Benteng Keraton Wolio or Keraton Wolio Fort is located in Buton, South East Sulawesi.
Until now, it's still standing strong and majestic. Extent of not less than 22 hectares, this fort broke the record of MURI (Museum rekor Indonesia) as the biggest fort in Indonesia.

This fort has 12 gates and 16 bastions, which in local language called baluara. Each gate (Lawa) and bastion has 4-6 cannon. The number of cannon is 52 units. In the right corner of the fort there are godana-oba (ammunition room) and bullet warehouse on the left. In the middle of the fort, there is a mosque. It was built between the years 1591 to 1597, under the throne of Sultan of Buton III La Sangaji Sultan Kaimuddin also known as 'Sangia Makengkuna'.




Batu Wolio, a sacred place where the holy water for Sultan Buton inauguration
About 2740 meters in length, the wall of fort surround the traditional Buton houses. The people who lived in the fort area still hold their original culture. In addition, there is a diversity of languages that belong to the community in the area of Buton. It reach hundreds of traditional languages with different dialects which are spread in 72 areas (kadie). However, the people of Buton commit the Wolio as their unity language.

pulau samalona by limchinhuang

Samalona Island or Pulau Samalona is a cluster of coral reefs area with 2,34 ha in width, located in South Sulawesi. This small island is a favourite destination for local and international tourists. There are some activities you can do there like sunbathing above the sandy beach and diving into the deep waters of Samalona Island to observe the wonderful coral reefs and beautiful sub-marine life within. Recreational sports include diving, snorkeling, water skiing and fishingThe best months for visiting Samalona Island range from February to October.

Across the harbour of Makassar, Samalona Island can be reached by boat in 45 minutes.
This pleasant recreational area contains so much mysteries dealing with some wreck ships, the remnants of the world war II. At least there are seven ships that were sank there. They are Maru Boat, a Japanese warship that is approximately located at 30 meters deep; Japanese gunboat; Hakko Maru cargo vessel made of the Dutch, and Japanese submarine hunter.

Now, they have turned into wonderful coral reefs where ample fishes live within. Such wonderful scenery of submarine life surrounding Samalona Island is a distinction from other destinations. Many come to the location for diving in purpose to observe some wreck ships inside the surrounding waters of the island. Besides revealing the mysteries within and observing the wonderful submarine life in Samalona Island, you can watch the sunrise and likewise the sunset on the same position.

Have you ever heard about the legendary boat Pinisi?
It's a traditional boat from Indonesia and Tanah Beru is one of the place where you can see people building this boat by their own hands :D

On the road from Bulukumba to Tanjung Bira you will pass after about 25 km Tanah Beru, a village full of boat builders. In the past many boat builders from around Bira moved here, resulting in an interesting concentration of boats under construction. If you are in the village, just go off the main road at the point it makes a sharp curve, and spend some time to visit the building sites.

Most boats are of the type Pinisi. Many of these boats still are built without the use of technical drawings. Still many wood connections are made with wooden pins. Recently the price of boats built here went up drastically due increasing hardwood prices. This did not stop new boats being built. A big part of the boats under construction are ordered by foreigners that operate these "pinisi" for dive cruises. In this place we can see, a great amount of sailing boats are being made in various size from the very huge to the tiny one :)

Here's a bit story about Pinisi:



The Builders: Although the builders of these craft are commonly lumped under the category of Bugis peoples, there are four cultural sub-sets of boat builders to be separately distinguished in South Sulawesi (per the writings of Horst Liebner). The primary groups are the Konjo of the southern tip of South Sulawesi (from near the towns of Ara, Bira, and Tanah Beru), the Mandar of West Sulawesi to the north of Makassar, the Bugis from the region near Wajo on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Bone (the central gulf between the two halves of Sulawesi), and the Makassarese from the region around the city of Makassar. Among these groups, the Konjo of South Sulawesi appear to have had the primary and most influential role as boat builders.

Cape of Bira (Tanjung Bira or Pantai Bira) is famous for its beautiful and pleasant white sand beach. Its water is clear and it is good for swimming. In the front side, there is a small island with white sand spreaded along it. This panorama enrich the beauty of the surrounding. White in the back side, soars up Puang Janggo mountain with a height of more than 400 meters. It can be reached in 20 minutes by car, or by hiking for approximately 40 minutes.

Bira beach is located approximately 41 km toward the east of Bulukumba city and 3 hours driving from Makassar :)

There's a hotel in Bira beach called Amatoa Resort. This one is my favorite place to stay if I come to Bira. This "on cliff" resort have the best view for your room.. all facing the ocean.

One and a half century ago, Alfred Russel Wallace recorded as many as 250 species inhibited Bantimurung National Park in South Sulawesi. For that reason he named the area as butterflies kingdom. An updated research conducted by Prof Dr Sila Mappatoba, Msc, in 2005 showed that the species number of butterflies in the 43.750 ha park has declined to 125. Sadly, the latest data, in fact, mentioned that there are only 108 species left. Some of the species that can be found there are Graphium sarpedon, Idea blanchardi, Papilio memnon, Troides helena, Papilio blumei, and Caligo sp.



In Indonesian language, Bantimurung means "getting rid of sadness". Bantimurung is located on north of Makassar. The Bantimurung waterfalls are set amid lushly vegetated limestone cliffs. Bantimurung is crowded with Indonesians on weekends and holidays, and at other times it's a wonderful retreat from the congestion of Ujung Pandang (now Makassar), the capital of South Sulawesi. The best time to see living butterflies is when the sun appears after a rain shower.

But Bantimurung, it's not only about beautiful butterflies. Bantimurung is also famous with it's waterfall and caves. The waterfall is located at the valley of the steep limestone hill with its fertile tropical vegetation. Before entering the waterfall location, visitors can see a statue of a kind of monkey (lutung), about 6 cm tall. This kind of animal can only be found in Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

Bantimurung waterfall
image: Mongabay



The blue pool
image: Truly Indonesia



Bantimurung cave