Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia - December 2019

I've been sitting on quite a few OS posts while I waited for the plague to settle down a bit and some kind of overseas travel opportunities to open up. However with Melbourne going into our Covid lockdown #5 then I'm thinking that I've got as much chance of flying to Mars as I have of heading overseas in my medium term future... so I figured that I'd slip this one in to cheer me up a bit! This trip was actually my last overseas adventure before we locked our island up.

I spent a bit of time hanging out with the locals today at Bantimurung Waterfall.

It was pouring down with tropical rain when we docked at Makassar first thing this morning which meant that this slightly gritty city wasn’t seen at it’s best, initially at least. By the time we’d had breakfast, grabbed our stuff and disembarked the weather had improved a little though and we headed off toward our first destination under grey, but mostly dry skies. Driving through the chaotic traffic and sprawling suburbs it looked like there had been a fair bit of rain over the last couple of days though, well judging by the amount of standing water around anyway. According to our guide it had pretty much been raining solidly for the last two days, still we were in the tropics in the wet season so you have to expect that. 

Our first look at Makassar this morning was a little underwhelming.

Slowly making our way out of Makassar we first headed to a rural village called Parang Tinggia, the village is home to the flying dogs, or as we like to call them Fruit Bats. Walking through the humid streets of the village checking out the the rice paddies, houses and farm animals was probably more interesting than the Fruit Bats I thought, although judging by the wrapped attention the rest of the punters on our tour were showing I might of been on my own there. Anyway after making a very desultory attempt to get a half decent photo of a Fruit Bat we were headed back to the air conditioned bus on onto our next destination, Bantimurung National Park.

First up today we went for a stroll around the small village of Parang Tinggia.

Parang Tinggia

Parang Tinggia is rural village.

The Flying Dogs

We may call them Fruit Bats.

The locals put on a cultural display for the punters.

The aim of this little exercise was to kick a ball up and the guy at the top would eventually catch it in his hat.

Bantimurung National Park was the main reason Sam and I had jumped onto this tour, the chance to check out an impressive waterfall and walk in a tropical forest full of butterflies drew us in. Arriving at the entrance to the park it quickly became apparent that we wouldn’t be lonely here though, being a Sunday it appeared to my eyes that half the population of Makassar had headed up here for a swim, this place was heaving with humanity. Now normally this would be my worst nightmare but for some reason I kind of enjoyed hanging out with the locals today. Sometimes on these tours I feel slightly uneasy that we are overwhelming the locals when we turn up on a guided tour, at Bantimurung though it was like we were the tourist attraction. I must have posed for twenty photos as local after local came up and politely asked to have their photo taken with the giant white tourist. When a young lady in the traditional headscarf shyly asked to have her photo taken with me I figured that I’d better keep a respectable distance between us….only to have her wrap her arm around my waist and put her head against my arm…as a thousand misconceptions flew out the window.

Bantimurang National Park is Limestone Karst country.

We enjoyed another cultural dance at Bantimurung National Park.

The dagger looked pretty serious. 

The humidity was fairly serious today.

There is a nice Butterfly exhibition at the national park. 

After checking out a small Butterfly House we headed up to the main game in town, the Bantimurung Waterfall. As we approached the waterfall we passed by a series of swimming holes in the rushing river, all full of people out enjoying their day. Now when I think of a National Park I think of an undeveloped area where nature is protected, things are a little different here though with numerous stalls selling everyone from food and drink to souvenirs. Nature has also been modified a fair bit with bridges, steps and lots of concrete (they export concrete from Makassar). There was even someone who had a concession to hire out car inner tubes for the happy punters to float down the river in…and a couple of lifesavers dressed in yellow to pluck the punters who fall off their inner tube out of the river. Being a ships tour we had around 10 minutes at the waterfall before retreating somewhere nearby to eat. Once I’d worked out where the tour was stopping for awhile to eat I convinced the slightly nervous guide to let me go back up to the waterfall to have a swim. 

I was trying to get a photo of the Limestone cliffs through the canopy... with limited success!

This place was packed today.

Bantimurung Waterfall... I wish I'd had a little more time and I would of hired an inner tube.

With a bit more time I would of liked to hire an inner tube float down the rapids like some of the locals, however with only twenty minutes up my sleeve I eased my way into the cool brown water just down stream of the waterfall. Taking off my shirt and climbing in it was a magic feeling as the cool fresh water kept the humidity away, well for a few minutes anyway. Now I really was the novelty act, soaking amongst a throng of locals it was pretty obvious that not many international tourists do any swimming here. Unfortunately I didn’t have long here and all too soon I clambered gingerly back out, pulled on my shirt and headed back to re-join Sam and head off on our next adventure….a buffet lunch back at Makassar, hmmm.

I've ditched the tour group...time to jump in!

It knocked the edge off the humidity for awhile.

Bantimurung National Park

There is no shortage of retail opportunities in the national park.

After successfully keeping scurvy at bay for another day we managed to remove some of our more recalcitrant punters from the buffet and headed off to our next stop, Fort Rotterdam. Fort Rotterdam was originally a Gowanese fort that dated back to 1545, when the Dutch arrived they overwhelmed the original fort and built the current version in 1669. Like the west coast of Australia the Dutch were knocking around this area well before the English arrived. Apart from the old architecture Fort Rotterdam is also home to a couple of nice museums that feature a bit of indigenous, as well as Dutch history and are worth checking out. In another slightly surreal sight the grassy courtyard inside the fort was playing host to a Zumba competition today.

They seem to love their big signs in Indonesia.

The Floating Mosque.

Fort Rotterdam

There is an interesting museum inside the walls of Fort Rotterdam.

Fort Rotterdam

Fort Rotterdam

It was slightly surreal to watch a zumba competition inside the walls of Fort Rotterdam.

Actually there wasn't a lot of zumbering(?) going on, there was a lot of selfie action though!

Fort Rotterdam

Our big day out was coming to it’s conclusion now, heading back to the ship we made a quick visit to the Terong Market, this traditional market assaulting our all our senses in the late afternoon heat. I’m thinking that the time to buy any of the produce that they offer at these types of markets is first thing in the morning, the thought of eating fish that have been sitting in the tropical sun all day doesn’t fill me with confidence. After our short little visit to the market we were safely delivered back to the wharf, managing to grab a cold shower and head up on deck in time for us to sail away into the Makassar Strait.

Terong Market

This cat wasn't silly!

Terong Market

Terong Market

Terong Market

Terong Market

The Dirt.
This trip was part of a Princess cruise. The tour was called Bantimurung National Park & Makassar and set us back around $200. Yeah, it wasn’t cheap. The tour was booked on the ship. There was a bit of walking involved on this tour and combined with the heat and humidity it was a little bit too much for some of the punters. Don’t think that you’ll be visiting a pristine environment when you go to Bantimurung Waterfall, relax and enjoy hanging out with the locals and, like me you’ll probably love it.

Relevant Post.

Komodo Island, Komodo National Park, 2019.

Bali, Indonesia, 2019.

Leaving the port in Makassar tonight - the weather was a lot better than it had been this morning.

Makassar

The Floating Mosque.

There would be no insta sunset tonight.

Most of the other punters had settled in for a movie.