galela, pulau halmahera

pulau halmahera, near "tobelo" is very beautiful ("tobelo marahai"), it's volcanoe magically covered in clouds...

idul fitri in galela, soakonora with the family of my friend "marwa".

the beautiful "lake duma" is close by.

coconut and "copra" (dried coconut) is a big business here, with lots of coconut palm forests around.

halmahera was the place of the worst fightings between cristians and muslims in the malukus in 1999. this burned down christian church is a reminder of these bad times. in fact the conflict was probably more based on economic problems than on regligious as two tribes were fighting for the distribution of the profit of an inernational gold mine (as one foreign aid worker who worked here at the time explaned to me).

a christian music group performing for the muslim families on the idul fitri day. note the big blue box used as a bass guitar!

another beautiful sunset over "lake duma".

indonesian style trekking

still fresh.

my friends "fauziah" and "marwa", trekking all the way with their veils. sometimes when the sun burned down too hot i wanted to have one too

for lunch: young coconut and grilled bananas served on a bed of freshly cut palm leaves.

view of the near "hela beach" from the "tarakani" mountain.

the moment when the dry riverbed became a wild river due to one hour of rain. yep, the guy on the picture carried a gun as he wanted to shoot deer (which he luckily did not succeed).

indonesia style trekking with different pairs of broken shoes or sandals, some even went barefoot!

great view of the vulcanic landscape.

those who made it to the summit!

somola and hela beach

pictures of the beautiful black sand beaches "hela" and "somola" close to galela.