Sulawesi is a real reserve of cultures and traditions, and besides, it’s just a very beautiful and green island. Cave burials, exotic nature, Buton Island Reserve, diving among the coral reefs in the Manado Bay area, mountain lakes, magnificent folk ceremonies – all this attracts thousands of tourists every year. For Indonesia climate and geography, please check TopPharmacySchools.
Sulawesi is a rather lazy place. Government offices and most banks here close as early as 15:00, and many of them also work only a couple of hours on Fridays.
How to get to Sulawesi
The main airport of the island, located in Makassar, receives regular flights from all over the archipelago. Manado Airport is slightly less popular, but very convenient if you need to get to Sulawesi from Papu or Halmahera. Both airports are international.
Transportation
The size of the island is huge, so it is often advisable to use an airplane to move around it. Flights depart from Makassar and Manado to anywhere on the island, but if you decide to fly from some other place, most likely you will have to make a transfer.
In addition, you can also travel around the island by bus, but it is worth remembering that local roads are rarely of good quality, and local drivers are at least some concern for their own safety.
Kitchen
In different parts of the island, Sulawesi cuisine varies greatly. Not only Indonesian cuisine is widespread here, but also Minahasian. it, unlike Indonesian, often uses pork, and most meat dishes have an extremely spicy spicy taste.
Among the locals, ragi are very popular – small pork skewers, however, they are nothing particularly exotic.
And if you want something exotic, you can risk trying dog meat dishes – it is no less common here than in Korea. Due to the huge amount of spices, it does not differ much from pork in taste, only noticeably tougher.
Minahasa cuisine uses a rather unusual kemiri nut, also called candle berry. They are part of the clappertart cake, considered one of the best dishes in Manado.
In addition, in North Sulawesi you can try the excellent and very hearty Brenebon soup, prepared from fatty pork and beans, and tinutuan, a local porridge made from noodles, rice, pumpkin and various spices.
Entertainment and attractions of Sulawesi
The island is administratively divided into four provinces: Selatan, Tengah, Tengara and Utara.
In the capital of the island, the city of Makassar, buildings of colonial architecture and the imposing Fort Rotterdam, inside which there is a museum, are interesting. In the vicinity of Makassar there is a palace and a tomb of the Govan kings, beautiful waterfalls and rock paintings – examples of the creativity of the first inhabitants of the island.
North Sulawesi (Utara) is known for its rich collection of corals and other colorful representatives of the “marine community”. The islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua and a number of others are chosen by fans of snorkeling and scuba diving. Diving in the Bunaken area is steep vertical coral walls that then go to phenomenal depths. There is a huge variety of marine life: in addition to the usual species of fish, there are sharks, rays and turtles. The capital of the province is the city of Manado, where the international airport is located.
The tribes that lived in ancient times on the territory of South Sulawesi (Selatan) created a unique culture based on animistic beliefs. The ancestral cult is still maintained here today, especially in the funeral ceremony, which includes the slaughter of buffaloes and a lavish feast on the occasion of the burial. Burials themselves are made in caves, and small children are buried in hollows of trees.
Neither South nor Central Sulawesi (Tengah) can compete with the northern part of the island either in popularity or in the degree of development of diving and tourist infrastructure. But for those who prefer to dive in wild, little-studied places, where you won’t meet a single diver’s soul for kilometers of water, these places will seem like heaven on earth. In addition, the central part of the island boasts a unique exotic flora and fauna.
From the southeastern part of Sulawesi (Tengara), trips are organized to Buton Island, a nature reserve with pristine beaches and lush tropical forests.
Weather in Sulawesi
Sulawesi has an equatorial climate, with year-round temperatures around +30 °C. The rainy season begins in October and ends in mid-spring, at which time there are often short but very powerful showers. In July, the dry season begins, during which it is advisable to drink plenty of water and use strong sunscreen.
The water temperature usually does not drop below +29 °C.
