The Amazing Rawa Aopa ~ South Sulawesi (Celebes), Indonesia

In one of the world’s largest wetland ecosystems, Rawa Aopa Watumohai National Park in Southeast Sulawesi is full of flora, fauna, and stunning natural beauty.

Rawa Aopa Watumohai National Park covers an area of 105,194 hectares, not far from the main road between Kolaka and Kendari in Angata District, Konawe Selatan Regency. The park contains a wide variety of ecosystems: tropical rain forest, marsh, and mangrove. The Rawa Aopa area includes two shallow lakes 25 km wide and a hill with an elevation of 549 meters (Gunung Watumohai). The park is home to many types of plants and animals – water plants, birds, and dwarf buffalo (anoa), among others.

Eco Rustic ~ El Sanctuario Retreat Center, Loreto, Baja California, Mexico

Few places in the world can boast such beauty and diversity as Baja California in Northwestern Mexico. From organ pipe cacti to gray whales, ancient rock paintings to small fishing villages, and desert mountains to the diverse sea of Cortez, Baja provides an unforgettable international travel experience. Exploring by kayak is one of the best ways to appreciate the natural beauty and get personal with this stunning landscape. And then there is the equally rugged accommodation, El Santuario Retreat Center that offers a unique experience of rest, healing, and exploration on a serene sandy cove where the Baja desert meets the Sea of Cortez.

JAKARTA’S HIDDEN WILD SIDE

By Virginia Verastuti | May 2009

A sanctuary of calm within bustling Jakarta city proper. One of the city's best-kept secret.

Birds chirping, dense growths of mangrove and pedada trees swarming with long-tailed monkeys – it’s hard to imagine that all this can still be found in Jakarta, but it is, at the Muara Angke Wildlife Reserve in North Jakarta.

Entering the wildlife reserve, I was greeted by birds calling to one another from the mangrove and pedada trees. They seemed to be welcoming our arrival with the sounds of nature. It was all so peaceful and pleasant.

The Muara Angke Wildlife Reserve (Suaka Margasatwa Muara Angke, SMMA) is a small conservation area of mangrove forests on the north coast of Jakarta. It was originally established by the Netherlands Indies government as a nature preserve on 17 June 1939 with an area of 15.04 ha, and later expanded to 1,344.62 ha in the 1960s.