     Here, the problem of ownership rights is very closely linked to law enforcement.


Uses

Leans towards the context of original planning. In this, we need synchronization between regional planning at a national or provincial level, this must be stressed as land use, for housing changes naturaly with population growth. It's not a secret that much rice-field has been converted to residential use.






Economic

Directed to the strategy of incentives, inspired by an "if-then" approach. This means that if we are can absorb changes in accordance with existing regulations, and people choose to give up their land in the conservation area, then they should receive various incentives that could include development aid from the responsible government agencies. But, if this progress is reserved, and people go against the regulations, then it has proven effective to enforce laws and give penalties to the violator. 




These three principles are not arranged in order, but very much depend on the conditions in the field.

Definition and Establishement of Buffer Zone for Conservation Area

A buffer zone is required if the integrity and orignal condition of a conservation are is threatened. The threat usually comes from those who want to use natural resources for economic purposes. Almost all conservation areas in Indonesia are bordered by areas occcupied by communities which generally are poor social-economically. Therefore, their education level, population, and awareness are not in accordance with the objectives of conservation development program.


Indonesia Act No. 5, 1990 on The Conservation of Biological Resources and Ecosystem stipulates that "the government can designate an area adjacent to a conservation are as a buffer zone". This means that a buffer zone must be designed and established outside a conservation area. Furthermore, in the explanatory remarks of the Act, it is stipulated that a buffer zone is an area located beyond a natural reserve area, either as another forest area, free state land, or as land with certain rights, which is required and able to preserve the integrity of a Natural Reserve Area.


Definition of a Buffer Zone

A buffer zone is, in principle, a unit of land located outside a Conservation Area with different status, area, and levels of use according to the needs, local conditions, and status of land. Based of the status, an area to be designated as a buffer zone will be :
- forest area which consists of protected forest,
- limited productive forest. 
- permanent production forest. 
- conservation forest.
- coastal area.
- state land with free status.
- state land under imposition of certain concession 
   such as farm land, mining land or concession land
- community land such as dry land, wet rice land and garden.


The management of the buffer zone remains in the hards those who have the right over it, but they must manage it according to government stipulations. Management methods established by the government are now being formulated in a government regulation.


Establishment of a Buffer Zone

A buffer zone plays a vital role in preventing encroachment and threats to both Natural Reserve areas and Conservation Areas. The primary function of Natural Reserve area is to preserve plant and animal diversity and their ecosystem, and also as life support systems. The function of Nature Conservation area is to protect the life support system, to preserve the plant and animal diversity, and for sustainable use of biological resources and their ecosystems.
Establishing a buffer zone which suits local needs requires an on-site process of investigation. Based on the investigation, a proposal is submitted to Minister of Forestry. The establishment of a buffer zone will not eliminate a community's rights over the land but will only regulate its use in order that the area can provide a high economic value and be able to protect the integrity of the Natural Reserve Area and Conservation Area. 


Considering that the rights over the land still lie with the land owner, the process of establishment should be handled carefully, under the coordination or regional government.
In additon, in establishing a potential buffer zone, a literature study and on-site observation must be conducted to obtain an overview of issues and patterns of interaction between local communities and the conservation area.
The next step is to make an inventory of potentials and problems in the area. Results of the inventory must then be analyzed. Based on the analysis, a unit of area for a buffer zone is planned with a management pattern which aims to transform the dependence of local people on physical potentials of the area (for example, flora and fauna resources) and to the dependence on service benefits (for example, advantage from ecotourism or from sustainable utilization).

Lorentz National Park | Bunaken National Park

Lorentz National Park

Of the seven Indonesian locations listed UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Lorentz National Park is the one that initially seems the least popular, and yet it contains an absolutely phenomenal wealth of flora and fauna. With an area covering 2-3 milion hectares, Lorentz National Park is the largest conservation area in South East Asia, and is home to various types of ecosystem, ranging from coastal, wetlands, lowland forest, sub-montana, montana and sub-alpine, to alpine environments that stretch all the way up to 5,000 metres above sea level.
Lorentz is also the only site in South-East Asia has all-year-round snow on its mountain peaks, although its glacier has now shrunk from twenty to two square kilometres thanks to global warming. Natural music is provided here by the 350 bird species that live peacefully in branches of the park's gigantic tress.
Sir David Attenborough, the legendary BBC documentary maker, has visited the park a number of times to film its amazing birds of paradise. Take a look at "Attenborough in Paradise" for an idea of what you can expect at Lorentz.
Lorentz National Park extends for 150 kilometres, from the mountain chain in the north to the Arafura Sea in the South. This national park is also now inhabited by human, after 24 million years of isolation.


How to get there
The Lorentz National Park is located in Papua . Fly to Timika, then continue your journey on a small plane to the National park, or take a bout heading south from the harbour at Sawa Erma. Stamina and a lot of anti-mosquito cream are necessary to conquer this wild Papua enviroment. 


Bunaken National Park

Bunaken National Park is the first diving spot in Indonesia to go global and Bunaken is, in fact, the name one of the islands in the 79,000 hectare marine park. The other island in the chain include Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen.
The Bunaken National Park offers exceptional underwater scenery, especially in the straits that separate the five islands. Officially declared the National Park by the government in 1991, Bunaken is home to around 3,000 species of fish, and 300 different kinds of coral reef. At its 40 diving points divers can find Marlin, tuna, manta rays, barracuda, reef sharks of both the black tip and and white tip varieties, and hammerhead sharks, One of the Bunaken National Park main icons is the ancient so called "King of the Sea", the coelacanth fish. 
In his famous jurnal, Alfred Russel Walace, the British explorer who embarked on an expedition to the islands of Nusantara (what is now known as Indonesia) between 1854 - 1862, wrote that Manado was one of the most beautiful places int eastern hemisphere. 


How to get there
Bunaken is one of the most accessed national park. Its island are even visible from the main road connecting Manado and Minahasa. To get there, fly to Manado, and then continue your journey by a taxi of the diding operator's base camp. Information on Bunaken can be found at www.bunaken.org.

Way Kambas National Park

Way Kambas National Park (WKNP) is undoubtedly one of the prime tourist attractions to be found in Lampung, a province that sits on the southernmost tip of Sumatra. As well as having the area's most famous attraction, namely its elephant school, the Way Kambas National Park also houses the way Kanan Resort, The Sumatran Rhino Santuary (SRS) and the Elephant Conservation Center (ECC), all of which are equally unique and well worth the visit in their own right.
Beast such as Torgamba, a resident 31-year-old male rhinoceros who have been living at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary since 1998 and who has brought to Indonesia from a British Zoo, also give the park character. The Sumatran rhino is a notoriously slow breeder and the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary has, until now, been able to birth any calves. Ratu, a female rhino living at the sanctuary, recently tested positive in several pregnancy tests, however it remains to be seen if she'll carry her offspring to full term.
Located in the Regency of East Lampung, Way Kambas National Park spans an area of 130,000 hectares and was officially designated a National Park in 1989. Today, Way Kambas National Park has become synonymous with its elephant school. At the Way Kambas Elephant Training Center (ETC), the animal that is often seen as a pest and a mortal enemy by farmers is "schooled" to become lovable creature that is amusing, gentle, and good natured. The elephant are also trained to perform circus-like acrobatic stunts and tricks, and even to dance to the beat of Indonesian dangdut music.
The Elephant Training Center is located about 112 kilometers from the City of Bandar Lampung. Covering an area of about 130,000 hectares, The Elephant Training Center is not only inhabitants by Sumatrans Elephants, but is also the habitat of the Sumatran Rhino, as well as several other protected animals. The Way Kambas National Park reaches its peak, in terms of visitor numbers, during the summers months of July through to September.
The Elephant Training Center has trained and produced hundreds of wild elephants, which are now use as transportation and to do heavy work. Many have also become tourists attractions, and some now live in amusement parks in various cities around the country, such as Ragunan Zoo In Jakarta, and the Borobudur Temple Tourism Park in Central Java. Uniquely, the elephant students at the Elephant Training Center Way Kambas have been given the commonly used names of their human counterparts; namely Kartijah, Karnaningin, Kartini, Haryono, Rizka and others, so do not take offence if you find that you share a name with an elephant.
The elephant students are taught incredible tricks at the Elephant Training Center, such as shaking hand, playing soccer, saluting, draping flowers, tug-of-war, and dancing to music. If you possess nerves of steel, than you can also try your hand at one of the center's most thrilling attractions;namely having trained elephant employ great precision to weave over and around you as you lie still on the ground.
A less extreme adventure can be had by riding on an elephant as it lumbers along well beaten paths and around swamps for half an hour of a full hour. You'll feel like a maharaja from a bygone  era. You can also live out your Hannibal fantasies by enjoying the experience of riding an elephant on a wild jungle safari. There's even an elephant night safari, which is no less spectacular. 
The Way Kambas National Park is also a great camping spot from which tent heads can explore the local natural splendour. At first glance the park, with its vast grass fields, seems to resemble a savannah. In some places around the park, elephant whose feet are chained can be seen. These are a wild elephants in process of being trained. The Way Kanan Forest is also worth checking out, and its typical lowland forest ecosystem consisting of fresh water swamp forests, grassland, bushes and coastal forests. As one of the richest ecosystem in Indonesia, The Way Kambas National Park possesses  a vast variety of flora and fauna species. Plant species in the park included api-api (Avicenia marina) and many others. The park also contains about 50 species of mammals, many of them critically endangered species, including the Sumatran rhino, the Sumatran elephant, the Sumatran tiger, honey bears and red monkeys.
No visit to Way Kambas is complete without a trip to the Way Kanan Resort. This spot also houses research and breeding centers for the Sumatran rhino and the Sumatran tiger, which come complete with laboratory facilities and dormitories for researches.
It is at the Way Kanan resort that the aforementioned Sumatran rhino Sanctuary is situated. The Sumatran rhino Sanctuary plays a vital role in the conservation of the slow-breeding Sumatran rhinoceros, albeit one that is often inhibited by the very nature of the species that the sanctuary is trying to preserve. It is estimated that there are currently only around 200 wild rhinos spread across the forests of Sumatra and Kalimantan. Within the sanctuary itself meanwhile, there are currently only five captive rhinos that roam a 100-hectare plot which is surrounded by an electric fence.
Despite decreasing populations, the park is also still home to a few critically endangered Sumatran tigers. Their number have fallen dangerously low over the past five years. Park rangers estimate the current number of tiger living in the 125,000 hectare national park to be less than 30, compare to estimates of between 36 and 40 tigers in 2000.  
Like their rhino counterparts, Sumatran tigers also reproduce at a very slow rate, and serious poaching by animal traders and deforestation as a result of illegal logging. To date, the park has  implemented several measures designed to prevent poaching. This include increased patrols and CCTV surveillance, as well as increasing the number of rangers in the park, however, these initiatives are easily eclipsed by the insatiable demand for timber and exotic taxidermy.
Sad extinction battles aside however, the Way Kambas National Park is a stunningly beautiful place in which to enjoy outdoor activities such as bird-watching (the rare white winged wood duck is just one of over 400 species that can be found in the park), backpacking, trekking, camping, photo hunting, and if one is lucky, stumbling across some truly rare animals and plants. Visitors can also traverse the fringes of rivers such as the Way Kanan, Rawa Gajah, and Kuala Kambas, and observe water loving forest animals such as ducks, egrets, deer, and migratory birds. Grassland and mangrove forests complete the biodiversity fiesta. Truly a natural paradise.

How to get there
Garuda Indonesia Airways flies Jakarta-Bandar Lampung 35 times per week. To reach Way Kambas National Park, you can take a taxi or rent a car from Raden Inten AIrport. The park is located about 112 kilometers from the city of Bandar Lampung.

Candi Borobudur | Benteng Keraton Wolio | I La Galigo Script

The temple is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage site was once a member of the seven wonders of the world. Standing in Magelang, Central Java, Borobudur is one of the largest Buddhist temple in the world. The uniqueness of the temple which was built by King Samaratungga is not only located in the building structure, which consists of ten levels, but also on the terrain, which contains the meaning of life on Earth. Judicial assistance, which will be read sequentially, if we're going in a clockwise direction. In the reliefs of Borobudur, talks about the legendary history of Ramayana, in addition to the description of the status of the society of the time, reflecting the General facilitation of Buddha's teachings. Therefore, this temple features education environment for those who want to learn Buddhism. Another thing that is amazing Borobudur is built using only the system lock that is mounted to Lego blocks without cement.

With an area of ​​approximately 22 hectares or the equivalent of 36 football fields wide, this castle is the largest in the world. Inauguration of notes made by the Indonesian Record Museum (MURI). Competitors, Malbork Castle in Poland with an area of ​​15 hectares. Benteng Keraton Wolio architecture resembles the letter in the alphabet Arabic dhal. The length of almost 3 kilometers with an average wall height of four meters. Wall thickness between 1.5 - 2 meters. Deliberately made thick walls to withstand cannons attack the enemy.
Inside the fort there are 12 gates, which symbolize the 12 holes on the human body. The human body actually only has ten holes (including navel), but apparently the local community also includes the pores of the skin, and urinary tract distinguish holes and sperm. Located in Bau-Bau, Southeast Sulawesi, Fort Palace is a heritage of the Sultanate of Buton Wolio built in the 16th century by Sutan Buton III, La Sangaji. The depth of the Great Mosque stands at the Palace (Masigi Ogena) built by Sultan Buton XIX, Sakiuddin Durul Alam in early 17th century.

A manuscript containing the epic myth of the creation of civilization Bugis, written between 13 to 15 century. Written versions of the story from the beginning is stored in the 19th century, where previous versions have been lost due to insects and weather. Consequently there is no version of I La Galigo complete. Many sources mention that the script I La Galigo consists of 113 separate manuscripts that reached 31,500 pages, so the longest literary work created, beat the Mahabharata or Ramayana. This saga began to be widely known to international audiences in the theater after adaptation I La Galigo by Robert Wilson, director of American origin.