Photo vs Video

The camera or the camera? I know it's not a dilemma most people face but I do. I often struggle with the choice of camera. Mostly weather to take pictures or to film. They both have their benefits and definitivily appeal to somewhat different sides of me.

The downside of using the video camera is that is usually takes a lot of time and footage to make something decent and even more time and planning to make something great. At least with a normal camera (in my case a Nikon D700) one can usually just pay attention and wait for those good moments to pop up.

I'd really like to get better at both Photography and Film but it just takes to much time to do both at the same time. Well at least without taking pictures and filming being the main focus. After all for me the primary thing is usually doing something else and just having the opportunity to snap a few shots. Now if those shots happen to be good that's totally a nice bonus.

Come to think of it, I've only ever been on a pure photographic mission. It was the Jungles of Sumatra and we where trying to get a few good clicks on some orangutans. Other than that there's been a few times I've been out purely to grab a few shots but not really as a real mission so to say.

This weekend was the last sailing trip with the long-ship Helgaholm and I figured I'd give just snapping a few frames the primary seat. I did bring a video camera but only pickled it up once. Not wanting to bring a lot of lenses due to my weight and size limiting mind set for adventure I went with a zoom lens. Something I think is fine these days. Yeah sure fixed lenses do get better Images, but not that much better warranting hauling around a lot of extra weight and the time changing lenses and/or cameras.

It was a short two day trip. But two days was enough to give me a cold. Coming back from the tropics less than 24h before departure, rain, wind, jet-lagged and sleep deprivation KOed my immune system. Still if was a real nice trip with a mix of all kinds of weather. Sun, Rain, Wind, in other words a typical Swedish summer. The crayfish where amazing and it was a good thing everyone brought lots and lots of extras as I did not have time to go procure food after arrival. In fact "bosö båtklubb" (or Bosö Boat Club) had gotten a whole lot of extra craw fish making the crawdads more than plentiful. Me likey very much =D

Best of North Sulawesi

I found my Sulawesi gem as my last few days and my last destination in Sulawesi. Tankoko Reserve hit me with a mellow atmosphere and lots of wildlife to see. It's easy to get to and there are several trips available there from most dive resorts and travel agents. However the local transportation there is a bit trickier, but a lot cheaper. Besides a couple of hours of "rough" travel only makes it more genuine. Just ask the microlet drivers how to get there and they will help you catch the connecting microlett, buss or back of a tiny truck. One can easily get there from Manado, Tandano and Bitung.

My favorite part was walking around in the Jungle and seeing all the cool animals. The best part might have been the lack of mosquitoes. I don't think I encountered a single one. Which was a releif since I had no malaria meds. From what I heard the risk was non existent to low locally but looking at the maps from home most of Sulawesi lit up as a malaria zone. It seems as this is no longer the case however.

Some of the awesome animals we encountered where giant tarantulas at night, über cute primates known as Tarsiers, Makaks, exotic birds and Dolphins.
My only regret is that I did not have time to do any muck diving close by but that's ok. I'll soon be diving in some new cool places.

After some checking around we stayed at a home stay for 200.000 IDR per night. This included 2 meals a day for 2 people. In other words quite cheap. Fresh fish was on the menu just about every day. Breakfast could be a bit small for people like me who are used to a proper meal for breakfast but one can always request some Nasi Goreng instead which was much to my pleasing.

In this place I met an Indonesian - German family which was quite interesting. Although their kids where about 10 years younger than me, I kept thinking that it could have been my life would we have not returned from Indonesia after moving there as a child. This could have been a defining moment in my life and I become a tad bit happier every time I think about it. I'm very happy I got to have the background that I finally got. But more about that another day.

If you are ever in North Sulawesi, pop by Tankoko for a few days of relaxing and enjoying nature.

Sulawesi Higlands

In the center of the Sulawesi Highlands is a city called Tomohan. It's not the biggest city but it's one of the most well knows for travelers in the area. Due to it's shape it seems a lot bigger than what it actually is as it's cramped between the volcanic mountains around it.

I spent a few days here and the area has enough things to do for half a week to a week or so. More if you want to climb all the hills around. A few interesting things include doing to the market where they happens to deal in the more unusual food stuffs. Dog and rats being on the menu feels quite weird but it's forth taking a look.

I enjoyed getting around with the local transportation such as microlets, local buses and hitchhiking on the back of trucks. In general one of the good things about the area is that cold beer is quite readily available. A nice change from many other non tourist destinations in Indonesia.

A Paradise Polluted

Outside the coast of northern Sulawesi lies Bunaken, a small island with the potential of some of the greatest diving in the world. It once ranked in the top five dive spots in the world but had lost rankings in recent years.

As a diver I went in search of new wonders and to marvel while doing my flights through alien territory. The underwater world is truly an amazing one, with creatures one would think lived in the world of fiction.  The waters of Bunaken have a diverse marine life and focuses mainly on the smaller life forms. There are a few turtles guaranteed to be seen but sharks and bigger wildlife is not as common.

It all started out with a very promising afternoon wall dive. The reef where I dived was in relative good shape and there was plenty to see. Then the local influence started floating by in the form of plastic and garbage. As the growing city of Manado is quite close by and up current of this “could be island paradise”, a lot of things tend to float by. Not uncommon are, plastic bags, dead animals, diapers or other random junk. It’s worst for the snorkelers on the south and east side who must experience all the floaters but it’s horrible for me as a diver as well.

After a few dives I had enough and could no longer stand the pollution of humanity and left the island after far fewer dives than I had initially hoped.

Without this pollution I’d easily rank Bunaken among the top 10-15 dive sports. It the reef was in perfect condition it would be even better but there is some damage due to earlier dynamite and cyanide fishing.

For those who do not want to dive there are a few other activities on the island. The beaches are not that good and quite polluted both from the wash up of Manado and the locals habit of throwing garbage about. The snorkeling is good if one can disregard the foulness floating around. There is a dolphin tour for about 80.000 IDR which is worthwhile and quite cheap for this type of thing around south East Asia.

It’s good to know that all the places to stay charge per person and not per room. All meals of the day are also included in this price. The cheaper alternative is to stay in a homestay in the little village on the south end of the island. The less cheap alternative is to stay at one of the many resorts with ad hoc dive centers or dive centers with ad hoc resorts. I stayed at Raja Laut (meaning Ocean King) and enjoyed it.

The price was 250.000 IDR per person and both food and accommodation was very nice. The diving part of our resort/dive center as also good but I think they value what you can see higher than what you don’t want to see. I although the corals might be more damaged on the North West part of the island I’d easily trade it for less garbage any time. Most of the prices for the resorts are in Euros and the local exchange rate is quite bad. So it’s much better to bring your own cash that you conveniently exchanged in your home country. There are also no ATMs on the island so bring plenty of cash. Although I felt quite safe ant not too worried about my gear in our bungalow it was still nice to be able to put out valuables in the dive centers safe.

The cheapest alternative for diving and also maybe staying is Daniels. I think the dives where 25€ at Daniels as well. At Raja Laut they were 30 € is you do 3 or more dives. For one dive I think it was 35 €.

On the unfortunate side of things I lost one of my go pro cameras with its new underwater housing and head mount. It will be interesting to see how to handle my insurance. And if I need to make some sort of report. After all I lost it in the ocean, do I still need to make a police report?

All in all, go dive Bunaken and see for yourself, if you are in the area. If not, go somewhere else. There are plenty of great dive sites in South East Asia to the west, north and east of Northern Sulawesi.