(Nomad: Day 1870),
Tangkoko, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
I arrived in Northern Sulawesi, and went directly to the Tangkoko National Park Reserve for 2 days of exploring and recording. Here in this forest near the sea, there is a unique ecosystem with endemic black macaques, Tarsiers, Cuscus, Hornbills, and many more. I chose the accommodation that is the closest as possible to the forest and a little away from the road. I think I chose it right, the backyard of this place gives direct access to the forest by crossing the small river. The owner also is a friend of the guide I found at my latest destination in Halmahera. In the early morning at 4am, before sunrise, I went deep inside, and my guide brought me to a place with a lot of tarsiers where I was able to record a surround 3D soundscape of the sunrise with very special species all around. A magical moment. The reserve itself is kind of small and sprawls around Mount Tangkoko between villages. As it is close to the sea, we could hear boats even in the early morning, hopefully, these were far and only low frequency went through which is easier to clean afterward. This place here is more touristy and more visited than any others I went to in Maluku, but it still is a low degree of frequentation even more because it is a weekday. I stumbled upon people later in the morning, who were working with the research teams that are based here at the entrance. This is a very interesting place I am happy to explore. Most of the people here are Christians, you can see many churches on the side of the road which is very different from other places I have seen in Indonesia. They do speak Bahasa Indonesia, however, I found their accent to be very special, somehow very ‘Hispanic’/Latino. In fact, when looking at the history, Spain and Portugal have been closely involved with the past of North Sulawesi.
