Sonder is a subdistrict town in Minahasa regency of Indonesia. It is a good destination for visitors who love nature. Visitors who spend their holiday in Sonder can enjoy walking tours to explore its villages, farmlands, paddy fields, forest, water streams and fish ponds.
For birdwatchers, visitors who travel to North Sulawesi should consider Sonder as one of the birding sites which they will visit.
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| Subdistrict Sonder in Minahasa regency of Indonesia |
Most of the farmland and forest of Sonder can be explored on foot or by motorized vehicles. In higher elevation forest, visitors can go hiking to the top of the hill early in the morning to watch such birds as
Warbling White-eye, Black-crowned White-eye, Sulawesi Myzomela, Crimson Sunbird, Crimson-crowned Flowerpecker, Sulawesi Cuckoo-dove, White-faced Cuckoo-dove, Sulawesi Pygmy Woodpecker, Black-faced Munia, Sulawesi Blue Flycatcher, Sulawesi Drongo, Collared Kingfisher, and etc.
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| Black-crowned White-eye |
There are flower plants that grow along the roadsides that attract butterflies. Blanchard's Ghost Butterfly, Blanchard's Wood Nymph and Common Birdwing, Celebes-banded Swallowtail, could be watched while they were feeding on nectar of the wild flowers.
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| Blandchard's Ghost Butterfly in Subdistrict Sonder of Minahasa regency |
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| Sooty-headed Bulbul |
Walking down to the central area of Sonder town, visitors could see a small forest along the slope of Tounelet village. Tounelet forest and the farmland areas that surround Sonder are the sites for watching such birds as:
- Sooty-headed Bulbul
- Slender-billed Crow
- Grey-cheeked Green Pigeon
- Sahul Sunbird
- Brown-throated Sunbird
- Black-naped Oriole
- Pale Blue Monarch
- Grey-sided Flowerpecker
- Yellow-sided Flowerpecker
- Hair-crested (White-eyed) Drongo
- Sulawesi Hanging Parrot
- Finch-billed Myna
- Brush Cuckoo
- Purple Needletail
- Gray-rumped Treeswift
- White-nest Swiftlet
- Barn Swallow
- Collared Kingfisher (Todirampus chloris)
- Eurasian Tree Sparrow
- and a lot more.
Visitors could also enjoy birdwatching while walking through rice fields of Subdistrict Sonder. There, they can finds such birds as:
- Cattle Egret
- Little Egret
- Purple Heron
- Grey Teal
- Sunda Teal
- White-browed Crake
- Eastern Yellow Wagtail
- Zebra Dove
- Chestnut Munia
- Scaly-breasted Munia
- Cinnamon Bittern,
- And etc.
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| Yellow-billed Malkoha |
There are also butterflies especially among the flower gardens and agricultural lands in the villages of Sonder. Visitors could find The Clipper (Parthenos sylvia), Lime Swallowtail (Papilio demoleus), Gigon Swallowtail (Papilio gigon), Sacred Tabby (Pseudergolis avesta), Manado Yellow Tiger Butterfly, and etc.
Visitor could see more butterflies when walking deeper into the farmland and forest of Sonder.
Farm Tour
While walking through villages, visitors could also see various kinds of activites that are related to farming. Tour participants will see the kinda of crops that farmers grow.
Most of the inhabitants of Subdistrict Sonder work as farmers. They grow rice, corn, banana, durian, papaya, orange, kangkung (water spinach), cabbage, carrot, chilli, tomato, and etc. They have got pigs, chicken and tilapia fish. Farmers in Tincep grow various kinds of flowers.
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| Farmers grow peanuts, corn, vanilla, clove, banana, chilli, aubergine, rice. They also run fish, poultry and pig farming. |
Where is Sonder?
Sonder is a small subdistrict town in Minahasa regency of the Province of North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The town is surrounded by hills, farmland, rice field, rivers, and ponds. The capital of the province is Manado city. It takes around 1 hour drive between Manado city and Sonder town.
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| Car routes from Manado to Sonder town |
Accommodations
There are homestays in Sonder for visitors who want to spend several days birding in Sonder town. For more comfortable rooms, visitors could stay in Tomohon and make day tours to Sonder. As a tour guide, we could organize accommodation for visitors who want to take this tour.
How to get there?
Every day, there are regular flight services between Manado and some major cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Makassar, Balikpapan, Ternate and Manokwari. These flights are served by Garuda, Citilink, AirAsia Indonesia, Lion Air, Batik Air, Super Airjet, Wings Air, Sriwijaya Air, TransNusa.
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| Flight routes from major cities in Indonesia to Manado |
If you are interested in spending your holiday time in Sonder of Minahasa highland and want me to organize your trip, you could contact me (Charles Roring) by whatsapp to: +6281332245180 and by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.
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