Heading off tomorrow into the jungle of Lore Lindu National Park to search for megaliths and unusual creatures, such as the nocturnal gremlin-like primate called the tarsier. There are also Buton hornbills, and pigmy versions of several mammals including elephants and buffalo, and many other creatures that are unique to Sulawesi.

It's worth mentioning here the story of the English naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace who began to send letters to Charles Darwin from Sulawesi in the 1850s. He had observed that there was a noticeable difference between the species on the neighbouring islands of Sulawesi and Borneo that was difficult to explain since the islands shared the same climate and geography. He was coming to the conclusion that the two islands had belonged to the two very different continents of Asia and Australasia during the last ice age, and that the fauna that had once been the same had "evolved" differently due to separation. Darwin had written his book The Origin of Species many years earlier, but had been sitting on it for fear of upsetting the church. Wallace's letters not only helped confirm his theory, but they forced his hand. He had to publish before he was beaten to it.

It was a gruelling 15-hour journey from South Sulawesi to the small backwater town of Tentena, which sits at the top of a large lake. It also marks the end of the Christian stronghold, and has only recently emerged from almost a decade of bloodshed with the Muslims to the north. Thankfully it seems to have settled down now.

I ate the local dish of grilled eel yesterday, which was surprisingly tasty. I've had a look at the bat dishes, but they don't look too appealing. Oh well, off to the jungle then. I'll be sharing my guide with Emy from Holland and French-speaking Nathalia from Montreal. Alex has headed north to the Togean Islands for a week of diving. I hoped to go there too, but I think my path is veering westwards now.