The next day was another transit day. We're off to the eastern side of the peninsula that has the Tangkoko Nature Reserve, home to a few endemic animals like tarsiers and black macaques. But first, breakfast at the hotel:
Black pepper chicken and some kind of fried vegetable fritter
Mee goreng
more kue
When we arrived at the new hotel (another very small hotel with only maybe 5 or 6 rooms) we were met by the woman I had been corresponding with months before. Again, there is literally nowhere around to get something to eat other than at the hotel, so all meals are included in the room rate. The hotel is located right at the edge of the Nature Reserve. The only other things in the area are a couple of homestays for other people who wanted to see the reserve. So, she wanted to know what types of food we liked so that they could have everything ready for us. As always, I said that we had wanted local food as much as possible. I also asked her if there were any markets in the area that had kencur, if it was used in the local cooking. She verified that it was used, and when we arrived she presented me with over a pound of it that she picked up on her own time!!!! How sweet is that?!? Once we got back to Manado, I made sure to wash it thoroughly so that I wouldn't have any problems importing it once we got home.
One piece of kencur
Anyway, we got there at lunch time, so we stuck our bags in our room and then went to lunch.
Looking out over the Nature Reserve from the restaurant
Corn fritter, with chilli sauce and ketchup
Chicken curry
At some point in our email exchange I had mentioned that kang kong (water spinach) was my favorite vegetable, so here it is!
It is around this time that while I'm at maybe 85% now, my wife is starting to feel her own intestinal problems. But she was a real trooper and persevered!
Our first tour in the nature preserve was that evening, to see the nocturnal tarsiers. After walking for maybe a half hour, our guide took us to this tree, which is one of the homes for the tarsiers:
And then we saw them!!!
They are so interesting looking - and they're a marsupial. They're the world's smallest primate.
We also saw a blue tarantula:
And a black tarantula:
After thoroughly checking each other for bugs when we got back to the room, we went for dinner.....
