Irian Jaya
61
Irian Jaya (though one of the biggest islands) is one of the most untouched islands in Indonesia. I have always had a desire to visit an island were I could visit the natural beauty. I myself have not taken the time to fulfill that small dream. I am moving away from Indonesia on the 18th of June; it would be nice for some of my last memories in Indonesia to be more positive than negative. So much knowledge can come from Irian Jaya in ways that most people don’t understand. Irian jaya has so many natural wonders.
My favorite part about Irian Jaya is the fact that no one really knows what’s out there. They found around 20 new species while they were in the jungle for a week. One of the birds that they found were only known of in legend and they never knew what happened to the bird they thought existed. Among the 20 species, one of the smallest frogs in the world. They know that there are more species left to find and they even suspect that there are more tribes to discover in the jungle that they haven’t yet meet. This whole paragraph represents the real reason why I want to go to Irian Jaya.
Some interesting facts that I found about Irian Jaya persuaded me more so to want to go to Irian Jaya. Irian Jaya, being the west half of the second biggest in the world (Australia being the biggest), Papua’s western side has the world’s second biggest single tract of rainforest (the Amazon being the biggest). This island seems to have a lot of second bests; but Irian Jaya also has a best and an only in the tropics. Irian Jaya has the deepest natural harbor in the world and also has the only permanent glacier on an island in the tropics. Though there are few permanent glaciers in the tropics anyways, this is a site that I would be delighted to see. One quarter of the world’s
languages are known on the island summing up to 800 languages and counting. LakeSentani is a freshwater lake that used to be a saltwater lake so the fish included are saltwater sharks and swordfish that have adapted to freshwater surrounding in the time that the lake changed. One of my most shocking discoveries is that there is still cannibalism practiced in some parts of the island. I sure hope that we don’t run into them on the trip.
In conclusion, this is the perfect last opportunity that I will have to really experience Indonesia. I really am thankful that this opportunity came up in my life to give a country that I have spent 2 years in one last chance to prove its beauty that I have longed for. This is the place that I have wonder about ever since I heard its name in the news about the new species found on the island. This is why I want to go to Irian Jaya.
