Round trip 24 days adventurous trans-Sulawesi

Garuda Indonesia flies non-stop from Amsterdam to Jakarta with her new Boeing 777-300 ER. Experience the hospitality of the Indonesian culture on board of Garuda Indonesia, the national flight company of Indonesia. This direct flight takes you in 13 and a half hour from Amsterdam to Jakarta. Departure Amsterdam around midday, arrival Jakarta the next day, early in the morning. Your connecting flight leaves about 3 hours later (flight time 2 hours and 30 minutes).

In Makassar, former Ujung Pandang, your driver is waiting for you and takes you to your hotel. The port city is situated in exactly the middle of Indonesia and therefor the gateway to the East. Your hotel is in the centre of the city within walking distance of the famous boulevard Pantai Losari and the old Dutch Fort Rotterdam. In front of the boulevard you’ll see the only mosque of Indonesia that is built on the sea. The bustling harbour Paotere is the home port of the famous Buginese Phinisi ships which are still loaded manually. The city is also well-known for its seafood restaurants. Makassar has wonderful sunsets that you can admire from the boulevard. Overnight in Makassar.

Our driver will pick you up early from the hotel to catch the Wings Air flight from 08:40 via Kendari to Wakatobi. You arrive at the airport of Wanci, where the driver of the resort will be waiting for you for the transfer to the hotel. The afternoon is free to spend. If desired, we can already reserve an afternoon dive for you.

Domestic flight Makassar - Kendari - Wakatobi Flight with Wings Air, departure 08:40, arrival 13:35.

If you’re talking about Wakatobi, you mainly talk about diving. There are countless unique breathtaking dive spotsThere is wonderful coral and a great diversity of fish. Around Wangi Wangi and Hoga island are more than 20 dive spots, with impressive walls, hangovers and pinnacles.

After breakfast, your guide and driver will be ready for a half-day tour of the island. The program includes a visit to the local market, the Bajo (sea gypsies) village of Mola and the Goa Air Gontamale cave.

Get up early! At 07:00 your Wings Air flight departs via Kendari to Makassar, where you arrive around noon. There is a taxi waiting to take you to your hotel. Overnight in Makassar.

Domestic flight Wakatobi - Kendari - Makassar Flight with Wings Air, departure 07:00, arrival 11:25

After an early breakfast we visit the fish market and the port Paotere in Makassar, where the Buginese schooners still load and unload their cargo for and from the other islands. Fort Rotterdam is definitely worth a visit too. In the morning we’re leaving for Sengkang, a small city in the centre of the former Buginese Kingdom. We make a stop at the Bantimurung waterfall between the limestone caves and lots of butterflies. On Sundays and national holidays it can be very crowded here with local people. In the afternoon around sunset a boat trip on Lake Tempe. With a motorized canoe (to be paid on the spot) we go on the lake to see how the fishermen with their families live on their floating villages. Lake Tempo is a shallow lake. After a long period of drought the lake dries up and can’t be navigated anymore. Overnight stay in a simple accommodation in Sengkang.

After breakfast we leave for Toraja. In the morning first a visit to the local home industry in Sengkang and surrounding, Buginese silk weaving. Our trip to Toraja goes via Enrekang, with beautiful views on, for example, the erotic mountain. In the late afternoon arrival in Toraja. Overnight stay in Rantepao - Tana Toraja.

After breakfast a full day exploring the Toraja surroundings. Today you will visit Lemo where the rows of Tau Tau dolls are still on the balconies in front of the graves. Then to Suaya and surroundings where you visit the King's Tombs and the mystical baby boom. Then you stop at Londa where the dead are buried with great ceremonial. The last stop is at the authentic Toraja village of Kete Kesu. Not only known for its beautiful Tongkonans, the traditional Toraja houses, but also for its colorful carvings. Overnight in Rantepao - Tana Toraja.

Another day to explore Tana Toraja.. Today you will visit the somewhat higher situated Batutumonga from where you have a beautiful view over Rantepao and valley. An exceptional area for a brisk walk through the wonderful rice fields and straight through the daily life of the Torajans. You can make the walk as long as you want. The car is of course available for those who don’t want to walk. Overnight in Rantepao - Tana Toraja.

There‘s much to do and to see in Tana Toraja. Maybe there will be a funeral ceremony that you can attend one of these days or it’s the day of the weekly big cattle market where water buffalos and pigs are sold. On the market you can also find all the spices that people grow in this fertile region. Toraja coffee, vanilla, nutmeg, cacao, clove and much fruit are colourfully displayed in baskets by the local people from Toraja. Overnight in Rantepao - Tana Toraja.

Today a long but beautiful drive ahead of us. First to the coast and then over the sometimes very bad Trans-Sulawesi highway through the mountains to the village Pendolo on the south side of Lake Poso. If you’re as lucky as we were you’ll see an eagle and snap a picture of it along the way… Overnight stay in a simple accommodation in Pendolo on Lake Poso.

After breakfast you climb into a small local boat for a trip across Lake Poso to Tentena. At long last something else than sitting in a car… Along the way to Tentena, the boat stops at two villages where we make some nice cosy short walks. Overnight in Tando Bono cottages on the Lake Poso beach.

Today a long road ahead again, but it starts with the most beautiful waterfall of Sulawesi: the Saluopa waterfall. Then your driver will drive to the city Poso and from there turn into the direction of National Park Lore Lindu. 2 overnight stays in a modest homestay in the village Doda.

The Besoa valley, like the better known Bada valley, has lots and lots of megaliths. The statues really look very much like the megaliths we know from the Easter islands. At an easy pace your driver will bring you from one spot to the other and you can walk through the rice fields to these strange creations, which are about 2500 years old. Overnight stay at your homestay in Doda.

You will check out after breakfast and your driver will bring you in about 4 hours to the coastal town Palu. Here you'll take the Wings Air flight via Luwuk to Manado. Arrival in the beginning of the evening. Your driver will bring you to your hotel. Overnight stay in the city of Manado.

After an early breakfast the driver takes you to the airport for your flight from Palu via Makassar to Manado. Your Lion air flight leaves at 07:15, arrival in Manado at 14:00

Flight with Lion air, transfer in Makassar Departure 07:15, arrival 10:30

Upon your arrival at the airport your driver is waiting for you at the exit with a board with your name on it. He will take you to your car for a beautiful tour through the Minahassa. We visit the Ban Hian Kiong Chinese Temple, the Sam Ratulangi monument and Lake Tondano. We also visit the Japanese caves which were built and used during the Second World War. In the late afternoon you arrive at your hotel in the Minahassa highlands. 2 nights in Tomohon.

After breakfast you leave the Minahassa and drive through a scenic route of about two hours to the Tangkoko Rainforest. Under the guidance of a local ranger, you will make an easy trekking through the rainforest. Tangkoko is a beautiful rainforest with beautiful fauna and flora, located in the mountainous east. The spectacular nature reserve is home to many rare animals, including the Khuskus, Macaca, Nigra, Hornbill and Tarsius Spectrum, the smallest monkey in the world. Around sunset you have the best chance to spott the tarsier. You spend the night in a simple lodge at the round of the Tangkoko forest.

After breakfast you will enter the jungle once again. This time to see the black macaques showing off their best, which they do especially in the morning. Then you will leave the rainforest and drive to Manado. Those who want to visit the local market should know that the people from Manado eat everything with four legs, except tables and chairs. On the market they sell for example also dogs for consumption. Overnight in beach front resort, close to Manado.

Nothing on the program today. You can relax at the swimming pool or discover the city on your own.

Your driver picks you up at your hotel and drives you to the airport.

Vlucht met Garuda Indonesia met transfer in Jakarta. Vertrek 16:30, aankomst vroeg in de ochtend volgende dag.

In the morning arrival at Schiphol. The end of a beautiful trip...