In Tangkoko Dua Saudara Nature Reserve just over an hour’s drive from Manado, I sit quietly in the evening gloom only a few metres away from a huge strangler fig tree. A small movement among the roots three metres above the ground catches my eye. Adjusting my eyes to the light, I notice just a pair of huge eyes peering at me, then tiny ears, long finger like digits and a long tufted tail. This is the tarsier – a unique animal with enormous eyes and a body about the size of a tennis ball. It is the world’s smallest primate.
An almost mythological creature, the tarsier also is known as the monkey ghost. Many people are unsure whether tarsiers form part of the real world or the world of spirits. Its eyes occupy more space in its skull than its brain and are so big they cannot move much in their sockets - giving the animal a most unusual appearance as it turns its head at all angles.
As I watch, a green insect about 2 centimetres long lands on a branch a couple of metres away. As the tarsier’s eyes quickly focus on the insect, the animal suddenly springs like grasshopper across a few metres, quickly seizes the insect in its tiny claws and teeth and just as rapidly leaps back to its hole among the root system.
Here on the north east tip of Sulawesi, just 60 kilometres east of Manado, there is an abundance of extraordinary and unique birds and animals like the tarsier. Many are found nowhere else in the world. Apart from the tarsiers, other species which can be relatively easily seen include the cuscus, black macaques and many birds including hornbills.
Manado and its surroundings have always been attractive to visitors. Alfred Russel Wallace, one of the greatest naturalists of history, and author of the classic work “The Malay Archipelago” described Manado as “one of the prettiest towns in the east”. He spent four months around Manado and in Tangkoko between June and September 1859. He described Manado’s surrounds “mountainous, with groups of fine volcanic peaks 6,000 or 7,000 feet high, forming grand and picturesque backgrounds to the landscape”
Wallace’s fascination with Sulawesi caused him to write that Sulawesi “is yet wonderfully rich in peculiar forms, many of which are singular or beautiful, and are in some cases absolutely unique upon the globe”. The categorization of the fauna of Sulawesi was confusing to Wallace – while its animals and birds had many features of those to both the east and west, the majority were found nowhere else at all.
Tangkoko reserve offers a wonderful alternative to the other well known natural and cultural wonders surrounding the city of Manado. Add Tangkoko and its wonderful plants, animals and reptiles to the sights of Bunaken, the wild and bizarre sea creatures of Lembeh Strait, and the rich Minahasan culture and beautiful scenery around Tomohon and Tondano.
My base for the exploration of Tangkoko is Pulisan Jungle Resort – a delightful eco tourism resort set on a white sand beach looking across to Tangkoko and the Lembeh Strait. Over the past few years, the resort has been extremely active in assisting the local community – from supporting the local villagers in the surrounding villages which are the poorest in the province of North Sulawesi. Guests of the resort sponsor more than 50 children's education, provide better health and water supplies, as well as building a local kindergarten. rojects focus on water and village health.
At this beautiful place you can swim, snorkel or just hang out on the beach, talk the many walks around the local hills and villages, dive the surrounding reefs, islands or nearby Lembeh Strait, or experience the village culture of the nearby kampungs. The 40 minute boat trip across the bay to nearby Tangkoko is a must.
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