Sonder is a small subdistrict town in Minahasa highland. It is a new destination for visitors who love exploring mountainous region whose land is covered by forest, and farmland.
Farm Tour - Talking a walking tour along this farm area will allow tour participants to see various kinds of agricultural crops that are being grown by local farmers, meet local villagers in their daily life and watch birds and butterflies that thrive in the farm forest of Subdistrict Sonder. Local farmers grow vegetables, fruits, beans and grain such as: cabbage, spring onion, spinach, carrot, tomato, chilli, cucumber, pumpkin, chayote, rambutan, mango, avocado, rice, corn, peanuts, and red bean. They also grow agricultural industrial crops such as vanilla, clove, nutmeg and patchouli.
Birdwatching Tour - Hiking, sightseeing, birdwatching are popular activities which tourists can do while spending their holiday in North Sulawesi. They could see various species of birds. Some of them are listed below:
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| Birds in the Farm Forest of Subdistrict Sonder |
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| Sulawesi Hanging Parrot |
- Bay Coucal
- Black-billed Koel
- Sulawesi Drongo
- Hair-crested Drongo (White-eyed)
- Sulawesi Scops Owl
- Sahul Sunbird
- Brown-throated Sunbird
- Crimson Sunbird
- Black Sunbird
- Gray-sided Flowerpecker
- Yellow-sided Flowerpecker
- Crimson-crowned Flowerpecker
- Sulawesi Myzomela
- Warbling White-eye
- Black-crowned White-eye
- Barred Rail
- Black-naped Oriole
- Pale Blue Monarch
- Sulawesi Hanging Parrot
- Pygmy Hanging Parrot
- Purple Heron
- Yellow-billed Malkoha
- Javan Pond Heron
- Little Egret
- Cattle Egret
- Barred Rail
- Buff-banded Rail
- Isabelline Bush-hen
- White-browed Crake
- Collared Kingfisher
- Finch-billed Myna
- Gray-cheeked Green Pigeon
- Sulawesi Cuckoo-dove
- Green Imperial Pigeon
- Sooty-headed Bulbul
- White-breasted Woodswallow
- Sulawesi Crow
- Black Kite,
- Chestnut Eggs
- Scaly-breasted Munia
- Black-faced Munia
- Eurasian Treesparrow,
- Grey-rumped Treeswift
- Glossy Swiftlet
- White-nest Swiftlet
- Barn Swallow
- and etc.
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| European visitors were watching birds in Sonder of Minahasa highland |
Butterfly Watching -The forest, dry farmland, wet rice field and waterfall areas of Sonder are the habitat of a lot of species of butterflies. Exploring these places on foot will allow tour participants to see such butterflies as Helena's Birdwing, The Clipper, Blanchard's Tree Nymph, Blanchard's Tree Nymph, Meyer's Jay, and etc.
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| Flowers and butterfly in Subdistrict Sonder |
Butterflywatching and birdwatching at the Outskirts of Manado City
Manado is the capital of North Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. It is the destination for visitors who want to spend their holiday in Bunaken Marine National Park and Tangkoko Nature Reserve or Minahasa Highland.
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| Manado Yellow Tiger Butterfly |
Manado city itself is surrounded by villages, farmland and forest. For visitors who are interested in nature, they could enjoy hiking, butterflywatching and birdwatching at the outskirts of Manado city. Various species of butterflies could be seen at the farm forest of Manado city. They include Gigon Swallowtail, The Clipper, Helena's Birdwing, Manado Yellow Tiger Butterfly, and Lime Swallowtail.
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| Blanchard's Wood Nymph |
For birds, there are Gray-sided Flowerpecker, Yellow-sided Flowerpecker, Pacific Swallow, Sahul Sunbird, Pale Blue Monarch, Sulawesi Hanging Parrot, Sulawesi Crow, Green Imperial Pigeon, Sooty-headed Bulbul, and etc. The duration of this butterfly watching and birdwatching tour is usually half day and can be extended to full day tour to other site of Manado city.
Birding in Tangkoko Nature Reserve
For visitors who are keen on watching more tropical birds of Sulawesi, they could spend 3 to 4 days of their holiday time in Tangkoko forest to watch birds and other wild animals of the nature reseve.
As a tourist guide, I could organize an extended trip to Tangkoko Nature Reserve which is approximately 1 hour 30 minutes ride from Manado city depending on the road traffic condition. A lot of birds could be found in the forest of Tangkoko including Green-backed Kingfisher, Sulawesi Lilac Kingfisher, Ruddy Kingfisher, Sulawesi Dwarf Kingfisher, White-necked Myna, Black-naped Fruit-dove, Gray-cheeked Green Pigeon, Yellow-breasted Racquet-tail, Golden-mantled Racquet-tail, and etc.
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| Knobbed Hornbill |
Marine Tour in Bunaken Islands
After taking the hiking, farm tour, butterflywatching and birdwatching in Sonder of Minahasa Highland, the tour will be continued to Bunaken Islands where visitors could walk along white sandy beach, swim in sea water and enjoy snorkeling over coral reef area.
A lot of marine creatures could be seen underwater including sea star, sea clam, sea cucumber, christmas tree worm, sea urchin, and various species of tropical fish such as grouper, parrotfish, wrasse, anemonefish, trevally, damsel, lionfish.
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| Nain Atoll Sandbank |
To take pictures of the marine life, tour participants need to bring an underwater camera such as Nikon W300, Olympus TG-7 or Go Pro camera.
Tour participants can bring their own snorkeling equipment such as the mask, snorkel and fins. They could also rent it from dive centers in Bunaken.
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| Marine Tour in Bunaken Islands |
Flight Routes to Manado city
To take this birding tour in Sonder of Minahasa highland and snorkeling tour in Bunaken islands, tour participants need to fly to Manado city which is the capital of North Sulawesi Province. Direct flight from Singapore and Manado is served by Scoot Air. For visitors who fly from Guangzhou to Manado, the flights are served by TransNusa and China Southern Airlines. For visitors who are already in Indonesia, they can fly from any major cities in such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Makassar, Ternate, and Sorong by Garuda, Lion Air, Batik Air, SuperAirjet, and Wings Air.
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| Flight routes to Manado city |
Booking - If you are interested in traveling to Manado city of Indonesia and want me to organize your trip, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by whatsapp to: +6281332245180 or by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.
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