Waruga Historical & Animal Safari Tour

Waruga grave or tomb is located in the old Sawangan, Airmadidi District, Minahasa, North Sulawesi. Waruga comes from two words, Waru meaning home and Ruga meaning the body.

So, it is understandable that Waruga is the place where the body will return to heaven, which was what the Minahasa people believed. A tomb that was made from stone and chiseled as a house has been there since 1600.

At that time, each family had its own grave that was made from stone. Stone graves for the family initially sprawled into some villages in Minahasa. However, when typhus and cholera outbreaks started appearing, in which the source was suspected from the family grave site, the local government decided to house those graves in one place.

Based on the story from their ancestors, the "previous" people used to be bigger and stronger than present day as they were able to carry the cover (lid) of the tomb plus the container alone (base). The weight of the lid alone is no less than 100kg, thus you could imagine the strength of the local folks at that time. The carvings on the tomb reflect the profession of the deceased.

Actually, there are plenty of Warugas in North Sulawesi but the famous one is at Sawangan, approximately 1.5 hours drives from Manado.

After breakfast at the hotel, we will head directly to Airmadidi to see the ancient Waruga, the most popular tomb from the megalithic age. The dead people were arranged in a sitting position because the Minahasa people believed by being in this position, the dead person could reach eternity.
Lunch will be served at the local restaurant.

After that, we continue our trip to the Animal Safari, Naemundung where we will see lots of unique animals, such as Tarsius Spectrum the tiny monkey, lots of magnificent birds, deer's, etc.

In the afternoon, we will return to hotel.