The excavation of Gua Siti Nafisah, Kecamatan Weda, south-central Halmahera

The northern end of the southern arm of Halmahera is about 18 km wide, rugged and uninhabited in its interior. It consists mainly of late Oligocene to early Pliocene sedimentary rocks (Hall et al. 1988). In 1991, a dirt road crossed from Payahe in the west to Weda in the east, travelled by hired four-wheel drive vehicles. Weda itself, the administrative town of Kecamatan Weda, lies in a protected bay towards the northeastern limit of the arm.