I stumbled upon this place by accident. A friend mentioned it to me before I left for my trip. Duly noted and filed away but without giving it much thought, I set off.
Then, as my trip unfolded and things played out differently than I had anticipated yet perfectly in the moment, I came across the name again. Borneo didn’t take as much time to see as I had imagined. After a couple days difficulty trying to find an island in SE Malaysian Borneo, I opted to fly to Manado and head to Bunaken Island there for snorkeling.
Suddenly, I had time to see the entire length of Sulawesi. When I left Manado heading South, no one knew the ferry schedule for sure. So, I found a ride in a group car, headed South, arrived in Gorontolo and came upon Hotel Melati which I had heard of before.
They were a wealth of information about transportation, islands and such. Fortunately or unfortunately, the information I received earlier was false and I had an extra day in a town that had virtually nothing to do. So, I did relatively nothing! Laundry, eating, walking and searching for a good internet connection. I also wanted to get extra cash as there are no ATM’s on the islands. Getting cash for a clean and crisp $100 bill proved impossible. I happened to have a bill that was not 2003 so they wouldn’t take it.
Funny and cool! I didn’t need to cash the bill there and the fact they wouldn’t cash it meant it was an area not swamped with tourist! I smiled!
After an overnight ferry ride, I was able to visit three different spots on the island. Here are some photo’s from that experience. And I’m playing with alternative photo management systems so that’s the primary reason I wrote this. Enjoy!