In 1844 Manado was leveled by earthquake, so the Dutch redesigned it from scratch. Fourteen years later, famous naturalist Alfred Wallace visited and described the place as “one of the prettiest in the East.”
In the journey, we availed of the Indonesian “Borraq” propeller plane to reach Manado. It took us two hours to reach the place from Davao City. During our first visit, I together with Chino went snorkeling at the Pulau Bunaken.
We also visited Armadidi which is the site of mineral springs. Armadidi’s real attraction is the odd little pre-Christian tomb known as waruga. Corpses were placed in these carved stone boxes with household articles, gold and porcelain. It’s unfortunate that in most cases they were stolen.
The locals in this place are called Minehasans.
Thereafter, we passed by Manado as jump off point to other Indonesian destinations like to Tana Toraja, etc.
I am thankful Lord for allowing me to participate in the journey.