Peace Country Naturalist

Tag: nature

  • Eastern Indonesia: The Red and Wilson’s Birds of Paradise

    My primary reason for heading to eastern Indonesia was to have the opportunity to view species in the family Paradisaeidae – i.e, the Birds of Paradise. These birds have always had a near-mythical status to me. I have studied and admired them from books and videos but actually seeing one has long seemed out of…

  • Eastern Indonesia: Waigeo

    Waigeo is a largely unspoiled island that is just north of the northwestern tip of New Guinea. It’s the largest island of the Raja Ampat archipelago, and is the only island in the group with any roads at all. It also has a small town and some small homestays / beach resorts. These resorts aren’t…

  • Eastern Indonesia: West Papua (New Guinea)

    Back to blogging! The next stop on the tour was Sorong, a city in the Indonesian province of West Papua, which is on far west side of the island of New Guinea. I’ve always been fascinated with this island due to its diverse people, landscapes, and wildlife. It is home to some of the most…

  • Eastern Indonesia: Halmahera

    The next stop on the tour was the island of Halmahera, which was formerly called Gilolo. Getting to Halmahera is a bit of a process. There aren’t any major airports on the island itself, so first you have to fly to the city of Ternate, on the island of the same name. Ternate is a…

  • Eastern Indonesia: Sulawesi Part II

    After Lore Lindu, we headed back to the city of Palu and stayed a night there before heading to Manado. The hotel in Palu (Sultan Raja) was quite nice. I left a hat behind there and the hotel staff actually contacted the tour leader about it and had it sent to the last hotel we…

  • Eastern Indonesia: Sulawesi Part I

    It’s been a couple of weeks since I returned from my latest adventure: a trip to eastern Indonesia. Specifically, it covered the islands of Sulawesi, Halmahera, New Guinea, and Waigeo. What made me want to visit that area of the world in particular? The bird life is one of the big reasons, particularly the Birds…

  • Botswana Part I: Okavango Panhandle

    I spent most of my trip to Africa in Namibia, but I did cross over into neighboring Botswana a couple of times. The first time was with the birding group. We spent a few nights at a secluded lodge along the Okavango River in northern Botswana. We took a short boat ride to get to…

  • Namibia: Kavango and Zambezi Regions (featuring hippos, bee-eaters, and strangler figs).

    After the visit to Etosha National Park, we headed through the Kavango and Zambezi regions of Namibia, which are located in the northeastern part of the country. This region of Namibia is much greener and more densely populated than the south, in part due to the presence of two major permanent rivers: the Kavango and…

  • Namibia: Spitzkoppe

    The semester’s over and I finally have time to write again! Note: The first blog post about my trip to Namibia can be found by clicking HERE. The next stops on the itinerary included Spitzkoppe and various sites in the Erongo Mountains. “Spitzkoppe,” which is derived from the German words for ‘pointed dome,’ is a group…