Bali As An Eco-Tourism Gateway

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Tara

Bali is a major world tourist destination and there are many forums and blogs dedicated to making the most of your trip to Bali. I am just going to briefly describe some activities which may interest eco-tourists and bird lovers in general. I have already done reviews on the two hotels we stayed in: Cendana Resort and Holiday Inn Resort Baruna Beach and I can recommend them for a stay in Ubud and Kuta respectively. Trip Advisor has hundreds of reviews so I would advise taking a look there to find something that suits you.

SIGHTSEEING

I had originally planned to do Bali Bird Walks but we got rained out. Not to worry as I know we will be back in Bali someday.

I would also like to visit Bali Barat National Park sometime when we aren’t totally exhausted.

The Monkey Forest in Ubud is extremely popular and very touristy but it’s still a lot of fun! There is a nominal charge of around $4 to enter and you can buy bananas outside to tempt the monkeys. They don’t require much tempting, they are more like New York muggers and will aggressively jump on you and rummage through your pockets if they see anything banana-shaped (men take care)! Don’t wear glasses or jewelry as they have been known to snatch them off tourists. Here’s some pics.

Balinese Temples are everywhere and some will allow tourists inside if they are properly dressed in a sarong (no shorts or beachy outfits). Otherwise you can still admire them from the outside.

SHOPPING

Ubud Area Arts, Crafts and Furniture Markets are on the road between Ubud and Bali Bird Park and a major stop for tourist groups as well. If you go with a guide or driver, they will get a commission on whatever you buy so try to go alone or get dropped off if you are after the best prices. You can even buy thatching to bring home and make a cabana in your backyard! I loved those fancy doors but didn’t want to try shipping one.

Back in Ubud town, there are shops along the main tourist drag-Monkey Forest Road and a small art market at the top of the road near the palace. I loved the paintings of birds and really wanted that one with the cockatoos but it cost over $100 and was huge! I asked for smaller ones but they didn’t have small cockatoo paintings.

There are tailors everywhere and we both had some outfits made. My husband got a suit and I got an evening dress and a few tops for a cruise we have planned next year. This is Sanggar Tailoring in Kuta near the Kuta Art Market. This suit (first fitting shown here) cost $135 including fabric.

RESTAURANTS

Needless to say, there are hundreds of restaurants with all kinds of cuisines. We had pretty much OD’d on nasi goreng and satay in West Papua so by the time we got to Bali we wanted a change. We did get a bit lazy and took several meals in our hotels for most breakfasts and dinners but went out for lunch. Ubud has a great Mexican place-Taco Casa.

And being an expat American, I was craving typical diner type food such as Flapjaks in Kuta and Johnny Rockets in the Beachwalk Mall.

RELAXATION

Massage parlours and day spas are everywhere and very cheap! This spa pictured is in Cendana Resort and it was really good. We were getting massages every day and I got a facial, body scrub, hair treaments and French braiding. Great way to spoil our aching muscles after the birding expedition!

There are modern shopping malls such as Discovery Centre and Beachwalk which are air conditioned fi you want to escape the afternoon heat. We saw “Oz the Great and Powerful” for only $5 each at the Beachwalk cinema and it was cool and comfy inside!

Review: Holiday Inn Resort, Baruna Bali

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Tara

We recently spent 3 nights at the Holiday Inn Resort, Baruna Bali following our birding expedition to West Papua. I chose this hotel since both my husband and I have lots of Priority Club points from various promos over the last few years and it didn’t hurt that I have permanent platinum status from my Priority Club Visa from Chase. I knew that we had a good chance of an upgrade………and it came through! Award nights go for 20,000 points. I could have booked the Intercontinental for 30,000 points a night but I thought this location was better for shopping and sightseeing.

As you first arrive, there is a security guard on the gate.

The lobby is large and comfortable. Our room wasn’t ready but since we had been upgraded to an ocean view, we didn’t mind waiting.

The decor is pretty generic but it was clean and there was a nice lounge on the balcony. The room had one of those annoying glass-walled bathrooms but fortunately there are blinds to cover it up. I would have like to see some Balinese art on the walls. We had a great view of the pool and the sea just beyond. The hotel is right on the beach.

There are actually 2 pools but we hung out at the main one. There are nice cabanas surrounding the pool and since we were traveling in low season we never had trouble getting one. Nice swim-up bar and happy hour at 5.

This stone sink in the bathroom near the pool is typical of Balinese sinks.

Massage ladies still ply the beach but they are not allowed into hotel grounds. The hotel has a spa but it’s expensive. We chose to go to day spas nearby which were really cheap-$10 for a standard one hour massage.

The first night we had the All you can eat pasta bar but it was a bit strange. It’s not like the ones where the dishes are pre-made and you help yourself. They bring you a card and you mark off which sauces, meats and vegetables you want and which noodles to serve it over. The pastas did taste good but the service was a bit slow. We are more the buffet type than the fine dining type so others may prefer the individually ordered pasta method. A dessert is included and we both opted for some ice cream from the gelati bar.

Even if you have to pay for this hotel, it’s generally around the $100 mark so a good value. It’s well located in the heart of Kuta and walking distance to several shops, we even walked to and from the Discovery Centre. Taxis are best obtained on the street after you exit the grounds so you can bargain with them. We tried to get Bluebird taxis with meters as they were the best value. In the map below, A marks the hotel and the X marks the Discovery Centre and you can see how close the hotel is to the airport. We were not disturbed by aircraft overhead. If you want to get to the Bali Bird Park from here, you are probably better off hiring a taxi for the day. Traffic is terrible in Kuta so start early!

Holiday Inn Resort Baruna Bali Location

Layover In Makassar (UPG)

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Tara

When you are traveling to and from West Papua, many flights will require a layover in Makassar (UPG). So what can you do to pass the time?

UPG the main airport in Sulawesi

Sultan Hasanudin Airport

GO INTO TOWN

The airport is about an hour’s drive from town so make sure you have enough time to get back and catch your onward flight. If you have less than 6 hours, don’t bother, traffic is pretty congested and you don’t want to risk being late. If you have a full day as we did, there are a few things you can do in town. It’s pretty hot and humid so be prepared for the weather. Taxis will cost around $10-12 and a bus will cost around $2. The bus drops you at a bus stop in the centre of town and this is where you catch it to get back to the airport so make sure you remember where it is, even take a photo of it on your phone so you can communicate with taxi drivers.

Airport Bus Station

Once you are in town, the main “sight” is Fort Rotterdam which is a short walk from the bus stop. There is a nominal entry fee around $2 and you have to pay extra to enter the exhibits. They wouldn’t allow photos inside.

Outside Fort Rotterdam

Entry and ticket office

Fort Rotterdam buildings

Statue outside the fort

By the time we finished seeing the fort, it was pretty hot and near lunch time so we went to an underground shopping mall called MTC. There is a large supermarket here, a food court and lots of small shops that are interesting to look at for local fashions.

MTC Mall Makassar

Even though our flight wasn’t until 2am-ish, we were sleep deprived after a busy day in Kuta the previous day changing money and ordering tailored clothes so we headed back to the airport to relax. Other places to visit in Makassar include Losari Beach and a butterfly sanctuary called Bantimarung which we probably would have visited if we hadn’t been so tired. Other suggestions can be found on Trip Advisor.

WHAT TO DO IN THE AIRPORT

Makassar’s Ujung Padang Airport is a large, modern airport with plenty of shopping.

Shop in UPG airport

They also have a short stay place that also offers massage called Home In & Spa opposite Gate 6. If you need some shut-eye, 6 hours day use will cost 350,000 rupiah ($35) single and 425,000 rupiah ($43) double. The Indonesian Massage (with great smelling oil) cost 225,000 for 1 hour ($23) and you can get longer massages if you want. Reflexology is $125,000 ($13) not sure how long you get. The showers are nice and hot with excellent water pressure! This was money well spent as it allowed us to freshen up and be well rested for being picked up in Biak at 6am the next day for birding.

There are several restaurants in the airport with both Indonesian and Western cuisine at very reasonable prices. I couldn’t resist getting a root beer float at A&W (we can’t get them in Australia)! If you are in business class, see my post on the Executive Lounge, good food and free internet!

Sorong – Gateway To Raja Ampat

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Tara

Sorong is actually more than just a gateway city, there are good birding spots in the lowland forests outside the city. They will be covered in a separate blog post. It’s worth spending a couple extra days here to check them out. I’ve already covered how to get here in the Raja Ampat post, so let’s have a look at where to stay and what to do here. Google seems to have upgraded the zoom level of Sorong since the last time I looked. The A in the green bubble is the Royal Mamberamo Hotel, the red X I made is the JE Meridien Hotel and the red arrow shows the road out of town that leads to the lowland forest birding areas of Hutan Lindung and beyond to Makbon.

WHERE TO STAY

At the time I was looking and booking, I couldn’t find a good map of Sorong that shows where the hotels are and where the road to Makbon is so I just had to go off Trip Advisor reviews to choose a hotel. I chose Royal Mamberamo Hotel because it got mostly good reviews and I didn’t know exactly where any of the hotels were located except that I knew JE Meridien was across the street from the airport.

Royal Mamberamo Hotel, Sorong

Nice canoe carving in breakfast room at Royal Mamberamo Hotel

We took the cheapest room for 425,000 rupiah ($42) which had a very strong AC but no window. That was OK as we didn’t plan to spend much time in the room. It was very basic but had English programs on tv which was good as there is nothing to do in the evening. The breakfast buffet was pretty good and offered Western and Indonesian items. The location is out of the city centre with a few shops withing walking distance, even a hair salon which I visited when my husband wanted to nap. They can organize a car and driver at 70,000 ($7) rupiahs per hour who will take you where you want to go and stop wherever you want. I’d call this a decent hotel but bad location for birders.

I did get a look at some other hotels. The Cendrawasih Hotel is cheaper and across the street down a block from Royal Mamberamo. They had a taxidermied Greater BOP and some nice artwork on the walls.

Cendrawasih Hotel and Restaurant

Taxidermied Greater BOPS at Cendrawasih Hotel and Restaurant

Artwork Cendrawasih Hotel and Restaurant

While we were driving to the birding spot, we passed the Hotel Mariat Sorong which was more centrally located near a shopping centre and looked OK. As I mentioned, the JE Meridien (yeah I know – Mariat, Meridien but sorry, you won’t get MR or SPG points here) is across the street from the airport. We ended up going in here to ask dierections at the small tourist office when our driver got lost. It looked good enough and was on the road going out of town so a more convenient location for birders. If we were to go back to Sorong, we would stay here. The Luxio Hotel was further down the road towards Hutan Lindung but there was nothing else in the area so it wouldn’t be my first choice because I usually choose by location but it did get some good reviews.

EATING AND SHOPPING

Most people eat in their hotels for the convenience but we did have the driver stop at the KFC on the way back to the hotel for some take-away. If you are going to Batanta by charter boat, there are a couple supermarkets, one near the KFC and one near the Mariat Hotel where you can stock up if your tour leader doesn’t do it for you. There are a couple of good craft shops. One is uphill from Royal Mamberamo (ask the receptionist to point it out) behind the BUMA building. The other is in the airport before you go past security which has similar items to the BUMA shop and also T-shirts and beautiful sarongs with BOPs on them. They have some nice New Guinea masks, statues, handbags and other crafts. Please DO NOT buy anything like the hats (photos below) with the dead Birds of Paradise on them. They killed these poor birds just to make these hats to sell to tourists and we don’t want to encourgage this. But don’t boycott the shop altogether as the other things are sourced from different craftsmen who shouldn’t suffer along with the guilty. It’s best to let the shop see that tourists will buy crafts that do not harm wildlife but won’t touch anything where birds are killed so hopefully they will stop stocking these items.

Gift shop behind BUMA uphill from Royal Mamberamo Hotel

***DO NOT BUY THESE*** Whole bird – Lesser BOP on hat

SIGHTSEEING AROUND SORONG

Not really much to see, several attractive mosques and some monuments. There’s a pretty good view from on top of the hill near BUMA.

Outside BUMA uphill from Royal Mamberamo Hotel

Shanties on hill above Royal Mamberamo Hotel

Not sure what they are selling but I liked the bird pics

Sorong Mosque

Entrance to Sorong Airport

Priority Club Pointbreaks Offer A Few Hotels For Eco-Travelers

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Tara

The new Pointbreaks list is out with various hotels on offer for 5000 points valid for booking through June 30, 2013. This is a new development as previously most lists were only valid for 2 months and this list is valid for over 3 months.

Central and South America are popular birding destinations and odds are you will have an early morning flight at some point so why not save your money here and spend more on supporting locals in the national parks?

ARGENTINA

HOLIDAY INN BUENOS AIRES EZEIZA AIRPORT

BRAZIL

HOLIDAY INN FORTALEZA

COLOMBIA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL SUITES TEQUENDAMA BOGOTA

COSTA RICA

HOLIDAY INN SAN JOSE-AUROLA

EL SALVADOR

INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL REAL SAN SALVADOR

HONDURAS

INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL REAL SAN PEDRO SULA

NICARAGUA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL MANAGUA

Only one option in Oceania but there is good birding up north and Townsville is the jumping off point for Magnetic Island.

AUSTRALIA

HOLIDAY INN TOWNSVILLE

There’s a couple good ones in Asia. In India, Jaipur is a gateway to the famous Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary but you would only need an overnight in the city because it is much nice to stay within the sanctuary as I did in Sept 2011.

INDIA

HOLIDAY INN JAIPUR

Subic Bay in the Philippines has great birding and Clark is not too far away and taxis are pretty cheap in the Philippines.

PHILIPPINES

HOLIDAY INN CLARK

Check the other hotels in the Asia tab on the main Pointbreaks site to see if any suit your plans as a gateway city.

Don’t plan to spend all your time in these hotels even if they are fantastic bargains. None of them are in national parks where you can see birds, the best use for these hotels is when you are connecting to and from a flight. Do plan to spend most of your time in local eco-lodges, preferably within the sanctuaries or parks.

Best Marriott Hotels For Eco-Travelers And 2000 Free Points

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Tara

Using hotel points strategically can save you a lot of money in gateway cities so it’s a good idea to study them carefully to see which programs can best suit your travel plans. This week, let’s look at the Marriott chain. They have 3840 hotels around the world. If you are a business traveler, you may already be getting free points from you employer-paid trips. Lucky Americans can get a LOT of free points with the Chase Marriott Visa Card (not an affiliate link, just information) and meeting planners can get 50,000 points by planning a meeting at a Marriott Hotel.

Award nights start at 6000 points for a “Pointsaver” at a Category 1 hotel (which are pretty rare). Marriott has a referral program by which members can earn up to 50,000 points per year by referring others to the program. You can only do this 5 times per year so only give your referrals to people whom you know are going to stay at a Marriott within a year. I still have my 5 referrals for this year so I would be glad to refer new members, just use the Contact Form to send me your email and I will send you an invitation. Once you are a member, you will then be able to invite 5 people on your own account!

OK, so how do we find the best options for eco-travelers? Let’s have a look at the hotel directory and see what places have a Marriott property. Most birders will be drawn to tropical places in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia.

AFRICA – Out of these 4 countries, Rwanda would possibly have some birding including a couple Poicephalus species but it’s much better known for the mountain gorillas……but keep an eye on the safety issues in Rwanda.

ASIA – India has some good possibilities. From Bangalore you can get to Coorg where there are Malabar Parakeets and others, same goes for Kochi which is near Thattekad. From Jaipur, you can get to Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary which has both endemic and migrating birds. Indonesia is mostly resorts in Bali or city hotels that would do for gateway cities to other birding hot spots like West Papua and Seram. You would pass through Manila to get to Palawan for Red-Vented Cockatoos or Subic Bay for Philippine Hanging Parrots. Singapore has good birding in the Botanical Gardens which makes a nice detour from a shopping or business trip. There are also good birding spots in Thailand and Malaysia.

AUSTRALIA AND PACIFIC ISLANDS – From Brisbane, you could make the long but worthwhile drive to Bowra Station or Lamington National Park which could also be accessed from Surfers Paradise. From Melbourne, you could head up into the Dandenongs.

CARIBBEAN – Of these places, Aruba, Cayman Islands, Domincan Republic, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela all have good birding.

CENTRAL AMERICA – there are 6 Marriotts in Costa Rica and 5 in Panama. As I wrote in the Carlson Hotel, Panama post, there is the Soberania NP and Metropolitan NP both in less than an hour’s drive from the city. In Costa Rica, San Jose is the gateway to great birding destinations like Selva Verde, Arenal, Monteverde and Savegre. Herradura is not too far from Carara NP, famous for Scarlet Macaws and Guanacaste also has great birding!

SOUTH AMERICA – all the Marriotts are in large gateway cities which will come in handy as the birding and ecotourism destinations are pretty far flung, requiring domestic flights or buses to reach.

The one thing for sure is that you can save a bundle if you use hotel points in the right places but you do have to be a good planner and maximize any other hotel stays you may have with business or family trips to save points for your big eco-adventure!

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