Have you ever been to National Park before? As we know, we can meet many kinds of animals in the National Park depending on what animals live there.

As a tropical country, Indonesia has lots of National Parks with tropical animals. In this research, I would like to share  knowledge about Tangkoko National Park located in North Sulawesi of Indonesia.

Let me start this topic with my daily life as a tourism worker. You can just call me a Receptionist. I’ve become a Receptionist already for 3 years. But our jobs are not just inside of the office. We can be a guide for our guests who are interested in tours. For example, Tangkoko National Park Tour.

Tangkoko National Park was located at Batu Putih Village, Bitung City, North Sulawesi of Indonesia. This park covers an area of 8.700 hectares.

Short stories from the histories, Alfred Russel Wallace visited this park  in 1861. Alfred Russel Wallace is well known as a geographer, traveller, anthropologist and biologist from the UK who give more theories and make him called as a Father of Biogeography.

This area was first designated as a protected forest in 1919 and then designated as a National Park in 1981 through many processes.

During my daily life as a tourism worker, I often go there 2-3 times per month with our guests. Our local people were not too excited to go there but tourists do. So, we accompany them once they book for a tour by our service.

It takes less than 90 minutes by car to go to Batu Putih Village from the Main City of Bitung. On the way there, we can see lots of Coconut trees, Cassava garden, corn garden and so on. It just closed from the road.

And when we get to the park, we will be seeing many pictures of creatures drawn in the front wall of the entrance and the day trip begins.

At the park, we will also be guided by Ranger Park who knows well about the park and animals. They will guide us to find the creatures one by one. So actually, our guests will get 2 tour guides on that day trip.

It takes 2-3 hours walking around the jungle to find the creatures.

Wondering what creatures that are famous and can be discovered inside the park? let me give you a top 4 list :

1. The Sulawesi Black Macaque

This creatures are commonly discovered in the park. There are hundreds of population who live there but divided into 3 groups. They normally feed on fruits and insects.

We all know that their species is a monkey. Monkeys are  well known as proactive animals and walking by groups or families looking for food. This type of monkey is not as aggressive as others. But for just in case, we still need to keep our distances from them approximately 5 meters. Do not eat or drink something in front of them because their naughty instincts are unpredictable.

The big boss of their groups will take care of them. When their groups are looking for food, the big boss just has his perfect place to look over them, talking to each other in their own language and make sure everything is safe for them. It is one of the best moments that we normally found when we see their groups.

2. Spectral Tarsius/Tarsier

Tarsius is well known as the smallest primate in the world. Their size is approximately 10 centimeters. This is one of the animals who make lots of visitors come to meet them. Their tiny body and cute face are the most interesting things about them. They can turn their neck 180 degrees the same as owls.

Tarsius is quite rare in Indonesia. We can often find them on sulawesi island especially north sulawesi.

In the daylight, they normally stay in their favorite places. It could be Bamboos or trees with lots of holes and not so much busy. But at night, they are really proactive in looking for insects, which is their main food. Their voices are really noisy when interacting with each other. We normally find 3 tarsius (Family) in one spot. They are really scared of predators such as snakes. That is why they like to live in a safe place.

When we want to take photos of them, we need to move slowly because this creature is really shy.

3. Cuscus Bear.

Cuscus Bear is a Mammal that has a pocket to care for their babies like a kangaroo. This creature’s weight is about 5-10 kilograms and because they are the same species as  marsupial, they have a great strong tail and could be the same as their height.

These creatures are normally playing in the high trees and slowly moving. They are looking for food on the top of the trees but sometimes they play in the quite low trees. When the babies grow up, they are not in the pocket anymore but in their mom’s back. To capture this creature, I suggest using a micro camera with long lenses to get a great picture of them. And many of our guests who mostly became my friend did it.

4. Hornbill

Hornbill is one of the birds that are protected in indonesia. These birds commonly live in the very high trees and mountains. They have thick fur, huge bodies and very loud voices. Many local people believe that this bird is like a leader of the birds because they always live in high places.

Hornbill is a very loyal bird. Unlike the other birds who always change partners. Once one of them dies, they never look for another one.

If we are lucky, it takes about two hours walking in Tangkoko National Park to find the hornbill. In 8.700 hectares, they can fly easily around the park. We can hear their voices but it takes the opportunity to see them directly.

Tangkoko National Park has hundreds of creatures. Such as another bird species, Tarantula Spider, Pyhton, viper snake and so on. Most of them are very rare. So, in this opportunity, I just wanna share with you those 4 creatures because of the limitations of the pictures.

Exploring Nature is really refreshing our minds. We can feel free and know another world.  At the end of this knowledge and experience’s sharing, I’d like to quote one of John Muir’s Quotes. “In every walk with nature, One receives far more than he seeks”.