Bird of paradise in Eastern Indonesia

Bird watchers are becoming aware of the unbelievable opportunities that exist in Eastern Indonesia. This country of 17,000 island has 16,000 uninhabited islands, plus unexplored jungle regions in Papua (Irian Jaya). A friend of mine, Mike Hillis runs Unexplored Adventures, which offers diving in Ambon, plus hard core jungle treks in Seram, the largely uninhabited island behind Ambon. Mike told me that only native tribes live on Seram and they have hired local guys as guides. The locals used to catch birds for sale, but are now moving towards understanding that they can reap a better profit by protecting the birds and do the occasional bird watching tour. Years ago the Blair brothers went in search of the Bird of Paradise, an amazingly colorful bird known to exist deep in the jungle in Eastern Indonesia.

They found it and recently other scientists found what they described as a ‘Garden of Eden‘ in the mountains of Papua. The wildlife and birds there were actually friendly, never having developed a fear of man. There are foreign companies now offering the chance to go to the more remote parts of Eastern Indonesia for bird watching. An adventure, that I’m sure would leave you with more memories than just the birds.