Recent blog posts

Tomcats Spotted in Bali and Java

Tomcats Spotted in Bali – One Insect You Don’t Ever Want to Squash

There is something new that has been causing panic around Bali these days and it surprisingly has nothing to do with terrorists being executed on the island or anything of the sort. The Tomcat as it is known in Indonesia (Rove Beetle in English) has been making a guest appearance throughout the archipelago in limited numbers over the past month. While resembling most other insects that you might not bat an eye at, the Tomcat possesses some unique characteristics that you should be watching out for.

Puputan ("Fight to the death")

The force marched to Denpasar, Bali, as if in a dress parade.[2] They approached the royal palace, noting smoke rising from the puri and hearing a wild beating of drums coming from within the palace walls.

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa

the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. It produced thick clouds of ash that created global effects.

What are the situations in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea borders like? - Agustinus Wibowo

I only have been to Vanimo, city on Papua New Guinea border, located next to Jayapura. From what I have seen, the people from Papua New Guinea frequently go to Indonesia just buy goods.

Papua is one of the least-developed province in Indonesia.
But the scary part is : it's far better developed than Papua New Guinea.

If you want to know more about the border, you can follow Agustinus Wibowo that is doing (2014) an expedition there.
There are some interesting write-ups from him, visit:

Grasberg Open Pit, Indonesia

Located some 60 miles north of Timika, at Tembagapura in Irian Jaya – the most easterly of Indonesia's provinces – on the western half of the island of New Guinea, the Grasberg mine has the world's single largest known gold reserve and the second largest copper reserves.

The Grasberg Open Pit – originally a 4,100m-high mountain, which has been mined down to 3,000m.

Copper is the primary commodity, with a proven and provable reserve of 2.8 billion tonnes of 1.09%. The reserves also contains 0.98g/t gold and 3.87g/t silver.

The eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815

Die heftigste je aufgezeichnete Explosion
Anfang April 1815 brach in Indonesien der Vulkan Tambora aus - das Jahr 1816 ging deshalb als das "Jahr ohne Sommer " in die Geschichte ein