This is part of a series covering my birding trip to West Papua in March 2013.   You will need to fly into the airport of Manokwari to access the Arfaks and the village of Mokwam.  In this post, I will discuss the logistics of visiting Mokwam and the gateway of Manokwari.  The birding report will be on a separate post.

GETTING THERE

As of this writing, you can fly into the Rendani airport of Manokwari (MKW) with Sriwijaya (Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta, Surabaya, Makassar, Sorong); Express Air (Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta, Jayapura, Sorong, Surabaya, Makassar, Yogyakarta); Merpati (Jayapura, Sorong); Wings Abadi/Lion Air (Ambon) and Susi Air (Biak).  None of these airlines currently offer online booking and payment with a non-Indonesian credit card except possibly Merpati.  In my article about Sriwijaya, I describe how to use an Indonesian travel agent to book the tickets.  The good news is that Garuda will be starting service to Manokwari and Sorong in July 2013 so in the future you will be able to book these flights online.  Garuda is due to join SkyTeam later this year so you will be able to use miles to redeem tickets all the way from your home airport to Manokwari!

 

Most flights will arrive in Manokwari before noon so you will have plenty of time to organize a Surat Jalan (scroll down for details), buy groceries to bring to Mokwam and organize your transport to and from Mokwam.  The Papua Bird Club can do this for you and also book your stay with Zeth Wonggar since he doesn’t have mobile phone access.  You can contact them by email and if you are going during high season (May-Aug) you definitely need to book ahead to ensure you don’t clash with another birding tour group.  Shita, the owner of Papua Bird Club can be difficult to contact so keep trying if she doesn’t reply promptly.  If you go in the off-season, you would probably be OK just hiring a 4WD and going there.  If Zeth is otherwise occupied, he does have other guides such as Eliakim who can guide you and know all the birds.

GETTING TO MOKWAM

This is an adventure in itself and you can only do it in a 4WD truck.  If you are an independant traveler, you can find these for hire at the main bus and bemo station called Terminal Wosi.  You will have to get a taxi or “ojek” motorcycle taxi out there and they will probably drop you at the gate with a security guard.  To find the 4WD vehicles, don’t go through this gate but turn left and walk past the market and you will see some trucks parked by the shops.  The drivers probably won’t speak English.  I struggled quite a bit here but luckily for me, my friend Mehd Halaouate who works with conservation projects in Indonesia is fluent in Bahasa Indonesia and helped me negotiate by text message.  The going rate is 1,500,000 rupiah (around $150) each way for a 4WD truck that has seating for 4-5 in the cab and more in the back.  It takes around 2 hours to get there, more if you stop for birding along the way which we didn’t as we left Manokwari around 3pm.  If you don’t use the back, various locals will probably hitch a ride.  Be sure to organize your return trip with the driver because you won’t be able to contact him once you are in Mokwam.  When you arrive in Mokwam, Zeth will be happy to do this for you if you have trouble communicating.

 

 

WHERE TO STAY IN MANOKWARI

Since there are so many photos, I will only discuss the gateway of Manokwari here and discuss where to stay in Mokwam in the next post.  You will only need an overnight on your flight out of Manokwari since you will arrive early enough to get to Mokwam on the same day.  However flights out are also mostly in the morning and as you can see by the journey to and from Mokwam, there is no way to leave Mokwam the same day and make a flight.  After looking at all the options and knowing that the birding would be extremely challenging in the Arfaks, I knew we would need major R&R when we got back to town.  The Aston Niu Manokwari was perfect for this, they have a beautiful infinity pool and great setting on a hill overlooking the town and sea, plus I could book and pay online and avoid having to carry more cash around.  They do take credit cards for settling your bill.  We were so exhausted after birding the Arfaks, we spent the whole day at the pool.  It was a Sunday so nothing would have been open anyways.

Before you head to Mokwam, if you need to buy groceries, there is a fairly large supermarket in the same mall that has the KFC outlet.   Be aware that you will probably see people selling wild-caught parrots in front of this mall.  I saw a lady selling 3 Eclectus that were tied to small perches with a string around their feet for about 300,000 rupiah each ($30).  Unfortunately, their wings were clipped so buying them to set them free was not an option.

The Aston Niu Manokwari includes the breakfast buffet in the rate and other meals are available and reasonably priced.  There is a massage stall in the lobby but when I went there after the swim, they were closed, not sure if this was because it was Sunday or the masseuse was booked.  There is an aviary with some Eclectus Parrots and Black-capped Lories, probably wild-caught.  Their diet leaves a lot to be desired (only pellets) and they really appreciated me giving them some fruit I stole from the breakfast buffet.  They gobbled it up so quickly, I went back for more which was also quickly eaten.  I encouraged the staff to give them fruit every day.  If you stay here, please check on the birds!

SURAT JALAN

This is a travel permit issued by the regional police and you will need one to go off the beaten track in West Papua to such places as Mokwam/Arfak.  The police station in Manokwari will give you one if you haven’t gotten one in Jayapura, in which case they will merely stamp the back of it.   It takes about an hour to issue and you will need 2 passport photos and photocopies of your passport and Indonesian visa page.  Try to avoid arriving on a Sunday as the officer who issues them will probably be off duty.   It will cost about 50,000 rupiah or $5.   It’s a good idea to bring extra passport photocopies and passport photos in case other village chiefs or police ask for them.  We weren’t asked for it when we were there in Mokwam but we traveled in low season so don’t count on this.  It’s only a minor inconvenience to get it and I would hate to spend $150 on a 4WD only to be turned away at the village for not having a permit.