Sonder Tours in Minahasa Peninsula of North Sulawesi

Sonder is a small subdistrict town in Minahasa highland of North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. It is surrounded by hills, rivers, waterfalls, paddy fields, farmland and forest. This short article provides info about tours in Sonder which visitors can enjoy during their trip in Indonesia.

Hiking Tour in Sonder of Minahasa Regency

Trekking tour across the hills and valleys is an interesting activity which visitors could enjoy to see the beautiful landscape of Minahasa. Farm Tour - Most of the Minahasan people who live in Sonder are farmers. They cultivate their land and plant them with various kinds of food crops such as rice, corn, sweet potatoes, red beans, peanuts, coconut, and etc.

While enjoying the walk through the agricultural land, we could see farmers plowing, planting, or harvesting food crops in their farm fields. The houses of local villagers are often covered by concrete floor to enable them to dry grains such as peanuts, red bean, rice and corn. Most farmers still do manual works in their farms. Some of them buy hand tractors, and milling machines which very important in cultivating their land, and processing their agricultural produce.

The farm forest of Sonder is the habitat of a lot of species of butterflies and moths, beetle and dragonfly.

Butterfly watching Tour - Some of the butterflies that we could see include: The Clipper, Manado Yellow Tiger Butterfly, Common Birdwing, Blanchard's Ghost, Blanchard's Wood Nymph, Lime Swallowtail, Celebes-banded Swallowtail, The Great Orange Tip, and etc.

Celebes-banded Swallowtail

Birdwatching Tour - In addition to butterflies, the farm forest of Sonder is the habitat of a lot of species of birds such as 

Sulawesi Cuckoo-dove,

Green Imperial Pigeon,

Superb Fruit-dove,

Zebra Dove,

Gray-cheeked Green Pigeon,

Yellow-billed Malkoha, 

Sulawesi Hanging Parrot, 

Pygmy Hanging Parrot, 

Ashy Woodpecker,

Sulawesi Pygmy Woodpecker, 

Pale Blue Monarch, 

Sulawesi Cuckoo-dove, 

Sulawesi Blue Flycatcher, 

Snowy-browed Flycatcher,

Crimson-crowned Flowerpecker,

Yellow-sided Flowerpecker,

Gray-sided Flowerpecker,

Sahul Sunbird, 

Crimson Sunbird, 

Brown-throated Sunbird,

Black Sunbird,

Black-naped Oriole, 

Scaly-breasted Munia, 

Chestnut Munia, 

Black-faced Munia, 

Hair-crested Drongo (white-eyed),

Sulawesi Drongo, 

Sooty-headed Bulbul,

Finch-billed Myna,

Sulawesi-crested Myna,

Barred Rail,

Buff-banded Rail,

White-browed Crake

Purple Heron,

Sulawesi Crow,

Cattle Egret,

Little Egret, 

Purple Heron,

Brahminy Kite,

Black Kite,

Sulawesi Goshawk,

and etc.

Pale Blue Monarch

Birdwatchers in Sonder of Minahasa

To watch birds, visitors need to bring 8×42 mm, 10×42 mm or 10×50 mm binoculars manufactured by Swarovski, Leica, Nikon or Olympus. Those who like to take pictures could bring point and shoot cameras such as Nikon P1000, Canon SX70HS, Sony Cybershot RX20 IV.

Bird Photography Trip in Lake Linow of North Sulawesi

Where is Sonder and how to go there?

Sonder is a small subdistrict town that is located in Minahasa regency of Indonesia. It can be reached by car from Manado city for approximately 1 hour. 

Car route between Manado city and Sonder

Foreign visitors need to fly to one of the major cities in Indonesia and then continue their trip by planes to Manado city. There are daily flights between Manado city and major cities in Indonesia served by Lion Air, Super Airjet, Batik Air, Garuda Indonesia, and Wings Air. There are also international direct flights between Singapore and Manado city by Scoot Air, and between Guangzhou and Manado city by TransNusa and China Southern Airlines. 

Flights to Manado city

Accommodation

There are homestays in Sonder for visitors who want to spend several days in Sonder. There are also hotels in the nearby Tomohon town for visitors who are traveling in bigger groups. 

If you are interested in taking a tour in Subdistrict Sonder of Minahasa highland, please, contact us by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.

Related Posts:

• Sonder Bird
• Birding in Sonder of Minahasa Highland
• Sulawesi Myzomela
• Birding in Sonder and Mount Mahawu
• Butterfly watching Tour in Sonder Town
• Farmland Tours in Sonder Town of Minahasa Highland

Some Photos of Birds from My Birding Walk in Subdistrict Sonder

Here are some photos of birds that I took while doing birding walk in Subdistrict Sonder of Minahasa regency. 

Barred Rail in Subdistrict Sonder of Minahasa regency

The first picture is Barred Rail. This is a ground walking bird. When I took picture of this bird, it was walking on the branches of a small tree at a roadside. It was an unusual scene for the Barred Rail.

Sulawesi Hanging Parrot

The second picture is Sulawesi Hanging-parrot (Loriculus stigmatus). The bird was perhaps feeding on lichens of a tree in Subdistrict Sonder of Minahasa regency. I was standing on the frontyard of a villager's house that is on a hill. This allowed me to take some pictures of the bird on trees that stood at the frontyard of the house.

White-browed Crake

White-browed Crake is a very shy bird. I frequently see them walking through paddy fields in search of food. Yesterday, I tried to walk closer to take pictures of them. Unfortunately, they moved into denser rice plants. 

Scaly-breasted Munia

These three small birds that were sitting on a twig of a tree were Scaly-breasted Munia. They were considered as pests by farmers who cultivate rice in paddy fields. 

There are more birds that we can watch in Minahasa highland. I will continue to update this blog with more articles of birding in this region. 

Finch-billed Myna

If you are interested in visiting Minahasa regency in Indonesia for sightseeing, birdwatching, butterflywatching and farm tour, and want a guide to organize your trip, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by whatsapp to: +6281332245180 or by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.

Also read:

• Birdwatching and Photography Trip in Sonder of Minahasa Highland
• Hiking Tour and Birdwatching in Minahasa
• Birds of Sulawesi
• Birding and Photography Tour in North Sulawesi

Tour Around the Farmland of Minahasa

The highland of Minahasa has got beautiful landscape. Visitors who spend their holiday here can take a tour to see the villages, farmland, and forest. 

Most of the inhabitants of Minahasa land are farmers. They grow rice, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, chilli, spring onion, cabbage, kangkung, pineapple, pangi, lemon grass, orange, rambutan, durian, and etc. 

Vanilla, clove, coconut, road through farmland, traditional market

While walking through the villages and farmland, tour participants can meet with the farmers and talk with them. Farmers can explain the food crops which they grow and how long they have to cultivate the plants until they could harvest them. 

Industrial agricultural crops such as coconut, vanilla, clove and nutmeg could also be seen in Minahasa. They are harvested in certain period of time. For instance coconuts are usually picked every three months, and clove every two years. During the waiting time, farmers can do other jobs or cultivate short term food crops such as chilli, tomatoes, and other vegetable plants. Mos of the food crops are available in local markets. 

Farmers dry their harvest around their houses. That's why front-yard of a lot of farmers' houses in Minahasa are covered with concrete floor.

For coconut, farmers use other method for drying it. The meat of coconut is put on a shelf and is heated from below using fire.

Birds and Butterflies

There are birds and butterflies which visitors can watch during the farmland tour in Minahasa land. Some of them are Sooty-headed Bulbul, Sahul Sunbird, Sulawesi Hanging Parrot, Crimson Sunbird, Hair-crested Drongo, Black-naped Oriole, Finch-billed Myna, Chestnut Munia, Scaly-breasted Munia,  and a lot more. 

Some of the birds in the farmland of Minahasa 

Butterflies that occur in Minahasa include The Clipper, Common Birdwing, Minahasa Yellow Tiger, Blanchard's Wood Nymph, Blanchard's Tree Nymph, Meyer's Jay, Sacred Tabby and etc.

Butterfly watching in Minahasa highland

If you are interested in traveling to Minahasa and want to tour guide to organize your trip and accompany you, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180. 

• Farm tour to Minahasa Highland of Indonesia
• Farmland Tour in Minahasa Highland
• Trip to Minahasa Highland
• Farmland Tours in Subdistrict Sonder of Minahasa
• Flower Tour in Minahasa Highland

Farmland Tour in Minahasa Highland

Most tourists who travel to Manado city want to enjoy their holiday in Bunaken or Lembeh Strait. As a matter of fact, they can also take a farmland tour in the highland of Minahasa. 

In Minahasa, papaya flower is harvested as vegetables and papaya fruit is consumed as fruit

Villagers who live in Subdistrict Sonder of Minahasa regency work as farmers. They grow rice, corn, banana, papaya, tomato, chilli, spring onion, aubergine, kangkung, cabbage, peanut, kidney bean, durian, duku, rambutan, mango; and industrial crops such as clove and vanilla. Those who live near water streams run fish, poultry and pig farming. 

Paddy fields and coconut trees in Subdistrict Sonder of Minahasa regency

Visitors who take the farm tour in Minahasa can explore the agricultural land to see plants and animals which the local people have and how local farmers cultivate their food crops. 

Palm sugar from Rambunan village in Subdistrict Sonder is processed from the sap of aren tree

Minahasa is an important supplier of agricultural produce to towns and cities in eastern region of Indonesia. Vegetables, fruits, eggs, fish, meat are exported to Sorong, Manokwari, Jayapura, Ternate, Ambon, and Balikpapan. 

Villagers in Tincep village grow flowers which they sell to various towns and villages in North Sulawesi province of Indonesia

Birdwatching

Walking through the trees and shrubs in the dry agricultural land, tour participants can enjoy watching various species of birds and butterflies. Some of the birds that can be seen include :

Crimson Sunbird, Sahul Sunbird, Chestnut Munia, Cattle Egret, Sulawesi Cuckoo-dove

Sahul Sunbird, Crimson Sunbird, Brown-throated Sunbird, White-faced Cuckoo Dove, Grey-cheeked Green Pigeon, Green Imperial Pigeon, Black-naped Fruit Dove, Sulawesi Cuckoo-dove, Chestnut Munia, Scaly-breasted Munia, Black-faced Munia, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Purple Heron, Cinnamon Bittern, Sulawesi Hanging Parrot, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Pale Blue Monarch, Sulawesi Pygmy Woodpecker, Black-naped Oriole, Gray-sided Flowerpecker, Yellow-sided Flowerpecker, White-eyed Drongo, Zebra Dove, Rock Pigeon, and etc. 

The secretive White-browed Crakes were walking through rice plants in Subdistrict Sonder of Minahasa regency 

Flight Routes

The capital of North Sulawesi Province is Manado city. It is the main gate for visitors who want to travel to Minahasa highland. There are daily flights between Manado and some major cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Balikpapan, Denpasar, Makassar and Sorong. Visitors could fly to these cities and continue their trip to Manado by taking one of the domestic flights served by Garuda, Citilink, Batik Air, Lion Air, TransNusa.

For direct international flights, Scoot Air fly between Manado city and Singapore several times a week. There are also direct flights between Manado city and Guangzhou served by China Southern Airlines.

Trip from Manado to Minahasa highland can be done by car. There are hotels, resorts and guesthouses in Tomohon. 

Flights from Singapore and major cities in Indonesia to Manado city

Land route from Manado city to Tomohon town and Subdistrict town of Sonder

If you are interested in taking a farmland tour in the highland of Minahasa and want a guide to organize your trip, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.

Also read:

• Farm Tour to Minahasa Highland of Indonesia
• Tour around the farmland of Minahasa
• Trip to Minahasa Highland
• The many uses of Aren Palm Tree
• Sightseeing and Birdwatching Tour in the farmland of Subdistrict Sonder
• Farmland Tour in Sonder Town of Minahasa, Indonesia

Farmland Tours in Sonder Town of Minahasa, Indonesia

The Subdistrict town of Sonder in Minahasa highland of Indonesia is a beautiful destination for farmland tours. Visitors who travel to this small town could enjoy walking tours to explore its villages, forest, agricultural lands, and paddy fields.  

The walking tours in these areas allows visitors to see various kinds of agricultural crops that are grown by local farmers and at the same time watch birds and butterflies. The hills that surround subdistrict town of Sonder are planted with various kinds of fruit trees such as duku, durian, rambutan, papaya, banana, mango, and coconut. Villagers grow other agricultural commodities such as nutmeg, clove and vanilla. 

Walking Tour in the farmland of Sonder town

Local farmers grow aubergine, tomato, chilli, banana, sweet potatoes, papaya, rambutan, kidney bean, cabbage, spring onion, peanut, green bean, and a lot of other agricultural produce in their farmlands. In wetland, they grow rice, corn and vegetables. They run pig, poultry, and fish farm.

Visitors who are interested in taking farm tour with me can buy some of the produce and try cooking Minahasan cuisines at the homestay.

Some of the agricultural commodities that villagers grow in Sonder

These agricultural produce are sold in towns and cities in North Sulawesi and throughout eastern region of Indonesia including Manado, Tomohon, Tondado, Bitung,  Ambon, Sorong, Ternate, Balikpapan.

Palm Sugar is one of the agricultural products from Minahasa that is widely sold in villages, towns and cities in eastern region of Indonesia

Dodol is a traditional sweet rice cake made of glutinous rice, coconut milk, palm sugar and peanuts wrapped in palm leaf

The combination of terraces of paddy fields with clove, coconut and other tropical trees along the Lalek slope creates a very beautiful landscape which tourists will like when they do nature walk around the outskirts of Subdistrict town of Sonder.

Sonder town in Minahasa regency of Indonesia

Because I bring my old camera - the Fujifilm HS50EXR, I could take some pictures of the landscapes, the terraces of rice fields, the birds and butterflies.

Flowers in Tincep of Subdistrict Sonder, Minahasa regency, Indonesia

If you are interested in traveling to Sonder town in Minahasa regency of Indonesia to do walking tour, sightseeing and animal watching, and want me to organize your trip and guide you, please, contact me by whatsapp to: +6281332245180 or by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com

Also read:

• Farm Tour to Minahasa Highland of Indonesia
• Snorkeling in Bunaken: Exploring the Underwater Wonders of North Sulawesi
• Wildlife Tour in Tangkoko and Minahasa Highland
• Hiking Tour and Birdwatching in Minahasa
• Nature Tour in North Sulawesi
• Sightseeing and Birdwatching Tour in the Ricefield of Sonder