Where is the island of Sulawesi? Traditions and attractions

The island of Sulawesi is one of the most beautiful places on the planet Earth. It is famous for its bizarre shape: it consists of five peninsulas of equal size, which are joined together by a large section of land with a mountainous terrain.

What is Sulawesi famous for? First of all, these are beautiful landscapes, which you can admire while standing on the hills and slopes of the mountains. Here you can swim in one of the seas washing the island, and then relax on a warm and clean beach of white sand.

Where is the island of Sulawesi? Geographical information

Sulawesi is located in Indonesia, on the equator, representing a part of the Great Sunda Islands.

Among all the islands of the world, Sulawesi ranks 11th in terms of its territory - its area is 174 000 sq. Km. Km. As for the population, it is also quite large - there are 16.5 million indigenous inhabitants.

The Indonesian island of Sulawesi has an internal division into provinces, of which there are six: West, South, North, South-East, Central, and also Gorontalo. The communication between them occurs mainly on water.

Climatic conditions

Sulawesi has an equatorial climate, the air temperature varies from 26 to 28 degrees. However, here the summer does not last forever - in the period from October to March there are torrential rains. This summer begins here in July, with the arrival of a dry period and heat. However, in general, the climate of the island is excellent for coming here in any month.

How to get to Sulawesi

Makassar and Manado are the cities of the island in which airports are located. Here you can fly from any island of Indonesia, as well as from some other countries of the world, and a direct flight. As for the city of Makassar, it is also possible to come here by sea - here there is a large port, which is on the route of many tourist ships.

On the island, there is also the possibility of domestic flights on airplanes, since the area of Sulawesi Island (Indonesia) is large enough and the communication between its provinces is also conducted with the help of air transport. In addition, there are regular buses that regularly go on certain routes, and by sea you can travel by boats and ferries.

Big cities

The largest cities are Sulawesi - Mamuja, Gorontalo, Palu, Manado and Kendari. Also a large city is Makassar, which is the capital of South Sulawesi. Currently, it has many boat manufacturing enterprises, in the past this city was a major trading center of East Indonesia. From here, various kinds of fish and ebony are exported. This city is famous for sea cucumbers grown on its plantations.

Sights of the island

Sulawesi is an island where there are a lot of sights that you should definitely see after visiting here. First of all, this is the famous fort of Rotterdam, where the museum of history is currently located. Tourists, after visiting it, can get acquainted with the main historical facts related to this island. Also, there are a lot of interesting architectural structures that attract the attention of guests. The buildings erected here are characterized by a colonial style of architecture, especially in the city of Makassar. Not far from Makasara you can admire the famous tomb and the palace of the Govan kings, where you can explore the oldest rock paintings left by the ancient peoples on the island of Sulawesi. Also near the palace there are several beautiful waterfalls.

As you know, Sulawesi is rich in places, where tourists can do water sports. However, the banks of Bunaken and Manado-Tua are particularly ideal for diving and snorkeling here.

Fans of studying the history and traditions of the indigenous population will certainly be interested in the opportunity to learn new information about the local tribes of the island of Sulawesi. For the category of such tourists, the journey through Southern Sulawesi, where many tribes now live, which are still carrying out unusual pagan rituals and revere the laws of their ancestors, will be incredibly interesting.

The island is famous for its traditions of burial of the deceased. Therefore, among the sights there are many places where the deceased Sulawesians are buried in the traditional way. In particular, the most popular of them: the stone graves of Lemo, the village of Toraja, the caves of Londa, the village of Kete-Kesu.

Traditional cuisine

Unusual is the cuisine, which can surprise tourists who arrived on the island of Sulawesi. The distinction between culinary traditions in different provinces of the island is clearly noted. Here, traditional dishes are those that are peculiar to Indonesian cuisine, but they also prepare food, which can be classified as Minahas cuisine. The local population is very fond of eating meat dishes, mostly from pork. Her taste here is also special - it is characterized by sharp and spicy notes. One of the traditional dishes of the island is the "ragi" - a pork shish kebab. Also here you can taste nuts of kemiri variety and soup with extraordinary taste qualities - "brinebon", which also includes pork meat. Many establishments serve traditional porridge prepared from rice and noodles seasoned with various local spices.

Shopping

Shopping - one of the favorite activities of tourists, because from every country I want to bring something unusual, which is not in their native places. Here you can go shopping in small local shops, organized by small entrepreneurs of the island of Sulawesi. At the disposal of tourists there are also a large number of shops, larger in size. They can buy traditional for the island decor elements, national clothes, amulets and many other things that will be very happy to receive as a souvenir friends and relatives.

Knowing tourists for shopping immediately go to the largest city of Sulawesi - Makasar. It is here that there is a large shopping center Somba Opu, which is a whole street of shops. This place attracts the guests of the island not only with a wide variety of goods, but also with prices, the lowest on the whole island. Of the goods available here, tourists are very popular with gold and silver jewelry, fabrics, antiques, products of local artisans, as well as all kinds of small souvenirs.

Features of flora and fauna

As for the animal world, which is on the island, it is somewhat unusual for Europeans and consists mainly of endemics. All fauna representatives are predominantly large here. On this island there is a large black macaque, an anonymous pygmy buffalo , pigs, deer, and a babyrus - an unusual pig from the island of Sulawesi, the feature of which is that its fang has fangs that, according to the local population, .

In the seas washing the island, there are many unusual fish that can be seen, submerged under water (lonto, sail, bullheads, semi-suckers).

Speaking of the flora of the island, it consists of plants that belong to a number of tropical plants. Here grows ammonium, Ericaulon, as well as various palms and lianas.

To tourists on a note

All those wishing to go on vacation on the island of Sulawesi need to know that for this purpose it is best to go to its northern part, because it is more developed for tourism. It is here that the sea is ideal for diving and underwater travel, here you can see many unusual animals and plants, expand your horizons. In this part of the island you can easily rent a hotel room, go shopping, or have fun at a local club or visit an institution.

A few words about traditions

Indonesian traditions are very common on the island of Sulawesi. In particular, many tourists who came here are surprised by the ancient tradition of burial of the deceased. Here, in honor of the death of a native of the island, they arrange a real party with dances and songs, and even hammer a buffalo into the bargain. The deceased are buried in the rocks, in the trees, and in the caves, laying them in coffins made of carved, very strong wood. In the village of Kete Kesu there is a large place with burial places for children who died in infancy without living a year.

Indonesian tourists are very happy to visit places of burial, but those who come from Europe, travel to such places rarely bring pleasure. According to Europeans, such excursions are a real extreme, and not for the faint of heart.

All who are going to visit the island of Sulawesi, can truly enjoy the primeval, untouched by human nature. The entire island has 19 reserves and 6 national natural parks, which can also be visited - they can be accessed by typical representatives of flora and fauna. Curious tourists with strong nerves can witness a ceremony of burial or visit one of the parks with the graves of the deceased, which is a lot on the island, and its inhabitants, it should be noted, are proud of them.

Among local residents, very many are engaged in craft and growing crops, of which corn is especially popular.