Gateway to the Arfak Mountains — bird-of-paradise trails, Cenderawasih Bay whale sharks, and West Papua's colonial capital
Manokwari is the capital of West Papua province and the oldest settlement in New Guinea's Bird's Head Peninsula — a compact port city on Dorey Bay with a colonial Dutch heritage, a significant Chinese-Indonesian merchant community, and one of the most biodiverse hinterlands accessible from any Indonesian city. The Arfak Mountains rise immediately behind the city to 2,940m and contain the world's most accessible bird-of-paradise watching territory, with Wilson's and Western Parotia performing display dances in the forest above village guesthouses within 30 minutes of the city. Cenderawasih Bay…
Manokwari was the site of the first Protestant mission in New Guinea — German missionary Carl Ottow planted the first Christian cross here on 5 February 1855, a date now celebrated as a public holiday in West Papua. The Dutch colonial capital of Nieuw Guinea was established in Manokwari and the town retained Dutch colonial architecture until recent decades. West Papua's political status has been contested since Indonesia's incorporation of the territory in 1969 following the controversial Act of Free Choice — a UN-supervised vote in which only 1,025 hand-picked delegates (not the full populat…