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What was the weather like? What were the conditions like?
The weather is hot and humid during the day (up to 92 degrees every day), but it becomes surprisingly cool after the sun goes down (as cool as 70-75 degrees). I was pleasantly surprised to find that if you sleep in a room with a fan and good circulation, you wouldn’t need air conditioning.
In general, there are two seasons, a wet and dry season. The wet season begins in November and lasts until March or April as northwest wins pick up moisture from the South China Sea. By May, the prevailing winds are from the southeast, from Australia. These winds are generally dry, thus causing May to October to be generally dry.
The mountains, valleys, peninsulas, straits, etc. of Sulawesi significantly complicate this two-season model, creating many microclimates. Depending on the local geography, some areas are vibrantly lush, while some areas are quite arid. In general, many areas look like they only recently received their first rain of the season. In these areas, the ground looked slightly damp, and plants had begun to sprout a few inches out of the ground.
We traveled in Sulawesi in the beginning of the rainy season. Luckily for us (though bad for the locals), this has been an ‘el Nino’ year, meaning the rains have come late. It rained three days on the trip, mostly quick heavy downpours in the late afternoon. The rains were welcome for us as it cooled the temperature down. The rain also helped improve the road conditions, particularly in Peling, were gravel roads and would have been very dusty if it were not for the previous rains.
The views at night, especially by the water, were breathtaking. Looking out over the horizon we could always expect to see two or three lightning shows. There was always someplace nearby getting a drenching.
The food
Although we had some excellent home cooked meals, a major disappointment in Indonesia is the food. The food is surprisingly plain. They have the same ingredients and spices as people in Thailand, but they don’t use them. A typical Indonesian meal includes rice, fish and some fruits and vegetables. Having a meal of fish was oftentimes a frustrating experience. Fresh fish is readily available, and the Indonesians overcook the fish so that it is dry and flavorless.
The region around Manado does have some noteworthy specialties: besides dry fish, their cuisine is livened up a bit with dog, rat, and bat. I had a chance to try dog, called ‘rintek wu'uk’ or RW (air-way) in the local dialect. The meat was very tender, but not as spicy as I expected. From the sources I read, I expected RW to be cooked so spicy that it was not edible. It was one of the better and more memorable dishes of the trip.
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