Eating Indonesia style in Desa Gamaru with Reksa and Boy (Central Core of Sulawesi).
Gorgeous mossy forest on Gunung Latimojong.
Mammalogist Kevin Rowe in spectacular mossy forest at 2300 meters in the Latimojong Mountains
Latimojong forest
We encountered this longsor (landslide) on our way out of Gamaru – thankfully they had an earthmover on standby!
Alexander readying the winch to get us up this super slick road. Sometimes you need more than an earthmover!
The winch working its magic..
Caleb Caswell-Levy grooving on moss next to Sungai Anoa in central Sulawesi. Don’t know what an anoa is? Google it!
The typical gear explosion as we prepared to scout Gunung Katopasa at the base of Sulawesi’s Eastern Peninsula.
On the lower slopes of Gunung Katopasa at about 1000 m elevation. The lower slopes of the mountain had burned recently.
A small rawa (marshy swamp) on Gunung Katopasa at about 1600 meters, Eastern Peninsula of Sulawesi
This is the man who established the trail up Gunung Katopasa. He served as our guide during our scout.
Hammock camping on Gunung Katopasa.
This super fit dude walked into our camp early in the morning along with his super cute puppies. He later passed back through on his way down carrying 70 kilos of damar! Shoes not required..
Our lunch stop as we headed back down the eastern peninsula on our way to Gunung Torumpupu in the northern Central Core of Sulawesi.
Alexander Stubbs sangat suka sekali makan durian!
That’s Gunung Torumpupu behind 5 intervening ridges. At this stage we had our doubts about reaching the summit of Torompupu on foot.
We next decided to try accessing Gunung Torompupu from the south. This required driving some roads not typically used by cars or trucks such as this motorcycle path…
The same path looking back down from above. We soon discovered that we were the first “cars” (in our case, well-equipped 4-wheel drive vehicles) that had passed this way in 11 years..
The end of the road for us was this motorcycle bridge crossing a small river. No matter how much you might like to,
you simply can’t get a Landcruiser across this bridge!
Bronchocela celebensis on a roadside tree..
Back down the motorcycle path..
After failing to access habitat on the south slope of the mountain range that includes Gunung Torompupu, we tried heading further south. This bridge was even less amenable to Landcruisers than the motorcycle bridge encountered previously..
How do you get a live pig from point A to point B in Indonesia?
The same way you move most everything else – by motorcycle!
After we thought we had struck out with Torompupu, I took a crack at another nearby mountain called Bulu Nti. Not as tall as Torompupu, but the summit is closer to an access point. Looking back down at Desa Jono where I started my ascent.
The first 700 meters above Desa Jono are ridiculously steep. At least it wasn’t insanely hot and humid..
Local housing on Bulu Nti..
I encountered this Eto couple on my way up Bulu Nti. They didn’t speak much Bahasa Indonesia, which is unusual anywhere in the country. Note the awesome spear. Further up the mountain, I ran into less friendly mountain people who also spoke little Bahasa.
Looking back down from where I had come on Bulu Nti..
I had almost reached the pondok (hut) visible in this photo when my less than friendly interaction with a man and his young son convinced me to turn back.
Looking northward up the Palu Valley – as seen from the lower slope of Bulu Nti.
Before this trip, I thought my favorite Starbucks in Jakarta was blown up by suicide bombers a few months earlier (as reported in the Indonesian press). Turns out the awful event had taken place in the parking lot just outside..
Inside my favorite Starbucks. Nothing to see here..
Even though I have met a Pak Jimmy in the Jakarta Imigrasi office, ‘Jim’ often translates to ‘Jam’ in Indonesia.
