Bunaken, Manado - a heaven under the sea
Bunaken is located at the north of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It belongs administratively to the municipality of Manado. Bunaken is part of the Bunaken National Marine Park, which has some of the highest levels of marine biodiversity in the world. Scuba diving attracts many visitors to the island. The Bunaken National Marine Park was formally established in 1991 and is among the first of Indonesia’s growing system of marine parks.
The park covers a total surface area of 890.65 km², 97% of which is overlain by sparkling clear, warm tropical water. The remaining 3% of the park is terrestrial, including the five islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen. Although each of these islands has a special character, it is the aquatic ecosystem that attracts most naturalists.
The waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are extremely deep (1566 m in Manado Bay), clear (up to 35-40 m visibility), refreshing in temperature (27 to 29 °C) Pick any of group of interest - corals, fish, echinoderms or sponges - and the number of families, genera or species is bound to be astonishingly high. For example, 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that occur in the world, occur in Bunaken.
The park has around 70 genera of corals; compare this to a mere 10 in Hawaii. Although the exact number of fish species is unknown, it may be slightly higher than in the Philippines, where 2,500 species, or nearly 70% of all fish species known to the Indo-western Pacific, are found.
Oceanic currents may explain, in part, why Bunaken National Marine Park is such a treasure trove of biodiversity. Northeasternly currents generally sweep through the park but abundant counter currents and gyros related to lunar cycles are believed to be a trap for free swimming larvae. This is particularly true on the south side of the crescent-shaped Bunaken Island, lying in the heart of the park.
A snorkler or diver in the vicinity of Lekuan or Fukui may spot over 33 species of butterfly fish and numerous types of groupers, damsels, wrasses and gobies. The gobies, smallish fish with bulging eyes and modified fins that allow them to attach to hard surfaces, are the most diverse but least known group of fish in the park.
Biologists believe that the abundance of hard corals is crucial in maintaining the high levels of diversity in the park. Hard corals are the architects of the reefs, without them, numerous marine organisms would be homeless and hungry. Many species of fish are closely associated with particular types of corals (folious, branching, massives, etc.) for shelter and egg-laying. Others, like the enormous Bumphead Parrotfish, Balbometopon muricatum, are “coralivores” and depend on hard corals for their sustenance. Bony mouth parts fused into an impressive “beak” allow these gregarious fish to crunch corals like roasted peanuts.
Are you looking for something to do this summer, spring, or even fall? Whether you are looking to do so something independently, with your family, or with your friends, have you ever though about going camping?
The vast expanses of wilderness, mountains, forest, canyons and coastlines lend themselves to a wide range of outdoor pursuits.
From trekking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, whitewater rafting through the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River, canoeing down the Mississippi River, fishing on the Great Lakes, sailing in Florida, diving in Hawaii to skiing in the Rocky Mountains, every activity can easily be arranged.
Here are the most fun and thrilling camping and outdoor activities.
Camping
Hiking/Trekking
Before there were Land Rovers and mountain bikes, there was hiking. The inclination to pack it up and hoof it for long distances can be traced back to our days as nomadic hunter-gatherers, and the goal is little different now than it was back then: Traveling to exciting and unseen places powered by will, stamina, and whatever provisions you can carry on your back.
Today, getting there is all the fun, what with newfangled backpacks to ease your burden, allowing you to drink up the unfolding scenery and let your mind wander.
Canoeing
When it comes to sex appeal, the canoe always seems to lose out to its sexier stepsister, the kayak. Be it the boat’s relative clunkiness next to the kayak’s sleek lines, or just a quirky, passing trend, canoes have somehow come up less cool.
Yet the underdog status just seems to add to the canoe’s appeal, especially among advanced paddlers, who argue that paddling a canoe takes more finesse.
Scuba Diving
Prepare to get hooked on scuba diving the moment you slip below the water’s surface into the peaceful silence of the undersea world.
You’ll finally understand what Jacques Cousteau was raving about all those years as you swim alongside graceful manta rays large enough to eclipse the sun’s filtered rays, or when you come face to face with a hammerhead sizing you up.
Fortunately, 70 percent of the world is covered in water, so there’s never a shortage of great dive sites to feed your submarine cravings.
Mountain Biking
It’s easy to spot mountain bikers–they’re the ones with scab-covered limbs talking animatedly about bonking while riding a wicked singletrack.
Indeed, they are a peculiar lot, but only because of their passion for the sport. They don’t seem to mind the murderous workouts–they actually celebrate sore muscles–as they attack intense rolling trails in pristine wilderness.
The exhilaration of nailing a technical ride in the world’s most stunning places is more than enough fuel for mountain bikers.
White Water Rafting
For those who gaze at their washing machine’s spin cycle and hear the call of roaring rapids, paddling is more than a pastime, it’s a passion.
And who could blame them: Whitewater serves up heart-pounding thrills and adrenaline-pumping action in some of the world’s most spectacularly beautiful spots.
Skiing
Planning a ski vacation, whether alone or with the whole family, starts the fun that you will get from the actual trip. Skiing is basically using gravity to move downhill by gliding over snow conditions using two long and thin boards to keep balance and control.
Snowboarding is a similar snowsport which uses one wide board instead of the two thinner boards that skiers use. Skiers use both boards to coordinate their movements and control their speed and direction. Balance, weight, and edge control are the tricks of the trade in Skiing.
Snowboarding
Bird Watching
An activity that was once considered to be something of a ‘nerdy’ practice, Bird Watching has now become a pastime that encompasses both young and old and allows both experienced ‘twitchers’ and novices to come together in pursuit of some of most common and indeed rarest birds.
You can organize your own Bird Watching excursion to coincide with a camping trip. Many people think that there is a lot of equipment necessary to go Bird Watching but really the most important elements are a decent pair of binoculars, a bird handbook, a notebook and pen, and a keen eye for detail.
Fly Fishing
Camping and fishing often go hand in hand. Whether it’s a young child simply trying to catch a few sticklebacks with a piece of string with a hook tied onto a tree branch to the full blown night sight and sound equipment needed by the serious overnight angler, fishing is certainly one of the most popular pastimes to combine with camping.
As fish often tend to bite earlier in the morning, you’ll want to try to choose a site that’s as close to the action as possible as you’ll be getting up early enough as it is.
Caving
For all the natural wonders aboveground, don’t forget about the ones below. Visiting the depths of a cave offers an experience you just can’t find anywhere else on earth.
Far below the surface, rocks that look like popcorn, butterflies, and bacon strips hang from the ceiling. Explorers of the subterranean realm can wander through the cold shell of a lava tube, listen to musical stalactites, or take in the spectacle of a huge underground waterfall.
Biking
Under your own steam, at your own pace, and requiring fewer technical skills than mountain biking, cycling is the best way to experience a new place. When you travel by bike, with panniers carrying your necessities, you become part of the neighborhood, village, province, or country.
As you leave behind the confines of the car, every hill and valley you conquer comes alive.
Sailing and Yachting
Sailing is the ultimate adventure. After all, it’s how the explorers of old used to travel.
Today you might not discover uncharted waters, but you can certainly reach unknown lands–or at least lands that are unknown to you. Whether you’re cruising in the Caribbean, the Seychelles, or the Mediterranean, you decide the where and the winds decide the when.
True, you are at the mercy and whim of Mother Nature, but setting off into that great blue is the truest test of your mettle and where you’ll find your greatest freedom.
Horseback Riding
There’s nothing quite like seeing the world from the back of a horse. We humans have been riding for 4,000 years, but ever since the introduction of the Model T, we seem to have completely lost touch with our equestrian past.
Thankfully, trekking across the countryside on horseback is a surefire way to reconnect with those bygone times. Let your trusty steed take you across the steppes of Mongolia, explore the game reserves of Kenya, or practice your roping skills on a Wyoming cattle drive.
Wherever you go, you’ll have fabulous fresh-air views, completely unencumbered by that steel-and-glass box–you know, the one that gets us there quicker, but without all the fun.
Wildlife Viewing
We are all attracted to the great outdoors for a variety of reasons. However, one of the things most of us have in common is our love of the abundant wildlife that surrounds us on our adventures.
When the mountains give way again to the deserts and plateaus of the West, you probably thought you had veered off the road and into an alternate reality, where the earth is pink and rocks stand on end.
Pleasing as this scenery is to look at through the car window as you speed along the interstate, it’s much, much more. That’s habitat you’re looking at, full of living things.
Source: iexplore.com, flickr
Wonder what a Candi Prambanan is?
Candi means temple and Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple compound in
It was built around 850 CE by either Rakai Pikatan, king of the second Mataram dynasty, or Balitung Maha Sambu, during the Sanjaya Dynasty.
The complex consists of several hundreds of small temples, except few of them are large and tall temples. A tale mentioned that there should be 1000 temples to be built at Prambanan, but only 999 were built. The compound is assembled of eight main shrines or candis, and more than 250 surrounding individual candis.
What is so mystical about Candi Prambanan?
There is a quaint legend/mystical story behind one of the main shrines in Prambanan. Shiva temple who is often referred by the locals as a Candi Lorojonggrang was actually Princess Roro Jonggrang; daughter of King Boko, who cursed into a statue.
According to legend, an extremely powerful man by the name of Bandung Bondowoso desired to wed Roro Jonggrang. However, she did not love him, and decided to set Bandung Bondowoso a task to deter his desire to wed her. Roro Jongggrang declared she would only marry him if he could build a thousand temples in one night. Bandung Bondowoso was a powerful man with supernatural powers and saw no difficulty in the task set. When he had almost completed Roro Jonggrang's request, she panicked and ordered all the women from the villages to the east to burn piles of hay causing light, and make plenty of noise by pounding rice as if the day's work had begun.
These actions caused the situation surrounding the area to be as if the sun was rising. As the cocks began to crow, being fooled also, the supernatural beings assisting Bandung Bondowoso fled in terror of the pending sunlight. When Bandung Bondowoso realized he had been tricked, he flew into a rage and cursed Roro Jonggrang into a stone statue, finishing his task proudly.
…Blow O wind to where my loved one is
Touch him and come touch me soon
I'll feel his gentle touch through you and meet his beauty in the moon
These things are much for the one who loves
One can live by them alone that he and I breathe the same air
and that the Earth we tread is one…
~~Ramayana Quotes~~
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