Places - Indonesia

2 – 12 November I cannot write enough about the people we met along the way. Their faces have left an indelible mark on us. Here is a gallery of the look of Wakatobi. For several days in Anano Island, this man fished, salted and stored his catch before heading back to Runduma where his […]

2 – 12 November 2009 You cannot mistake the religion  of this area. Five times a day, we would hear the Imam sing from loudspeakers of nearby mosques. I loved it. Our WWF companion Sugiyanta or Mas Sugi as everyone called him, brought Yogi to an old Mosque in Binongko. After getting permission from the […]

2 – 12 November 2009 To many divers around the world, Wakatobi South Sulawesi is an underwater destination. Wakatobi, which is short for its many islands, stands for Wangi-Wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia & Binongko. We went to all these islands and beyond with WWF Indonesia and its partner agency TNC. We didn’t do much diving here. […]

24 October 2009 We spent a most interesting day with Simone Gerritsen and her kids from her school Kehidupan Anda or “Your Life.” The goal of Project “Kehidupan Anda” is to improve the education of the children in the village Tongkeina and the surrounding villages. We visited the school, which is a stone’s throw away […]

23 October 2009 N1 45.136 E124 31.782 – Rakit This day was a walk down memory lane. Eight years ago, when we were finalizing our shoot for our book Sulu Sulawesi Seas for WWF, we spent five midnights to mornings with the funae fishermen of Bunaken Island. Their hard work started when they bought live […]

20 – 24 October 2009 N1 35.560 E124 46.199 – Bunaken Island N1 34.532 E124 48.592 – Thalassa Dive Center Off we went with the tireless Simone Gerritsen of Thalassa Dive Center in Manado to explore  Bunaken and the surrounding islands as well as the under-appreciated mainland Manado. We knew to expect the steep wall […]

18 October 2009 N1 27.604 E124 45.671 – Murex Dve Resort About 15 years ago, Yogi dove and dove and dove for two straight months with Murex Dive Resort and Liveaboard in North Sulawesi. During this period, he contracted dengue fever and got a special visit from Murex’s very owner, the gentle, soft-spoken Dr. Batuna. […]

15 – 17 October 2009 N0 50.831 E124 42.464 A relatively unknown dive destination not far from Lembeh is slowly getting its share of the limelight. Buyat Bay is about five hours from Manado located south of Lembeh. It used to be a gold mining operation that shut down recently. Now the mining facility’s skeleton […]

If you happen to be in Singapore on October 27 with nothing to do at 7 pm, join us at the Botanical Gardens, as we shall be presenting our expedition so far through a 40-minute slideshow. Here’s WWF Singapore’s leaflet-invitation to announce the event!

10 October 2009 This is the day Yogi turns 50! Happy half-a-century, Yogibear! It is also the day we learned about the circle hook and de-hooking tuna longline vessels’ by-catch. Hafizh Adyas of WWF Indonesia oversees the By-catch Programme, and Rudy Masuswo Purwoko, a Bitung fisheries teacher and former WWF onboard observer, trains the Nutrindo […]