WAKATOBI

Where the heck is Wakatobi? - Wakatobi Resort is in far Southeastern Sulawesi, Indonesia, positioned in the midst of a remote island archipelago group known to adventure travelers as Tukang Besi. Wakatobi is named after the four islands that surround it, Wangi Wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko. (Note the anagram Wa Ka To Bi). Yes its location is remote, quite literally on the fringe of "civilization." But that's precisely the point, for this remoteness is what makes the trip worthwhile.
Great News - While early explorations required an extended ferry boat ride from Kendari, it is now far easier to reach Wakatobi Resort. An excellent air strip has been constructed on the neighboring island of Tomia, receiving direct charter flights from Bali to the resort. The aircraft in use is an excellent Fokker 50. That is a 50-passenger, twin-engine turbo prop with two pro pilots and plenty of room for guests and gear. This air transit is a wonderful improvement to the Wakatobi experience, improving supply lines and making access immensely more comfortable and efficient.
On Arrival - From the Tomea airstrip, a 10-minute van ride is followed by a short boat ride across the channel to the resort's front door. Each time I return to Wakatobi it looks more like the ultimate island paradise of my dreams. If one were going there with visions of the Hyatt Regency Grand Cayman in mind, no doubt they'd be disappointed. On the other hand, if barefoot elegance and natural beauty are more your style, then you are in the right place. You'll take off your shoes to step ashore, and never give them another thought for the duration of your dive trip "at the end of the world."
Wakatobi Resort - This comfortable 26-room resort is set on the finest corner of the diminutive island of Tolandono. Facing the sea and the setting sun, the spacious main house is fronted by soft white sand beach and framed by large coconut palms swaying in the warm breeze. It's a showpiece of local materials, combining modern design concepts with traditional construction methods. The beautiful new open-air dining room and state of the art kitchen are just a few paces from the ocean. The old dining area has been converted into a spacious lounge, while the old long house now houses an air-conditioned library with a computer offering web and email access. The new lodging rooms are spacious individual bungalows. All rooms are now air-conditioned, and include private bath, good beds, ceiling fans, and big windows for breezy ventilation. Each bungalow has a pleasant little porch and a couple of lounge chairs for reading and enjoying the natural beauty of this remote and intriguing tropical island.


Wakatobi's great new bungalows...
cool, clean, comfortable, and VERY close to superb diving. The dive shop, gear lockers, and charging station are right next to the longhouse. In the equipment area, hangers are provided for guests' wet-suits and bcd's, and baskets for the rest of the gear. There are two air-conditioned camera rooms with 110 and 220 volt charging stations and plenty of space to change film, batteries, and digital capture cards. Considering the remote situation, Wakatobi's dive shop is well supplied. Available rental equipment includes masks, fins, snorkels, wetsuits, bcd's, and regulators with gauge console. In deference to guest comfort, the electrical generator and air compressor are placed well back in the jungle completely out of hearing.
Got Juice? - While power taps in the rooms are 220-volt, on request 110-volt converters may be supplied for your personal use. For re-charging of strobes, dive lights, etc., a convenient charging station in the dive shop provides both 110-volt and 220-volt outlets. FYI - Guests who bring disposable batteries are asked to pack them back out with them. The management's plan is that the heavy metals of decaying batteries will not be added to this natural environment.
The Dive Boats - Wakatobi now has a nice fleet of locally constructed dive boats. Four excellent 60-foot long dive boats were built in the neighboring village of Waha, specifically to the resort's requirements. Stable, spacious and comfortable, these boats are very broad of beam (wide) with a tank rack down the middle. There is plenty of space to gear up, a built in dip tank for cameras, and a toilet at the stern. All the vessels have good ladders for exiting the water. Wakatobi's fleet has expanded sufficiently so that these 60-foot dive boats need take only ten or twelve divers each, with a boat crew of three plus two dive guides. As a result, a number of my guests have remarked that these are the most comfortable and service-oriented day diving boats they've ever been on.
The Dive Sites - All PADI Instructors, the divemasters of Wakatobi have thus far identified more than forty dive sites within a twenty-minute boat ride or less. Most of the dives are around the home island of Tolandono, neighboring Sawa and Lintea, or nearby Tomia. As a result, a broad and dazzling variety of reefs, bottom strata, and extensive coral communities are easily accessible. More dive site exploration is underway, enabling guests to experience dive sites rarely visited my man. Best of all is the fact that the entire region is now a protected National Marine Park.
Diving Freedom - Once a diver has demonstrated his or her ability, they will enjoy virtually total diving freedom, afforded 24 hours per day. In a typical eleven-night stay, I personally logged 46 dives. One gung-ho fellow in my party, Michael Caron, has now visited Wakatobi three times. His logged dives during those trips are 57, 62, and 60 dives respectively. Wakatobi offers dawn dives, boat dives, beach dives, night dives, and everything in between. On the boat dives, owner Lorenz Maeder apologetically asks that divers limit their bottom time to 70 minutes. This generous cap is suggested in deference to the guests with lesser air consumption who might sit on the boat waiting. For dives on the house reef of course, there is no limit but the buddy teams' desire to stay wet and have fun. All diving should be within the no-decompression limits.
The Wakatobi Diving Experience - The keywords here would have to be the immense diversity and pristine condition of the reefs. The coral communities are as rich as I've seen anywhere in the world. There are massive coral heads, trees, and colonies swarming with reef fishes. There are a great variety of reef structures, and a delightful density of variously colored soft corals. Reefs start in three feet of water or less and the best diving wonderfully shallow. With easy access to the excellent house reef, the night and dawn diving are superb. In my estimation, Wakatobi offers the best shore dive in the world. The broad variety of dive sites and marine life meant that after 11 days of diving, we were still discovering new critters constantly.
My Favorite Sites - The house reef at Wakatobi is so good that some of the first professional photographers who visited elected never to make a boat dive. However, in my experience these big-shots were clearly "missing the boat." In fact, while I found the house reef to be nothing short of superb, a number of the dive sites make even it appear tame. Based on my own first twelve day visit to Wakatobi, and 46 logged dives for the duration, here are some of my favorite dive sites:

The House Reef - Actually three different sites are accessible directly off the beach in front of the resort. It's only 50 yards from the shoreline to the drop-off. You can go right, left, or enjoy the broad center reef. Highlights are a great variety of fishes, invertebrates, macro subjects, beautiful soft corals, gorgonians, tunicates, whips, sponges, rays, overhangs, and beyond all else an unsurpassed rainbow of color.Onamobaa Cavern - An extension of the house reef, this is one of the very best soft coral dives. Often compared with "Hanging Gardens" at Sipadan, it's actually yet larger and more diverse. Every part of the reef is covered with color and life. To preserve the natural beauty from an excess of bubbles, divers are now asked not to enter the cavern space.
Lorenz's Delight - Begin by plunging deep, where forests of immense yellow wire corals spiral 15 feet or higher off the steeply sloping wall. Then work your way up to the 60-foot range, where a continuing overhanging ledge harbors big sea fans framed in colorful soft corals. The brightly hued corals continue up to within a foot or two of the surface, flashing with schooling fish life. This dive has it all!
Inka's Palette - Beginning as a gentle slope, Inka's Palette plummets into the depths with multiple overhangs. There are very large tube sponges and a giant tridachna clam. The top section is covered in huge leather corals. As its name suggests, you will enjoy a colorful palette of hard and soft corals and good fish life.
Pastel Reef - Similar to Inka's in the array of life, the colors are diverse yet slightly more subdued to pastel hues. At depth, gardens of neon yellow wire corals spiral out into surrealistic shapes. Just remember that it's the current that makes the soft corals bloom. When the current is running, it's nothing short of a vastly beautiful dive.
Turkey Beach - When the current and sun are right this is a delightful shallow drift through an endless, brightly lit coral garden. A constant overhang runs from 15 to 30 feet. Two large canyons contain schools of batfish and bronze snappers. It's also a good spot for the chance to encounter turtles, eagle rays, and schools of bumphead parrotfish. This is one of the few places where, at around 80-90 feet, I noted a thermocline. Visibility above it was good, and below it was excellent.
Mari Mabuk (Let's Get Drunk) - This is a long ridge running from 15 down to 80 feet. It features huge sea fans, coral heads adorned in bright soft corals, and feather stars blooming in a frequently swift current. The saddle that bridges the reef contains blue ribbon eels, leaf fishes, crocodile fish, scorpion fish, nudibranches, and more.
Roma - In my opinion, Roma is as good as any dive site in the world. Starting in bright rays of light as shallow as five feet, large schools of fusiliers, pyramid butterfly, sergeant majors, hound fish, red tooth triggerfish and others swirl around you in an endless dance. A compact pinnacle in the center of the reef, crammed with color and life, is a complete dive in itself. Banded sea snakes are common here, but fear not, they are placid creatures and make exciting photo subjects. This is a dive you will definitely want to repeat, for "all roads lead to Rome."

Unlimited Bottom Time - Of special note is the fact that most every one of these reefs begins in just a foot or two of water. While there are some awesome, bottomless deep dives at Wakatobi, in almost all cases for me the most interesting diving was between 60 feet and the surface. The majority of my photos were shot above 40 feet. Resort owner Lorenz Maeder loves diving as much as any one I have ever met. He knows what you've come for, and is not afraid to provide it. The final result is that, for capable divers, virtually unlimited bottom time is attainable, along with endless opportunities for underwater photography.
Avoid the Crowds - Another critical fact is that Wakatobi is totally removed from the rest of the diving world. At the time of this writing, you and your dive buddies will be the ONLY divers enjoying the huge wealth of diving that surrounds the resort. Of equal importance to those in need of a diving vacation is the realization that there's no TV, no phone, no newspapers, etc. For the duration of your stay, you can be blissfully ignorant of the baser goings on in the rest of world. Fear not though, the resort is connected to the world with satellite telephone, fax, and email. You will also enjoy the opportunity to meet the local people, see how they live, and come away with photographs to remind you of how lucky we really are in the Western world.
What Marine Life Can You See? - After the first week of diving, one of my groups sat down together after dinner to log the marine life we had encountered thus far. Following is a partial list of our sightings:

Anemone fish, angel fish, anthias, banded coral shrimp, barracuda, batfish, bigeye, blanquillo, blennies, blue ringed octopus, blue spotted sting rays, boxfish, bream, broad range of lionfish, bumphead parrot, butterfly fish, cardinal fish, catfish, clown fish, comet longfin, conger eel, crabs, coris, crocodile fish, cuttlefish, damselfish, dolphin, splendid dottyback, durgeons, eagle rays, fairy basslets, fire dartfish, flashlight fish, filefish, flounder, frog fish, fusiliers, pufferfish, goatfish, gobies, grouper, gurnards, Harry the pet jawfish, hawkfish, houndfish, jack, leaf fish, lizardfish, lobster, mantis shrimp, many live shells, many nudibranch, moorish idols, moray eel, mullet, needlefish, octopus, ornate ghost pipefish, panther fish, rabbitfish, razorfish, rockhinds, scorpionfish, sea cucumbers, sea snakes, sharp nosed puffer, shrimp, slipper lobster, snapper, squirrel fish, starfish, surgeonfish, sweet lips, tridacna clams, titan triggerfish, travalles, tuna, tunicates galore, turtle, unicorn fish, various triggerfish including the lovely Picasso trigger, white tip shark, and of course we saw your wrasse.

The Corals - Even more so than the fishes, at Wakatobi one swims about in awe of the lovely hard and soft coral formations. For my part, I can tell you that Wakatobi has presented me with the most beautiful, healthy, diverse, and pristine reefs I've ever had the pleasure of diving. My conviction is based on twenty-five years of dive travel, and 3,000+ logged dives. But it's still just one man's opinion. For additional perspective, I asked my group to provide some descriptive assistance. Some of the adjectives that were immediately put forward included: "Colorful, enormous, eye popping, lush, psychedelic, rainbowed, riotous, stupendous, varied, verdant," and the one tossed out first - "voluptuous." Seems that they shared my estimation! At this end of this report you will also find a link to verbatim customer comments from recent Wakatobi visitors.
The Food - Of course, divers can not survive on Nitrogen alone. Remarkably, this remote diving outpost now hosts superb Balinese chefs trained in 5-star hotels. With the combination of great local cuisine, and the addition of Continental flair, the meals at Wakatobi are better than ever. Breakfast always includes excellent bread baked at the resort, butter, peanut butter, various jams, oatmeal, eggs cooked to order, and a noodle dish. Almost every lunch and dinner includes a home made soup, rice or noodles, and fish or chicken. My vegetarian diet, and that of other guests, was also easily accommodated. Desserts range from fresh tropical fruits, to fancy European-style confections. Filtered drinking water and hot water for tea and coffee are made available 24 hours per day. Beer and soft drinks are available at moderate additional expense.
Tips for Underwater Photographers - Okay, I've been shooting underwater for more than 25 years. I'm far from a pro photog, but do well enough for the slide shows I present around the country, brochures, web site, etc. On my first trip to Wakatobi I brought 38 rolls of film...and ran out of film with two days to go. I shot 60mm and 105mm macro, I shot 20mm and 24-50mm wide angle in the housing, and the 15mm on the Nikonos. The only hard part is deciding which lens to go with next. Now digital photography makes it even more fun! There are limitless opportunities for fish and invertebrate pictures, but the soft corals and huge fans are so inviting that it's hard to resist setting up just one more wide-angle op. I was also glad to have handy a good topside camera with telephoto lens. It's a full time job just to photograph the strange assortment of native dugout canoes, sail boats, and tramp supply vessels that sail around the point beside the resort. You'll also have many opportunities to photograph the local people, villages, and traditional ways of Indonesian life. Bottom line - bring a broad variety of camera options…and plenty of digital capture cards!

Range of Conditions:

Topside Temperature......26-30 centigrade average 28.....(76-86 Fahrenheit)
Water Temperature.........24-29 centigrade average 27....(78-82 Fahrenheit)
Visibility Range...............20-50 meters............................(60-150 feet)

Sea Conditions - In season, sea state around the resort is generally calm and flat. Rides to the dive sites are relatively short, and lee shore diving is always available.
Currents - Indonesian diving is well known for unpredictable currents. At Wakatobi it is not uncommon to experience occasional current changes during the course of a dive. As a result, some are anchor dives and others are planned as drift dives. The boat operators are very good at following the bubbles, and divers are provided with large and effective inflatable surface markers. Many dives may be enjoyed with moderate or little current, but overall this is a destination for more experienced divers, comfortable and capable of diving in current and a variety of conditions.
Seasonality - The resort is open late March through the end of December. It's closed during the wet monsoon period in January and February. My five visits have ranged from August through early December, and the conditions, both topside and underwater, were nothing less than excellent. We enjoyed calm seas, picture perfect skies, and comfy temperatures.
Is Wakatobi the Place for You? - If you can't sleep on long plane rides, or are a squeamish traveler, better stay home. But if you really love to dive, and are looking for your next great underwater adventure - consider making the pilgrimage to Tukang Besi, Indonesia and see Wakatobi Resort for yourself. I suspect you'll be very glad that you did.

Download for Picture 

taken from :  http://www.divetrip.com/wakatobi/

DIVE SITES

The total area of the Bunaken National Marine Park is 89 065 ha and includes the five islands of Bunaken, Siladen, Manado Tua, Montehage and Nain, as well as parts of the coastal area of North Sulawesi mainland. There are more than 40 dive sites around the islands and along Manado Bay.

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WALLS OF BUNAKEN

Vertical walls, reef sharks, turtles, Pygmy sea horses and many surprises

The eastern side of Bunaken Island offers superb wall diving and excellent snorkelling. The vertical wall has many cracks and small caves and is covered with soft and hard corals, gorgonians and huge sponges. Fishes are so abundant that it is impossible to list all the species found here.

Some examples are: barracudas, triggerfishes, parrotfishes, surgeonfishes, unicornfishes, wrasses, drummers, butterflyfishes, trumpetfish, trevallys, groupers, snappers, sweetlips, angelfishes, needlefishes and batfishes.

Possible encounters include turtles, whitetip and blacktip reef sharks bumphead parrotfish, napoleon wrasse, eagle rays and blue-spotted stingrays. The shallows are unbelievably colourful and full of life. Excellent spot for night dives, too.

What has been said about diving on the east side of Bunaken (Timur):

"This is truly breathtaking, an incredible dive any time of day; but dived early morning or late afternoon, when the light begins to die and the fish start feeding in earnest, Timur is the diving equivalent of a religious experience. ... There is more variety on this site, given the right conditions, than I have seen anywhere else in Indonesia. If it's in the fish guidebook, it's on this reef - and it would truly take a whole book to recite the species spotted on even a single dive. ...

Whatever you do and however you dive it, don't miss this spot. If you could do only one dive in North Sulawesi, this would have to be it." (The dive sites of Indonesia, Guy Buckles, 1995)

The Southern side of the island has beautiful coral slopes in a deep calm bay, as well as vertical winding walls with stronger currents. This side of the island has a high diversity of fishes, corals and sponges, and good spots for snorkelling. There are huge schools of fusiliers, pyramid butterflyfishes, bannerfishes and damselfishes.

Other species you might bump into are reef sharks, napoleon wrasses, hawksbill and green turtles, great barracudas, eagle rays, snappers, scorpionfishes and leaf fishes. Invertebrates include a variety of differently shaped hard corals, black corals, gorgonians, giant barrel sponges, nudibranchs and giant clams.

The dive sites on the western and northern sides of Bunaken are vertical walls abundant with reef fishes, sharks, lobsters, whip corals and giant gorgonians with tiny Pygmy sea horses. You might also see large emperors, red snappers, groupers, dogtooth tuna, eagle rays, giant trevally, turtles and barracudas. Even manta rays, mola mola, hammerhead sharks and whalesharks have been seen around Bunaken.

 

MUCK DIVING IN MANADO BAY

World class muck diving with strange creatures

The dive sites on the coast of the mainland, vary from sloping beautiful coral walls, rich with large tabular Acropora sp., reef fishes, nudibranchs, ribbon eels and unusual green tree corals, to sandy bottom environments. There are many excellent muck-diving sites, favourites among uw photographers. Giant frogfish, ghost pipefish, sea horses, mimic octopus, Spanish dancer and many, many more.

The Wreck − Half way to Manado on the coast of the mainland lays a 60-m long W.W.II shipwreck at 25-40 meters depth. The wreck is covered with colourful soft corals and it is a perfect hiding place for reef sharks and numerous other fishes. Highlights are different colour leaf fishes, scorpion fishes and nudibrachs. Next to the wreck on a sandy slope you can find an unbelievable variety of coral crabs, shrimps, nudibranchs, pipefish, ghost pipefish, crocodilefish, ribbon eels and garden eels as well as other interesting creatures.  

 

SILADEN

Beautiful coral gardens with colourful reef fishes

The southern side of Siladen Island has a vertical wall in large steps. The reef top is spectacular with a huge variety of hard and soft corals, and it is therefore an excellent spot for snorkelling, too.

The northern side of the island has a reef flat with sand, gravel and massive corals. Enjoy your dive amongst reef fishes, moray eels, ribbon eels, garden eels, anemonefishes, dogtooth tuna, stingrays and turtles.

MANADO TUA

Magnificent walls, big stuff and strong currents

The dive sites around Manado Tua have stunning steep vertical winding walls with many cracks, canyons and small caves. You can enjoy beautiful hard and soft corals, reef fishes, turtles and reef sharks. Occasional strong currents at some sites bring big schools or barracudas and trevallies together with sharks right in front of your eyes.

 

MONTEHAGE

Unbelievable amount of different coral species

Here you can expect to see very large schools of blackfin barracudas, giant and big-eye trevally, dogtooth tuna, great barracudas, napoleon wrasses, emperors, turtles, eagle rays and schools of bumphead parrotfishes. Hammerhead sharks have been encountered in the deeper waters. The amount of different coral species on the eastern side of the island has astonished even the most experienced marine biologists!

NAIN

Deep canyons and coral gardens

The island is surrounded by huge fields of hard corals, an amazing diversity of invertebrate fauna, big fishes and deep canyons - to be discovered by you once you get here!

Information about resort HERE

taken from : http://www.livingcoloursdiving.com/en/diving-snorkling/diving-bunaken

Maluku

The Maluku Islands are an archipelago in Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi, west of New Guinea, and north of Timor. The islands were also historically known as the Spice Islands by the Chinese and Europeans, but this term has also been applied to other islands.

Culture and tradition Culture and tradition

It was since years ago Maluku was familiar with the art of carving. This can be proven with numbers of wood carved or stone carved for the ancestor's worshiping. Generally, the carving patterns are in the form of human and the placement can be difference according to the purposes. The carving can be placed at the boat prow, at the house front ladder at the village gate or at other special spot. Earthenware Vessel Art The work of this art is usually done traditionally in southeast Maluku, the place where can be found lots of clay, a main material for this art. The best season to burn earthenware vessel is during hot season, which is normally in August until October. Forming the earthenware is using arm or other equipment such as wood for example. If necessary can be colored or carved at the surface, and that also done in a very simple method, which is during the clay still smooth, before burned. The decoration pattern is varying. The earthenware from southeast Maluku for instant, it tends to use straight lines/stripes. While from Aru it is colored with the shape of geometry and shaped by straight lines after the burn. Weave Art The southeast Maluku is rich for weave artwork; in fact, it has cultural relationship with its neighbor, eastern southeast Nusa. Yet, not in every island in southeast Maluku this art has its place. To the contrary, in the region where weave art is booming, the carving art is less booming. The art of weaving in Maluku is using a lot of red, blue, brown or black with thin stripes pattern with or without pattern, for the exchange to be using wide stripes. From the means of work and pattern color, it is obvious that the Maluku weave art has a closed relationship with the wave art from eastern southeast Nusa Tenggara. Plait Art Several type of household in southeast Maluku made through plait. Basket, boxes and bags are the items commonly made. They are used for storing and carrying stuff. The fish catcher is also plaited. The plaited material is not always related to the households; however, it can also be used for religion ceremony. The basic material for plaiting is usually bamboo, rattan or leave from palm tree. Plait artwork consists of various techniques, from a very simple one until a complex one. Women generally are using palm tree, whilst men are using bamboo or rattan. The pattern, which usually applied, is a dancing person, stars, spiral/spring, fish, moons, and even family badge. Family Hair loom The beauty of Maluku is also shone from the sparkle of gold jewelry. Tanimbar, Babar and surrounding Kisar have a tradition in gold craft. The gold itself is not mined there. The gold crafter obtains it from the trader who comes from Madagascar, Bugis, and from the Dutch and British at that time. The gold jewelry usually made in the form of bracelet, earring, crown, head accessories, necklace, clothing accessories as well as plate. The crafter roughs them with various patterns. The pattern can be in the form of stars, animals, human, or art. It indeed represents symbolic purposes. The pattern can also be designed a dead creature. The gold jewelry represents a distinctive status in the society as what they meant to be. Presently, that gold jewelry remains stored by the inheritance. They are stored and covered in the particular basket. On during certain occasion such religion ceremony. They are disclosed on ritual ceremony. In addition, they can be performed to the interested party with certain sum of money compensation. They are allowed to take picture. However, the person who allowed to wear it only those who inherited those jewelry. Traditions Maluku is rich with cultural tradition. Fortunately, that tradition is remained preserved up to present and still can be enjoyed. Crazy bamboo for example, several people holding bamboo accompanied with local music, swinging, that seems to live and moves itself. The musical instruments are also distinctive from Maluku, such as blowing a shell, tifa and totobuang. There is also a tradition that takes place after 7 days of Iedul Fitri in Mamala and Morela. The youngster from the village, holding palm leaves rib, hitting to each other. While the scar caused to that, is healed by rubbing particular oil that prepared. Kora-kora race up to present is remained a tradition that never leave behind. It is commenced on April in several villages; it takes more or less 8 km. The kora-kora race is also meant to commemorate the anniversary of Ambon. There are lots more of tradition, until the customs in the month September in Haruku islands. Wherein the people seek and gather Maleo bird's egg that meant to conserve those species. In traditional dancing, Maluku has several traditional dances, one of them known as Sawat dance. And the dance that popular and known through out the nation and even the first president of Indonesia, Bung Karno, loved it a lot. That is called Lenso dance. download here for information taken from : http://indahnesia.com/indonesia/MALCUL/

TORAJA LAND PEOPLE

The name of Toraja is as popular as Bali and Yogyakarta among tourism society and traveling interests. The same as Bali and Yogyakarta, Toraja is one of the sub-ethnic in Indonesia having special character and is able to keep their ancestor's tradition truly Indonesia. The people should be proud of all these, when most others have lost their roots, which will be difficult to get it back. It is believed that while entering modernization, the non supportive aspects of the tradition will automatically transforming yet must be still on its color, although other religion might have been incorporated into their tradition, which will not make them strangers on their ancestor's land. The name Toraja today refers the name of people live on the navel of Sulawesi or known also as Celebes island. The location is 400 kms from Makassar city, 60 kms from Port of Palopo on the altitude of 800 to 1000 meters above sea level. Travelers visiting Toraja using flight or sea transport to arrive at Makassar city then by land to the town of Rantepao in the middle of Toraja land. Researchers on anthropology wrote the people is called Toraja Sa'dan or Tae, to differentiate them from the Torajan living in Poso and Baree people living in Central Sulawesi. The Toraja Sa'dan included those living at the area of Mamasa, the people of Rongkong Pantilang Rateballa on the area of Luwu, east coast of south Sulawesi, and Duri people on the area of Enrekang. All of them have very close dialect and tradition. On wider relation experts say Toraja people is sub-ethnic of Bugis, that is the ethnic group that reside South and Central Sulawesi, studied from their tradition and dialect. In accordance to the Bugis tradition one of their king of Makassar declared himself as the descendant of Toraja. According to A.T. Marampa, a local writer the number of Torajan was estimated around 2 million people. The name of Toraja according him was originated from Dutch, who translate the word Toriaya as people from mountain. The pronouncement of Toraja by Dutch and the Indonesian Toriaya must be the same, because changes of alphabet was formally made in 1972 then Toraja is pronounce as Toradja by people outside Toraja. A.T. Marampa mentioned on his book " Mengenal Toraja" within dialect of Toraja are found the word " Toraa" and "Toraya" To means people, Raa means generous, cheap, hospitable, compassion. So it denotes generous and compassionate people The fact that Toraja has developed into one of prominent tourist destination in Indonesia is just because of the hospitality of it's people. It is believed that Torajan is the migrant from Asia mainland during metal age, as also other ethnics of Indonesia around 2.500 to 1.500 years ago This were the migrations from Indo-China which continuing until 20th century, known as the boatmen. Seen from the house it is very clear that Toraja house imitates the shape of boat and a pole of boat called sompa is also found at the from of their house, although they live on the mountain. On the area of Sidrap also south Sulawesi live people with the tradition like Toraja, and this people is called Tolautang or Tolotang means sea people. The tradition of burial place with round long stone put upright stand place to tie buffaloes is called Rante. This is the tradition of new big stone ages known in archaeology as neo-megalithic ages and the upright stones is called menhirs or dolmens. This tradition was found in Europe such as in France, Sweden and England. Traditional believe of Torajan is called Aluk Todolo, Aluk means guidance, Todolo means the first grand mother. It describes about the creation of universe and its content, the separation between earth and sky. The separation created light and the sky bring the character of male, and earth as the female. The combination of these 2 aspects created first human being called "Datu Laukku" That's why new born baby will cry "ukku.. ukku", she/he call the Datu Laukku. In case the baby can't cry "ukku" she/he would mute for life.It is mentioned also in Aluk Todolo the tradition after the birth of first human being that various living beings and experts in the various aspects of life also born. The connection between sky and earth was facilitated by a tower called Eran Dilangi. Human beings can reach the nature of god ( Puang Matua through this tower bridge, and it was going well until the first human sin done to the heaven, when a Saratu the trusted Puang Matua, stole the golden matches of the sky. This accident caused the bridge between sky and earth deconstructed, and the connection can only be done through sacrifice of chicken and pigs. Puang Matua give authority then to Puang Titanan Talluy or the Trinity : Puang Banggai Rante, is the god that controls the earth Puang Tulak Padang, is the god that controls the content of the earth Gaun Tikembong, is the god that controls the sky, wind and thunder Whoever damage the earth or sky will soon be known by the gods and give the punishment in the form of natural catastrophes. Other god is Tomembali Puang, who gives guidance for death ceremony. Here Puang is the spirit of dead person that has got complete rituals such as Mrauk and M'bua feasts. Rules of Aluk Todolo quoted a small parts as follows : Do not annoy the ritual of the death Do not doing illegal sex Do not trouble market Slave is banned to marry noble family Do not leave the house at the same time with contradictory direction No thievery Do not kill human being No liar Do not betray parents Do not put feces in well Do not torture child of pasteur Do not take any material in the cemetery Do not torture breeded animal A.T. Marampa mentioned these rules up to 100 points. Some of various punishments, such as killing, the family of murdered take an oaths that will not do any type of connection with the family of killer forever, a slave married noble member will be exiled for life, an incest will be shown that they should be burnt to the as, but as change their cloths plus pig and buffalo will be burnt to ash at front of them and the people. The head of ritual of Aluk Todolo is called " Tominaa" from middle class, and Tomebalun from lowe class. The work on dedication no salary, no donation for them. This is a real good philosophy of human being to live with the objective as ruled by Aluk Todolo and it's functionaries which is much better than religions we know so far except the oversized rituals should be resize and the numbers be reduced if not united into one type for the same objective, such as the death ritual. It is well aware that all religions at the beginning basically use rituals as the educational factor, while more educated the people the more shifting to the philosophy contain on the religion. If the philosophy is found does not fit to the modern spiritual it will be discarded. Those religions that still live and use old ritualistic in the modern time will be legged behind even plunge into unending poverty. Dialect of Toraja introduces polite and non polite words. Such as addressing with personal words you, me, they etc. The words are physically the same as bahasa Indonesia; you -> kamu, iko, but to whom kami can be addressed as polite is depending on Torajan, and there are different nuance between east and west part of Toraja land. Their language has great similarity with those spoken on west coast of Central Sulawesi called the "Mandar" Many words using apostrophes ' such as ta'de meaning lost, ma'rang meaning thirsty, mata'ka meaning tired, and no word ending with ..s, or ...r, such as Lukas they say Luka, Christus they say Krittu. Social layers is also known in Toraja, the terminology of "Tana' refers to classes, such as Tana'Balaan the highest strata with the title "Tokapua" is the group of nobility that own bigger part of the land, leaders on various fields of life, various title are known such as Tosugi, Puang, Ma'dika, Siambe ( man ), Sindo ( woman ) and Pong. The strata of Tana'Bassi with the title of Tomakaka is middle layer also own land but smaller then Tokapua. The layer of Tana'Karurung or Tana'Kuakua, consist of 70% of Toraja people in the past they were slaves of Tokapua and this group is banned to marry the above 2 classes. Marriage for Torajan is considered an education for person to self responsibility. The decision for selecting partner can be among the couple or still in some degree the involvement of parents. The rule is also mentioned on Aluk Todolo. Kinship system is based on both father and mother line. So a newly wed couple can sty at wife's parent house for some times and at husband parent's house for the rest until they can build their own house. The most ideal marriage for Toraja people is monogamy, although in the past the nobility often found to do polygamy. Program for visiting Tana Toraja has been freely available and one of the most popular one can be read here the land of Toraja. download for information taken from : http://www.balitouring.com/culture/toraja.html

THE MENTAWAI PEOPLE

Mentawai island is one line with Nias and located further South, near West Sumatra, and reside Pagai, Sipora, and Siberut islands. Physically they are the same as Nias people, and speak a variation of Melayu-Polinesian language. Since the location of the islands is aside from the sea traffic, actually until today the development is not significant yet. They have already learnt Christian by missionaries since 18th centuries, so until now almost 98% of them are Christian and Catholic. This culture is interesting for anthropologist to explore the simple life where nature still regulate their every day life. The oldest record about Mentawai population was made in 1796 recorded 11.090, in 1930 recorded 17.900 and 1966 recorded 20.000. The Mentawai consist of 4 main islands, the Siberut, Sipora, Pagai Utara and Pagai Selatan. Mentawai islands are covered by dense forest with mountain in the middle of the islands stretches from north to south as it all islands are connected. Record until 1980 still found all island had premier forest even up to the beach. All beaches covered by dense coconut trees, and no one of the village was visible from the sea or from the air. All villages are located near the river's estuary, yet still 5kms deep in;and from the beach. Each village has an average of 150 people, while at Pagai Utara and Siberut islands can be found a village with 500 residents. In the past a village was consist of one big house built on stilt and enclosed by small houses as the house of families which were also on stilt. On the surrounding of the village was cultivated their fruits trees. They also cultivated land under big trees in the forest. The big house called Uma with the size 25 x 10 meters on strong poles 1,5m high including in all house total height can reach 10m. To reach the room is used wooden steps directly contact to from and side terrace. The terrace enclosed all Uma. The door from front area bring one to wide room with gallery to the back on which sides are smaller rooms for sleeping. Front room is considered a holy place. The function of Uma as until today still can be found is the place for organizing traditional ritual for the numbers whom still have blood relation, and at the front room are preserved various valuable traditional heirs, in anthropology known as fetish. Some materials are considered as charms beside also arms and human skeletons. This front room is also used by guest who need to overnight during their trip. According to the record this type of house with it's original function has started to disappeared during 1920, especially in Pagai Selatan island, yet the Uma can still be seen in some villages, and functioned only as meeting places, school, and also ever as church. The former smaller stilt houses also become more and more disappeared or only used as meeting places. It is lucky that some of these houses can still be seen until today. The main subsistence of the Mentawai is simple farming be clearing the land from small and medium trees, burn the cut plantation for fertilizer. The main cultivation is yam (Colocasea esculenta), Taro (dioscoren Alata), rice, banana, papaya, sugar cane, vegetable, and medicaments. The Mentawai introduces rice since around 1930s, quiet in contrary with the rest of Asian ethnics who have been cultivating rice since farming revolution. Clearing the land is the assignment of men, while for the treatment of growing is taken over by women. The exclusive work dome by men is hunting of pigs, deer, birds, monkey and others using bows. It is know that before Christian religious reaching the island, youths and girls of 16-20 years among members of Uma, this ritual called Rimata. Rimata was also the 4 persons who was respected as the leader who take care of family heirs, and various social activities of an Uma. When a Mentawai is dead all his heritages were divided among his children, but if her did not have child it will be distributed for his brothers and sisters. For the women when she got married with a man and bring her children from her previous marriage, these children would not got the heritage, as they would be given by their father or mother which during the marriage was separated from husband's wealth. Record in 1966 mentioned that 55% Christian, 34% Catholic and 11% Moslem. Although foreign religions have been accepted in Mentawai, yet original concept of ritual is continued, until now. The Mentawai has the concept of life and after here. The spirit that bring human to alife is called "Simagere". When human being is dead his/her spirit left the body and live around human place. This spirit is called "Sabulungan", The spirit that make human being to be strong and powerful is called "Kere", while the spirit that protect houses called "Kira", Evil spirits that can trouble human being is called "Sanitu". The Mentawai also introduce magician who was consulted for medicament called "Sikeree". The basic concept of Sikerei is almost the same as other ethnics of the world, that using the stranger's soul as the cause of the diseas or assumption that the patient has offensed their fasting had been intimate relation, beside also girls had been in intimate relation with her youth in her village. Some times a girl gives birth a child without formal marriage, which then the child will be cared by her parents. A formal marriage would then be reached if the couple advised their wish to their parents. Also friends, and neighbor will be informed of the marriage. It was not recorded, that following a marriage if was a special ritual or traditional ceremony such as in Nias. When a couple has reached their 40s, usually the husband build a new house to upgrade his status in the society. With his new status he then become a busy man to fulfill traditional activities in the village, doing very strict fasting season which is called "Punen". The fasting limited man in meals, economic activities and intimate relation. With his new status he would also add more burden to take care of his sons, daughters and even grand children. His new house would be completed with charms, relics, and other family heirs. In Mentawai word this new status of a family was called to have been reaching "Lalep". Where a husband was respected by their society. When Christianity reached the island changes happened and the meaning of "Penen" become holiday. On Siberut island until today can still be seen a ritual of initiation for children or members between 12-15 years to become full member of the Uma. This will bring the equal right and obligation for the members that got initiation ceremony. Normally the feast is big followed by skin tattoo age the leader of. On 25 October 2010 a massive 7.2 Richter scale quake devastated the lowland of Mentawai islands namely North Pagai island, Sipora and South Pagai island. The quake triggered a 12 meters high tsunami swept some villages left only land. damaged 25.426 houses, flattened six hamlets and forced 4,500 residents to evacuate to temporary shelters, according to report until 1 November 2010 300 people died and about 100 more were missing. The quake happened at 21.00 when all people at home and some might slept already. The tsunami came only 10 minutes after the quake. The disaster is only 1 year after the massive quake struct West Sumatra killing 1000 persons in 30 September 2009, deadly quake and tsunami of Aceh in 26 December 2004, and Nias lethal quake in 28 March 2005 killing more then 8.000 people. download for picture TAKEN FROM :  http://www.balitouring.com/culture/mentawai.htm

THE BATAK PEOPLE

The term "Batak" is used to refer the original resident of North Sumatra. The areas referred to as their country is stretching from Medan up to the areas around lake Toba and further South in Mandailing regency, the border of West and North Sumatra. Four sub-group is known for this Batak tribe those are Batak Karo, Batak Toba, Batak Mandailing, and Batak Simalungun. There is no physical and social differences, just a slight different in not visible behavior and dialect. Their different names refers the area where they live. Most of them are a Christian or Catholic, since around 18th century many Christian missionaries live in North Sumatra. They also have Mongoloid characters, and speak Malayu- Polinesian language as the other part of Sumatra. Among them Toba was the latest area to open with other part of Sumatra, but soon getting so famous due to their natural beauty around Lake Toba with Samosir island on it. Historical remains of the Batak Toba in the past is still preserved well such as ancient king burial, slaughting altar, and the Tor Tor dance. These are all on the beach of Samosir island. Now on the beach of Samosir island and across the lake called city of Parapat have been developing very fast as a tourists resort area with dozens of hotel small and big, nice roofed boats to cross the lake or sight seeing between island and places on the bank of the lake. The people of Batak is the resident of North Sumatra highland such as the present district of Tanah Karo, Simalungun, Tapanuli utara, Tapanuli Tengah, Tapanuli Selatan, Dairi and Ashan. That is also the ethnic of Batak is further grouped according to their district into sub ethnic of Karo, Simalungun, Pakpak, Toba, Angkola, and Mandailing. According to the record in 1930, the Karo were 120.000 persons, the Simalungun were 50.000, the Toba were 400.000, the Mandailing were 160.000 persons. Batak language also has the variation which are spoken by sub ethnics such Karo dialect, Pakpak dialect, Simalungun dialect, and Toba dialect spoken by the Toba, angkola and Mandailing. Figure in 1930 for the whole North Sumatra in 1930 was 2.500.000 and only 30 years later had double the number into 5.000.000 Compared to the size of North Sumatra which is 70.787 square kms, the density is only 70 person per square meter. As other ethnic of Indonesia the Batak also has house and village certain pattern which is specific for them. Terminologies such as huta at Batak Toba refers a territory of one clan, The Karo use the name kesain, while kreta for the Karo is bigger then huta in Toba, which consist of various clans. In the past both kuta and huta were enclosed by tight woods as a wall of resistence against the attack of other huta or kuta. Within a kuta or a huta there are some rows of houses among which is open place as a yard for the place of ceremony of marriage, death and others. Some hutas had deep canal around, or high wall for their resistance. In it's court yard also built the farming rice granary which was also used as sleeping place by younger generations. Every villages of Karo, Simalungun and Mandailing have public hall for meeting, while for Batak Toba they have a spot of land near the main gate of huta. A typical mark of huta is a banyan tree at the front, which is considered as the symbol of nature. This idea reminds about villages in Bali. The pattern has now experienced much changes especially those resistance aspects as the war among kuta and huta has been in exist anymore. Lumban refers to an area settled by part of clan, and only exist in Toba. Sasor is a new small settlement, built because the huta has been full. The sasor after years can be developed into a huta if physical and spiritual characters have been fulfilled, and is given the approval by the bius. The terms of bius, partahian, urung and partumpukan each is used by the Batak of Toba, Angkola, Karo, Simalungun and Pakpak refers a unit of some hutas or kutas. In this case clannish border is neglected. The establishment of a huta must be followed by a ritual and paid the debt to the main huta. The ritual is started with the offering to the god of the earth called Boraspati ni tano. The offering consist of Batak land product, and conducted by a shaman called "datu". This ceremony reminds about the same process of building a house in Bali which is called "Ngeruak" which is addressed to the god of rice "Dewi Sri", or the mother earth "Pertiwi". The son of Pertiwi is often referred as "Banaspati". So it should have been relation between the Batak and Balinese in some aspect of life under the Hindu influence. Batak house is called "Uma" or "Jabu" Toba, which shows they have same root with Balinese and other Indonesian ethnics. The Uma or Jabu is built on many wooden poles, but do not as high as those house on stilt on the islands. Their wooden board wall is made sloping, with roof made of palm black fibres. The size around 10 to 10 meters elongated east-west orientation. Doors are constructed on the west and east sides at Karo and Simalungun, while at Toba entrance is from the roof, and on the west and east side of the house have high caps the place to put buffalo horns. The peak of the house is made half circle. At Karo there is an ayo beside on Uma. An ayo is decorated with geometric ornamentations with colors red, white, yellow and black. On the right and left are put sculptures, human head or lion's head sculptures. The wall is tied with rope made of black palm fibre to look like lizard. A typical aspect of Karo house which can not be found at other Batak houses is the bamboo terrace constructed at the front of the house as the place of the girl to meet with youth for a visit. A Batak house in general is a home for more than one families connected on genealogy, only in Toba that a house is for big families, as they live in virilocal system. In general the Batak live as farmer, grow rice with irrigation system, except at Karo and Simalungun there are still working at dry land by clearing and burn forest. At the dry land the owner of the land is the Kuta or huta, they have the right on the land, but there also land owned individually, for example what is called panjaean land, which is given to their son after his marriage as the capital for their life while pauseang land is the land given to a daughter after her marriage with same purpose as Panjaean. In general the Batak still cultivate the land by simple way, only once a year s harvest can be yielded. Women do not involve in process of cultivation. Other short live horticultures are not grown except on the shore of lake Toba. Their tools of cultivating land is still simple such as ; hue, plough, poles, and knife to harvest. The plough in Batak language is called "tenggala" exactly the same name as Balinese used in Batak, the tenggala is drown by buffalowm while in Bali by 2 cows. Other subsistence for most of Batak society is growing pigs, cows, and chicken, for , meat supply to big city like Medan as well as the need of ceremony. The land of Batak Toba has the most beautiful scenery such as the view of Lake Toba with it's Samosir island. On the northern wall of Toba crater is a magnificent water fall called Sipiso-piso. This natural setting combined with tradition of the Batak on the island of Samosir has been one of the most visited destination is Indonesia. Combined with specific fauna of Orangutans at Mount Leuser national park, north Sumatra has become very famous destination. An example of tour program to this natural beauty can be visited here Bohorok tour. Marriage tradition in Batak society in the past born kinship system at the same level of understanding between sub-ethnic of the Batak with some different terminologies for certain kinship aspects. The ideal marriage according to Batak old tradition is merry the daughter of mother's broder's daughter. A youth was not free to choose his partner, he must follow the family tradition. Today this tradition is not followed by a large part of the society anymore. The initiative of delivering a plan of marriage was taken by the family of the youth by sending a formal messengers to the family of the girl. If the plan has been accepted by the family of the girl, then a discussion will take place between the family of the youth and the girl. This is concerning the amount of gift to be given to girl family, which were consist of sum of money, accessories, buffaloes, and pigs. The amount of gift that will be given to the brother of girl's mother, the amount of gift that will be given to the brother of girl's grand mother. The amount of gift to be given to the sisters of girl's mother, the amount of gift to be given to the brother of girl's mother. Besides the family of the girl there are also gift for brothers of girl's father. During the feast of marriage, usually the buffaloes and pigs were cooked for the members of Kuta or Huta that participated the feast. During the feast that the gift is given according to the tradition. Living tradition after marriage normally with the family of husband or virilocal, while there were some live with wife family or uxorilocal when the family of husband was poor. A large part of Batak society are monogamy, while polygamy is not practiced, although customary low does not prohibit this practice. In case a window with her children then married a second husband, she and her children have no right on the wealth of the family. If the husband is dead, the widow must merry the brother of her husband or one of husband relative. If she doesn't want to, she ask divorce, and only the son can decide the divorce, or the grandchild. Procedure of normal divorce is that, the husband present his problem to the head of the customs who will call an elders to call the family of both sides. In this meeting will be decided who has been wrong. If the wife has been wrong she has to return double of the amount of gift received during marriage ceremony. If the husband is wrong, all his lost as a result of giving gifts and other will not be returned. The clan of Batak people. Batak people introduces clan before western tradition influenced them which is shown by their naming tradition. Sub-ethnic Family group Family Sub-family Batak Karo - Makaro-Karo Sitepu Barus Sinulingga etc.     Ginting Suka Munte Manik etc. Sembiring Keloko Muhan Pandea Etc. Parangin-angin Kutabuluh Sebayang Bangun Singarimbun Etc. Tarigan Tambun Silangit Etc. Batak Toba Lontung Situmorang Sinaga Pandiangan Nainggolan Simatupang Aritonang Siregar Lumban Pande Bonar Pandiangan Lumban Raja Togatorup Ompu Sunggu Silo.   Suruba Nai Ambaton Nai Rasaon Simbolon Manurung Sibagot Nipohan Borbor Lubis Pulungan Tanjung Harahap Sipahutar Batubara   Simalungun   Purba Saragih Damanik Sinaga Sipajung Girsang Simarmata Manik Batak society also introduces social layers, which is not noticeable as Bali. Their social layers based on : age, title, original resident of an area, marriage status. The older the person more privilege the have in society. There are some profession considered more respectable then others, and those who built the Kuta considered have more privilege compared to those coming later. Although the people of Batak have been following Christianity and Islam, the original ideas on belief which is written on a wood skin is still alive. This concept is called "Tarombo", Tarombo explain about the creation of man kind, genealogical lineages, and the concept of universe creation, and the spirit who control nature's phenomena. Concept about psyche are two types, one is the spirit got from the women of the mother called "Tondi" which make human being alive, and spirit got at the same time as Tondi, but it makes human being respected by others called "Sahala". Sahala can decreasing or increasing which shows by the full and increase of human grace. If Tondi left the body temporary will cause sickness, and leaving forever means death. When human being is dead his/her Tondi become "Begu". The Bagu can act as human being, only it acts in the night. Ancient Batak knew many kind of Begu or holy spirit from dead person and also Begus that reside the mountain, dense forest big trees and others DOWNLOAD FOR SONG BATAK taken from : http://www.balitouring.com/culture/batak.htm

ISLAND OF SUMATRA (SUMATERA)

Overview

Indonesia's westernmost main island
Population: 40 million
Area: 473,607 sq km
Major ethnic groups: Acehnese, Minangkabaunese, Batak and Malay
Each of Sumatra's nine provinces has its own distinctive culture and ethnic group: Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, Bengkulu, Bangka-Belitung, Lampung and South Sumatra.

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History of Northern SumatraI
North Sumatera is a large province stretching from the Indian Ocean in the west to the Straits of Malaka in the East and from Aceh in the North to West Sumatera in the south. It is thick with virgin forests, lush vegetation and jungle covered hills, terraced ricefields, cool mountain streams, strong rivers, beautiful waterfalls, peaceful white sandy beaches and large ancient lakes.
The people of the region are hospitable and warm and can be divided into five main ethnic groups; the Coastal Malays living along the Malaka Straits; the Bataks consisting of the sub-tribes of Toba, Simalungun, Pak Pak (Dairi) and Karon of the highlands around Lake Toba and Samosir Island; the Pesisirs of Central Tapanuli along the Indian Ocean coastline; the Mandailings and Angkolas from southern Tapanuli and Nias Islanders off the western coast of the province. Each groups have their own dialects, religious beliefs and traditional arts, customs and culture.
There are also several ethnic groups who live in Medan and other towns of North Sumatera, the largest of these being Chinese and Indian. Other parts of the archipelago are represented, but none more strongly than the Acehnese, Minangkabau and Javanese who now live in many parts of the area. As a result, the area is often regarded as constituting a natural museum of Indonesia's proto-Malay heritage in which ancient customs and traditions have been preserved.
The diversity of arts and cultures literally make this region a Garden of Eden for social scientists and culture seekers. It is a treasure chest of culture and tradition waiting to be explored, with ancient graves of Batak kings, unique dances and ceremonies, and beautiful arts and crafts. North Sumatera is also one of the riches provinces in Indonesia for flora and fauna with a wealth of birds, butterflies, buffalo and deer. The province proudly boasts its Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in the Gunung Leuser National Park which is bordered by the fast flowing Bohorok River and some delightful countryside and ofcourse Lake Toba, the legendary birthplace of the mountain-dwelling Bataks and the largest inland lake in Southest Asia.
The region also produces more than 30% of Indonesia's export commodities. Tobacco, palm oil, tea and rubber are produced in large quantities, particulary around Medan in the north of the province.
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Geological Background
During the early Tertiary, about 70 million years ago, India and the plate on which it lay began to collide with and move under Asia. Its major thrust caused the uplift of the Himalayas, and one of the associated thrusts caused the uplift of the Barisan Mountains that run the length of Sumatra. Movement of the Indian plate under Asia has caused most earthquakes experienced in Sumatra and surrounding areas, including the large quake December 26th 2004, which lead to a devastating Tsunami.
Sumatra’s geological past has been characterized by volcanic activity; most recent volcanoes exist in the northern half of the island – Lembuh in Aceh; Sinabung, Sibayak and Sorikmerapi in North Sumatra, providing fertile ground.
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Present Climate
Rainfall in Sumatra varies, dependent somewhat on topography, and ranges from over 6,000 mm per year in areas to the west of the Barisan Range, to less than 15000 mm per year in some areas of the east sheltered by the Barisan Range. Out of 594 rainfall stations in Sumatra, 70% have annual rainfall of over 2,500 mm. The driest months are normally associated with the northeasterly monsoon between December and March, and the main rainy season usually falls during the transition period before the northeasterly monsoon and after the southwesterly monsoon which last from May to September. A secondary rainy period occurs around April which is after the northeasterly and before the southwesterly monsoon. Southern Sumatra, however, has a single pronounced dry season around July, and the northern tip of Aceh has a pronounced dry season in February. 71% of the land area has seven or more consecutive wet months and up to three consecutive dry months.
Annual fluctuations in temperature are very small for almost all locations; daily variations are greater during the drier months when the atmosphere is not obscured by cloud cover. Differences in temperature between locations are caused mainly by altitude.
Winds generally blow from the north, December to March, and from the south, May to September. Where there are breaks in the Barisan Mountains, monsoon winds are channeled and wind speed may be greatly increased.
Some westerly winds have become famous, particularly:
Angin Depek – at Air Tawar near Takengon between April and October. This stormy wind is named after a fish that comes to the surface at this time and is easily caught.
Angin Bohorok- in areas of North Sumatra. Not feared because of its strength but because it is very dry and can damage crops, particularly tobacco. Angin Bohorok is a fohn wind, that is, a depression (low atmospheric pressure) moving to the east of the Barisan Range, draws into itself from the west of the range. The air ascends the western slopes, the air is still warm, but has lost most of its moisture, so it blows down as very warm, dry wind. It starts in Karo highlands and is funneled into upper Langkat and upper Deli Serdang through the Bohorok depression.
Angin Padang Lawas- east of Padang Sidempuan is a particularly serious fohn wind, drying the soil and making many forms of agriculture impossible.
[Precipitation Map]

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Present Flora
For species diversity, the Sumatran forests are comparable to the richest forests of Borneo and New Guinea and are richer than those found on some surrounding islands. Sumatra has 17 endemic genera of plants (compared with 41 in Peninsular Malaysia/south Thailand; 59 in Borneo; and 10 in West Java).
The Northern tip of the island is characterized by dominant lowland evergreen forest, montane rainforest, with small zones of semi-evergreen rainforest, and forest on limestone. Vegetation types under the most pressure, such as lowland forest and health forest, are also the richest or most diverse in terms of plant species. Vegetation types under the most threat support the greatest diversity of species. For example, 245 Sumatran bird species live in lowland forest, 158 species in lower montane forest, 62 species in upper montane forest, and only two commonly live in the sub-alpine zone.
[Vegetation and Deforestation Maps]

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Present Fauna
One of the richest islands in Indonesia for animals, Sumatra has the most mammals (201 species) and of its bird list (580 species) 465 are resident and 21 are endemic. New species are still being discovered and recognized. This great wealth is due to the large size of the island, its diversity of habitats, and its past link with the Asian mainland. 

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taken from : http://courses.washington.edu/larescue/aceh3.htm