North Sulawesi, Indonesia

June 18, 2018

After our urban "fix" in Singapore, we headed back to the outdoors and a new country.  This morning we flew from Changhi Aiport to the northern peninsula of the island of Sulwesi in Indonesia.  The city of Manado is the gateway to many outdoor adventures which for our family involves volcano trekking and diving.

The first sign we see after disembarking is not reflective of the friendly people that we met here.

The sign over the baggage claim advertising the most expensive coffee in the world-

Blue mini vans are the public buses-  they run more like taxis,  there are no set stops, you just flag them down if you need a ride...
The blue color helped identify them, but more than the color, the extremely loud music blaring through the open windows alerts pedestrians that the bus is approaching. 

Although Indonesia is predominately Muslim, North Sulawesi has a Protestant Christian majority.  Manado City is home to the only flying and largest statue of Jesus Christ in Asia.  Worldwide, only the statue of Jesus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is known to be taller.  It was designed by a local land developer & is known as the Jesus Blesses the City Monument. 

View of the inactive volcano, Manado Tua, and some islands of Bunaken National Marine Park which we will visit in a couple of days 

From the city we drove about an hour into the Minehasa Highlands to the small town of Tomohon and the beautiful garden of the Gardenia County Inn- our stay for the next 2 nights.

Matt's close-ups of some of the flowers:

The veranda allowed us a wonderful view and was a picture perfect setting for a game of Phase 10.

Evening view from the Inn's open air restaurant

Another angle from dinner-
a view of the lily pond & the still active Lokon Volcano covered by the clouds-

Busy bee still at work-

Beautiful sunset over the volcano-

Dinner was served family style-
everything was fresh and absolutely delicious!
Great nourishment for our big day tomorrow-