John Boyd Macdonald
John Boyd Macdonald
The Kebun Raya Balikpapan (Balikpapan Botanical Garden) is focussed on collecting, conserving and showcasing the unique trees, orchids and other plants of Kalimantan. Across its 307 hectares, it achieves this admirably. Most of that area consists of protected lowland dipterocarpus…
There are over 100 different species in the genus Baccaurea, which are mostly found from Thailand and Indonesia across to the western Pacific. At the Kebun Raya Balikpapan (‘KRB’ – the Balikpapan Botanical Garden) there are 99 specimens from four…
On Wednesday I travelled with workmates from the Kebun Raya Balikpapan (Balikpapan Botanical Gardens) to collect plant specimens from the nearby region of Kariangau. Despite the even-more-than-usually hot weather, it was a really enjoyable and very interesting little expedition. It’s…
The traditional ancestral house in Toraja, South Sulawesi, is known as a tongkonan. The name means ‘a place to sit’, because the tongkonan is the place where family and broader community members gather and meet. Unlike a lot of vernacular…
Hats off to Toraja! Celebrating some of the diversity of headwear on show in this very special part of Sulawesi. These faces exude great depth of character, so no further adornment or comment is needed.
Coffee was first brought to Indonesia by the Dutch around 1700, and now Indonesia is the world’s fourth-largest coffee producer. Since we first arrived in Indonesia in 2009, we’ve enjoyed a range of distinctive regional coffees – from Bali, Papua,…
The Toraja region of South Sulawesi is deservedly famous for its buffalo – but Torajans are also proud of their roosters. Brightly coloured, lean and athletic, and (dare I say it) looking rather cocky as they strut around. Here’s a…
Water buffalo generally give the appearance of being placid – slow dull gentle giants. Bovine, even. 500+ kilos of docility. But when they fight, they reveal quite a different dimension. There’s a loud clashing of heads, a locking of horns,…