Touristic Sites and Activities

 

 

BUTON Island

 

This large island (about 150 km in length) located south-east of mainland Sulawesi has a diverse history with ups and downs. But even in modern times, the island is still a cultural center of Sulawesi. The islanders were masters of brass casting and forging.

 

 

The Butonese are seafarers. With their small boats they drive as far as Singapore to trade teak wood and rattan for plasticware and hightech products. They even claim to be the first discoverers of Australia and the originators of this name.

 

 

On top of a hill in Bau-Bau, the island capital city, you can explore the Kraton, the ancient remains of the fortress of the butonese sovereigns.
 

Fortress of Bau Bau on Buton Island

    

 

The history of the sultans of Buton reaches back into the times of the hinduistic Majapahit regency. Buton was an independent kingdom from the 14th to the 16th century and remained as a sultanate until Indonesia became independent. At that time, trade boomed with tight relations with China as well as with the Majapahit kingdom on the island of Java and the Moluccas. Until today, parts of the Kraton serve as living residence for members of the royal family.

 

Buton island is well recognized for its asphalt resources. In addition, valuable types of wood like ironwood or teak are grown in plantations.

The northern part of the island is dedicated to a unique natural preserve (Buton Utara Reserve), home for about 150 bird species, many of them endemic - a birdwatcher's paradise indeed!

Just a few kilometers south of Bau-Bau you find Pantai Nirwana, a beautiful white beach surrounded by palm trees, ideally suited for swimming and relaxing.

 

 

RAWA AOPA/WATUMOHAI National Park

 

About 100 km south of Kendari you find an area of large protected marshes (282.500 hectares size) being home for exciting wildlife, the Rawa Aopa National Park.

 
 

With a little bit of luck you can observe crocodiles, babi rusa, wild pigs, pygmy buffalos (Anoa), egret monkeys, dusky scrub fowls, waterfowls (like pelicans), and pythons.

 

   

Black Egret Monkey

 

Visitors who find their way in the park wilderness which is partially difficult to access will also discover a unique flora with many rare endemic species.

 

    

 

The diversity of this national park is reflected by the different ecosystems that can be identified there:

savannah, lowland rainforest, mountain rainforest and extended swampland with shallow waters.

 

 

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