Makassar Things to Do

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After writing about Malino, now I want to write about Manipi.

Manipi is a small town, green and fresh, like Malino, about 115 km from east Makassar, or about 40 km from Malino to the east. There are many ricefields here. There are some rivers. In the villages, people generally work as farmers.

The villages are still natural. The weather here is also cool. Because it is village area, people who live here are very friendly. They give high respects and are ready to help to visitors who come to their villages.

This small town is suit for they who like road trip, cycling, and enjoy nature in South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Ford Rotterdam is one of the best-preserved examples of Dutch architecture in Indonesia. This old fortress on Jl. Ujung Pandang, overlooking the harbour right in the heart of the city, is one of the principal attractions of Ujung Pandang. Rebuilt in Dutch style the fort now bears the rather more nationalistic title of Benteng (Fort) Ujung Pandang.

The fort's big La Caligo Museum consists of 2 buildings, one covering ethnology and the other history. See the assortment of exhibits including rice bowls from Tanah Toraja, prehistoric kitchen tools from South Sulawesi, musical instruments from Manado and various traditional marital costumes. The gift shop sells beautiful Bugis sarung of pure silk.

It's open Tuesday to Thursday 0800 - 1400 pm., Friday 0800 - 11.30 pm., Saturday & Sunday 0800 - 12.30 pm. Monday and holidays closed. Entrance is 7500 Rp. adults, 2500 Rp. children (maybe changed for now).

The very popular Prince Diponegoro of Yogyakarta led the Java War of 1825-1830 but his career as a rebel leader came to a sudden halt when he was caught and arrested by the Dutch. He was misled when offering peace and exiled to Celebes/Sulawesi! He spent in Makassar the last 26 (!) years of his life in Ford Rotterdam where he wrote his memories.

His grave and monument (Kuburan Pangeran Diponegoro) can be seen in a small cemetery where Indonesians still pay hommage at his tomb. In his famous memories he mentioned the Javanese Ratu Kidul and, it has been an honour to create a small aquarelle for the Dutch Diponegoro-book.

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The saying that the Bantimurung National Park was having lots of butterflies is true. I have a causal meeting with some of them while walking through the picnic areas.

The place well known for butterflies was sparked off by the visit of Alfred Russell Wallace in 1856 & 57. After that he created a catchy term of "kingdom Of butterflies" which the locals have held on until now.

For statistic, how many is many butterflies? Today, you may no longer see these butterflies gathering in groups and drifting by like a floating cloud. But individuals were sporadically seen here and there. The first recorded number showed that the diversity was 270 species counted in this single area of the waterfalls alone. As time went by and the place more visited the surveyed figures dropped. By large margin, from historical figures to present day facts, in 1997, a Doctor Mappatoba Sila recorded only 147 species.

Then in another study in April of 2010, the team started tracking down 107 possibly existing species. They managed to count only 90 species.

Many species were no longer seen in this area. Among the many possibilities, some reason speculated the environment became less conducive, could be the increase human activities in the picnic area, the construction of many buildings within the compound. Many species could have gone on to alternative areas for the food and propagation.

As a contingency, to maintain the presence of butterflies in the area, the government have also started Butterflies breeding program. In my trip I managed to visit the butterfly Museum. Perhaps the next trip I should get a chance to make pictures of their breeding area which I understand is rather small and confined. To continuously replenish supply of the insect for sightings in the park area.

I have not gone that far to understand the regulation in force as there are also many collectors in the area to gather new products to feed the tourist trade.

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For my maiden trip to Makassar last November, my pre-reading included seeking for information on the net as well as combing the Google map for sights of wooded areas nearby to the city.
Apparently, the most promising plot of real estate is Bantimurung some 45 kilometers out of town. Mentioned the fact to my traveling companion - Yak! go all the way to see a waterfall?

That's how little information the net had yielded and the inadequate information the tourism departments sends out. After seeing the place myself and with more appreciation of the place, I sieve through all the same articles on the net once more, reinforced some points with my personal experiences, I have this article. And the info, the best I could compile. I share with you what I have gathered so far.

Bantimurung National Park is situated in the Maros Pangkep region, north of Makasaar. This area where the crowd went is the southern end of the huge limestone complex. The second largest in the world after the one in southern-eastern China.

The designated area for the park is 6619.11 square kilometers [x100 to get hectares]. The name of Bantimurung came from 2 local words "membanting" and "kemurungan". Combine conveys the meaning of "getting rid of sadness"

The main attraction of the park as determined by local participation is the area of the waterfall. Till now I do not have any information of how the other areas of the park could offer nor how it could be accessed.

Besides the waterfall and the picnic area, as a side show and souvenir items for the visiting tourist - display of sale items filled with "Butterflies" on board.
For the more adventurous there are also some caves, the more visited are 2 caves with a proper walkway.

There are signage showing the entrance and marking the park. Most memorable to all would be the 6 meters tall statue of an ape, presumably Langur. Also there is a gigantic figure of a butterfly.

Park entrance fee if Rp 3,500 for children and Rp 5,000 for adults. Accommodation within the park is possible at rates varying from Rp 40,000 - Rp 60,000.

Having seen the place myself, I could see lots of untapped potentials and large part of the park is not be explored. After the car park area are the ticketing counters there after the park proper. The waterfall is less than 200 meters away within the level ground and the large caves, another 800 meters along the river within a gorge.

So it not just visiting a silly waterfall but look carefully you will be surprised of getting a first hand look at the natural park that was a jewel to many naturalists

The island of Sulawesi is east of the Wallace line. This is an important fact as the imaginary line demarcate the range of birds found here to be more linked to those Australasian region. Simply cross that line means we could be seeing a whole new ranges of birds.
Next, seeing the southern part of the island and its ecology for the first time gave quite a different expectation. The coastal region of the island are bereaved of forest. Over the years most coastal lands were open up for cultivation. The lowland region around Makassar were flooded with fish ponds.

Little chance of finding forest or wetland birds, the next best, birds of open field and parks. I search for public park within the city area, there was none. I was not wrong in locating the only park or wooded area near the city. Bantimurung!
That was the only known park with public roads and easy accessibility. And as it turns out, the birding area is confined to a valley of 200 meters and would be suitable for those making short visit to the city.

One more possibility - The road running across the mountain to the eastern coast of the island. The area where the town of Malindo would be. Looking at the terrain, most mountain slopes along the road were cleared and planted with tea scrub - a situation of monoculture. Unlikely to harbor strong bird life or possessing great diversity in bird life.
In summary, moving around the city area, confirms my apprehension. There was very low bird life, in fact there were occasion swifts in the sky. In the "park" of public beach area Akkarena, there were Tree sparrows. The fish farms had Pond-Heron and Sandpipers. Here the clumps of few acacia trees was oasis for a couple of species of local birds. Bird life was not exactly strong but could see birds at last. Lastly , out into the rural road to Bantimurung, a couple of Mynas were sporadically sighted, our time in Bantimurung was in a light shower and inappropriate for birding. No bird was sighted.

In the outskirt at Somba Opu, there were some trees and surprisingly bird life was good and raised hope of this place being a potential for open park birds.
OK! It's time for a re-thinking. I watch birds and of course going to a new destination, I am also keen to see new birds. I have checked, most favored birding sites are in northern Sulawesi. As for South Sulawesi, the couple of spots mentioned are suitable for casual birders and not known to offer a good cross section of bird life.

Going to a strange city and without guidance from contact, I too, depend very much on the net to generate the much needed information as to the places of interest to complete my travel plan. At that time, the names I compiled were alien to me and accompanied by sketchy descriptions. I was happy that my targets were established.

The trip to Makasaar is over and now I am able to verify the items on our list. Good that through the facilities provided by VT. I could offer this list which should of some use to intending visitor.
Here is that list

i. Soekarno Hatta harbour
ii. Fort Rotterdam
iii. Paotere Harbour
iv. Losari Beach
v. Akkarena Beach
vi. Jalan Somba Opu
vii.Karebosi Square
viii.GTC Mall
ix. Ratu Indah Mall

and lastly
x. Bantimurung National Park.

I think the hard part is confirming a list. Now done, information on the internet should be readily available.

It is not easy to put a rating on each of these item, as interest varies from person to person.

Located 42 km NE from Ujung Pandang you may enjoy BANTIMURUNG, a natural reserve and famous for its butterflies. It is a classic "objek wisata" (tourist object), a protected area. There are great waterfalls just set amid lushly tropical, and vegetated limestone cliffs.

Although crowded with Indonesian daytrippers on weekends and holidays, yet a wonderful and picturesque retreat from the heat of Ujung Pandang. The forest hills hereabout are riddled with caves ...

Just past the 15-m warerfall there's a cave at river level. Scramble along the rocks past the waterfall and get onto track. Bring a torch/flashlight to look inside the cave or, when guided by locals, enter and enjoy the thousands and thousands of multicoloured kupu-kupu (butterflies). These butterflies are famous for its beauty, once collected by the great naturalist Alfred Wallace (1629-1670). Yes, he was here!

Euhhh,... be careful of the "daun gatal", a stinging nettle. Watch some scorpions, and ... do not enter the beautifully coloured but treacherous lake . You could be disappear, for this area is notorious for its ... quick-sands!