This was going to be a brutal driving day. Probably over 10 hours and Jo-Jo said the worst of the trip. Oh…good grief. Meclizine down the hatch and off we went. Village after village. Rice field after rice field. Nothing new or different and finally lunch in the village of Tolai. … View image… I would go back to Tolai only for the best fried noodles ever, $1 U.S. for a gigantic plateful, and the all time greatest home made sweet potato chips (crisps), 10 cents a bag. Had I only known that these noodles and sweet potato chips would be the best, and only time, we’d ever see them again, would have taken bags to go. Without exaggeration, must have snarfed down in seconds without taking any time to chew.

Next up. Wera Salopa in Tonusu, a 12 step waterfall. All right. I’m prepared for your comments…”Sheila, stay home, yadda yadda…” …but, if you’ve seen one waterfall in your life, you’ll be underwhelmed. I’m going to assume that if you are in Sulawesi, or plan to visit Sulawesi, you’ve seen waterfalls before. Pretty…okay? …View image…

Sari Laut Restaurant, Tolai, Sulawesi 

yummy home-made sweet potato chips, best I’ve ever had in Tolai, Sulawesi
The more interesting section of the waterfall area was the plantations with cacao, vanilla and jungle (forest vegetation) including a beautiful red dragonfly (I think).

foliage in waterfall area, Sulawesi 

bug floating on a leaf in Sulawesi
The other big “highlight” of the day was crossing the equator in Sulawesi. Ta Da…the equator.

…and a child emulating Tarzan, swinging on a vine…

Who needs a swing set when you have a vine handy? Sulawesi
I was a little nervous in the Poso area. There was some violent unrest and bloody fighting between Christians and Muslim between 2001 and 2003. You can travel through this area now and the last clash was in 2004. There were quite a few Military checkpoints in almost every village but no problems.

There were chickens, dogs, goats, cows, people walking, more villages and beautiful Mangrove swamps… Mangroves are found in a saline environment, protect the coastlines and actually build their own environment. Today’s journey was the only time we saw Mangrove swamps…and stretched just for a short distance… Black Mangroves (I think these were Black Mangroves) have what looks like straws or snorkels that stick up for air intake. The Mangrove Swamps were the absolute scenic plus of this long day.

my prized Mangrove photo taken from a moving car… in Sulawesi
Totally exhausted after that 10-hour drive, I ate my meager dinner standing up! Fried rice and a piece of chicken leg (what else…). Just the thought of “sitting” was excruciating. The hotel was noisy, filled with campaigners for a local election…View image… and their entourages heading out on the campaign trail in a caravan of vehicles tomorrow. Informed our room had the only air conditioner in the “Hotel” Asmora Guesthouse but we couldn’t turn it on until 10:00 pm or all the guesthouse power would blow. Stuck ear plugs in and left it to ex-Marine to wake up and turn on the air at 10:00 pm. Who cared at this point?

the only guesthouse in Moutong