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Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Wair Nokerua, a Trek to Miracle
Flores history in Catholicism has gone long with St. Francis Xavier as one of the charismatic figures. Wair Nokerua is a water spring named after him and is believed by local community to be the trace of his miracles. Wair in local language means water (derived from) he who lives celibate or pastor (nokerua).
Being one of the special interest tourist sites of Sikka District, Wair Nokerua is located on the beach of Kolisia Village, Sub District Magepanda, Sikka District. It is only ± 20km from Maumere and promises a rural nature living experience to incoming travelers. From Maumere, take the North coast Trans Flores route, turn right after ± 10m at Kolisia Village sign. You will enter an unpaved road enough for one car to pass. Crossing a river to get to the village where the beach is will be one of the most interesting parts the cross-country trek Wair Nokerua offers. Don’t forget to take your camera along because loads of beautiful village views await you.
Green scenery spreads before you the moment you enter village. In planting season, the land along the path will turn into a large green carpet filled with corn plants. If you go further, soon a vast view of green rice fields replace the thick bushes of corn fields. The cross-country trip also provides a variety of other plants to observe. It takes a guide knowledgeable about the nature to make the trekking fun and at the same time informative and educative such as providing information about the plants. Biduri (Calotropis gigantea) is a coastal wild plant used by the locals for herbal medicine; Lamtoro or Petai Cina (Leucaena leucocephala) is useful for composting, while the seed, not only delicious for meal but is also taken fresh to reduce flatulent symptoms; There is also Jarak seed (Jatropha Ricinus communis) that produces bio-energy fuel. Local passion fruit (Capparis spinosa subsp. Nummularia), wild fig (Ficus sp), Kesambi (Schleichera oleosa), tamarind (Tamarindus indica) are growing wild along the road to quench your thirst. One of the well-known herbal plants is Mengkudu (Morinda sp) which unlike those commonly found, here it has smaller fruit size and at a glance shows a glimpse of Batik Gringsing pattern on its skin. Wair Nokerua is also home to many fauna including Tekukur or turtle spotted birds (Streptopelia chinensi), sparrows (Estrildidae), as well as various grasshoppers.
Within the ± 3km trek, you may also see water buffalos enjoying cool fresh water, cows and goats grazing in the fields and hills surrounding Wair Nokerua, farmers plowing lands while others planting and weeding the rice fields. It is so unique that it makes you feel you are in another dimension of time. Early morning is the right time to really feel the peace and quietness of Wair Nokerua moment. Take a chance to also converse with the local villagers to really experience the friendliness and the daily life of rural agrarian society Florinese are proud of.
If you wish to just relax and unwind by the beach, Wair Nokerua’s gentle waves shall take you to tranquility. Situated in a lagoon arching the coast, the beach is very far from the town’s hussle bussle. Take your time to also climb up the highest hill for breathtaking scenery awaits you with paddy leave dances in a synchronized rhythmical move that it almost looks like a green ocean wave choreographed by the wind. With swaying coconut tress on one side and the aquamarine blue sea on the horizon on another, you will agree that St. Francis Xavier has led a miracle to Wair Nokerua.
Being one of the special interest tourist sites of Sikka District, Wair Nokerua is located on the beach of Kolisia Village, Sub District Magepanda, Sikka District. It is only ± 20km from Maumere and promises a rural nature living experience to incoming travelers. From Maumere, take the North coast Trans Flores route, turn right after ± 10m at Kolisia Village sign. You will enter an unpaved road enough for one car to pass. Crossing a river to get to the village where the beach is will be one of the most interesting parts the cross-country trek Wair Nokerua offers. Don’t forget to take your camera along because loads of beautiful village views await you.
Green scenery spreads before you the moment you enter village. In planting season, the land along the path will turn into a large green carpet filled with corn plants. If you go further, soon a vast view of green rice fields replace the thick bushes of corn fields. The cross-country trip also provides a variety of other plants to observe. It takes a guide knowledgeable about the nature to make the trekking fun and at the same time informative and educative such as providing information about the plants. Biduri (Calotropis gigantea) is a coastal wild plant used by the locals for herbal medicine; Lamtoro or Petai Cina (Leucaena leucocephala) is useful for composting, while the seed, not only delicious for meal but is also taken fresh to reduce flatulent symptoms; There is also Jarak seed (Jatropha Ricinus communis) that produces bio-energy fuel. Local passion fruit (Capparis spinosa subsp. Nummularia), wild fig (Ficus sp), Kesambi (Schleichera oleosa), tamarind (Tamarindus indica) are growing wild along the road to quench your thirst. One of the well-known herbal plants is Mengkudu (Morinda sp) which unlike those commonly found, here it has smaller fruit size and at a glance shows a glimpse of Batik Gringsing pattern on its skin. Wair Nokerua is also home to many fauna including Tekukur or turtle spotted birds (Streptopelia chinensi), sparrows (Estrildidae), as well as various grasshoppers.
Within the ± 3km trek, you may also see water buffalos enjoying cool fresh water, cows and goats grazing in the fields and hills surrounding Wair Nokerua, farmers plowing lands while others planting and weeding the rice fields. It is so unique that it makes you feel you are in another dimension of time. Early morning is the right time to really feel the peace and quietness of Wair Nokerua moment. Take a chance to also converse with the local villagers to really experience the friendliness and the daily life of rural agrarian society Florinese are proud of.
If you wish to just relax and unwind by the beach, Wair Nokerua’s gentle waves shall take you to tranquility. Situated in a lagoon arching the coast, the beach is very far from the town’s hussle bussle. Take your time to also climb up the highest hill for breathtaking scenery awaits you with paddy leave dances in a synchronized rhythmical move that it almost looks like a green ocean wave choreographed by the wind. With swaying coconut tress on one side and the aquamarine blue sea on the horizon on another, you will agree that St. Francis Xavier has led a miracle to Wair Nokerua.
East Flores, East Nusa Tenggara Province
Flores Timur – East Flores
Due to its remoteness and limited accessibility, Flores Timur is probably the area of Flores, which is least explored by tourists. The culture of the people of Flores Timur has also been less in the focus of anthropological research than its western counterpart. However, this does not mean that there is nothing to see in the easternmost part of the island. Apart from traditional villages, unique ikat weaving, volcanoes and beaches, Flores Timur’sdistrict capital has a long history of trade and missionary activities. If you take time to explore this district, you will certainly be rewarded with an experience of extraordinary hospitability from the local people.
When traveling around Flores Timur, you may notice that there are hardly any ‘sawah’ – or rice paddies. With its hot and dry climate, Flores Timur only gets a little rainfall. Wet rice cultivation is rather difficult, and the people mostly rely on dry land farming, with corn being the major crop, followed by tubers and dry rice. The yields are rather small. As living here is definitely harder than elsewhere on Flores, the migration rate is quite high. Many people from Flores Timur look for better livelihood opportunities in other parts of Indonesia.
The majority of the people in Flores Timur are Lamaholot, followed by the Solorese and the Larantukanese. Lamaholot is more a language than an ethnic group, and the linguistic boundaries do not exactly correspond to the political borders. The Lamaholot people do not only live in East Flores, but also on the islands of Solor, Adonara and Lembata. Even though they share many common cultural elements – e.g. the widespread practice of the use of elephant tusks as a part of the marriage presentation - Lamaholot people do not consider themselves to be a cultural unity.
Places to go
Larantuka
Larantuka is the capital of Flores Timur. This coastal town used to be a naval base for trade and a centrepoint of colonialisation and clerical activities in Eastern Indonesia. Nowadays, Larantuka is still an important connecting port to the neighboring islands and the centre of economic activities in the Flores Timur district, attracting many people from the neighbouring villages to make a living in the town. Having a long Catholic history, Larantuka hosts the famous KatedralReinhaRosari, or Teinha Rosary Cathedral. This cathedral, together with the two well-known chapels CapelaTua Ana and Capela Tuan Ma, are the centre of activity during the famous Larantukan Easter procession. During Easter, this laid-back city turns into a busy and lively place bursting with pilgrims from all over the world.
Leworahang/Ilepadung
If you are in Larantuka or on the Trans Flores Highway between Maumere and Larantuka, don’t miss stopping at KampungLeworahang (kampung meaning village in Indonesian). This subvillage of Ilepadung is situated near a nice stretch of beach in a luminous spot of land, where beautiful trees surrounding the village centre invite you to take respite from the burning midday heat. The friendly Lamaholot people of Lewoharang, who mainly work as farmers or fishermen, are the proud owners of three traditional well-maintained houses.
As you enter the village, you will find the korke, Leworahang’sadat house, standing on wooden piles behind the big stone-pile village centre. Being the centre of many traditional ceremonies, the korke is furnished with ornamental carvings. Prominent carvings are the bird and the fish, which stand symbolically for the newcomers who arrived from land and sea to become the Lords of the land of Leworahang . Inside the korke, ritual objects such as drums and gongs are stored. Nuba, a flat erected stone close to the Korke, is the place for the villagers to make prayers and offerings to their ancestors.
LangoBele, which means ‘big house’ in the Lamaholot language, is the house of the first man who lived in Leworahang – so people say. The entrance of this charming alang-alang (or thatched) roofed bamboo house is furnished as a cozy resting pace. Inside the house, there is a sleeping area as well as two small rooms elevated from the ground. Ornate baskets in different sizes hang on the wall, as well as bejowong, which is a traditional place to store food.
A little bit further inside the village you will find kebang. Built on massive wooden piles, the kebang used to be storing places for corn and rice, rather like raised open barns. The flat round pieces of wood above the piles keep mice and rats from eating the valuable yields. In front of the kebang, is anuba. The pig jaws attached to the corners of the kebang (you will also find them at the korke)symbolize the strength of the villagers and their devotion to maintain their ancestors’ customs.
Even though the traditional houses are Leworahang’s main attraction, the village has a lot more to offer. Ikat is the vital element toceremonial life of theLeworahang people, and you will most likely see some women working on these beautiful cloths. The production of moke, a local alcoholic beverage made out of the sap of the lontar palm, is another interesting activity. Besides being a source of income, the moke is also used at ceremonial occasions. Last but not least, Ilepadung is also a centre of cashew nut processing. This work requires skillful hands and caution: the sap of the nut’s peel is a skin-irritant, and the nut itself is a very delicate product. The returns on cashew nuts, which are sold to fair trade organizations, adds another additional income source to subsistence farming.
Traditional ceremonies still play an important role for the people of Leworahang, above all ahikkokor, which is the annual ceremony for the renovation of the korke. Ahikkokor is usually held around the end of March. It involves dancing and music, praying, communal meals, as well as the ritual sacrifice of many pigs, whose jaws will be disposed at the korke and the kebang, as previously mentioned.
Lewoharang has not received many foreign visitors yet, and it is a little bit difficult to find someone there who can guide in English. You can ask for ArnoldusHurit, a young enthusiastic local who published a little booklet about the culture of Ilepadung. He is eager to show you around, though he is not always available. If you travel to Lewoharang on your own, please ask the local people for permission to see the traditional houses upon your arrival.
Lewoharang can only be reached by private transportation - motorbike or car, since there is no public transportation that passes through the village. The distance from Larantuka to Lewoharang is ±30 km, from Maumere±122 km; the road from the small junction that leads off from the Trans Flores Highway to Ilepadung is about 12 km. Turn onto this road and go straight ahead to the next small junction. There, turn left again onto an unpaved road,which leads you along a beautiful stretch of the sea, passing a market building, to Ilepadung. If you want to see the traditional houses, take a left turn just before the entrance, and after some hundred meters you have reached your destination.
Lewokluo
If you get infected with ikat-passion during your Flores trip, Lewokluo is a place that will fill your collector’s heart with awe. This small Lamaholot village is well famed for its ikat, or kwatekkingein the local language. What makes their ikatunique and therefore a sought-after handicraft,are the small sewn-in seashells, which are collected by the villagers on a shore nearby the village. The kwatekkinge is not an ordinary cloth that is worn every day. Used as part of the marriage presentation, it has a ceremonial function and is of special meaning and value to the Lewokluo people. The kwatekkinge is made out of natural local ingredients, including the cotton and the dye. Even though there exists a local association of weavers named sanggarUtoWata, there are not many women left who own the extensive skills and knowledge that it takes to manufacture a kwatekkinge. All these facts considered, the price to pay for such an object of desire is accordingly high.
There is no public transportation passing Lewokluo. By car or motorbike it takes about 26 km from Larantuka and 114 km from Maumere. The road off the Trans Flores Highway that leads you to Lewokluo takes another 2 km.
Cultural highlights
Easter in Larantuka
Easter activities are initiated one week before Easter with the semana sancta, or, the Holy week – a time of self-reflection and confession. The central characters of the Easter ceremony in Larantuka are two statues that were brought to Larantuka in the 16th century by Portuguese missionaries. These statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary are kept away in the CapelaTua Ana and the Capela Tuan Ma throughout the year. Only during Good Friday, the peak event of the Easter ceremony, are they taken out of their closet. Good Friday starts with the opening of the Capela Tuan Ma for the people to come and pray at the Virgin Mary statue. Also in the morning, the statue of Jesus is carried out from the Capela Tuan Ana and brought to its counterpart, the Virgin Mary, in a procession of about 7km. During the procession, the litigants stop at eight small chapels to pray and to remember the suffering of Jesus. When the two statues are finally united, they continue their journey together to the KatedralReinhaRosari, where a crowded nightlong Good Friday mass will be held.
If you want to experience the Easter procession, it is highly recommended to book your accommodation well in advance, as you will find no vacant rooms during Easter.
The Larantuqueiros
From the early 16th century on, Portuguese sailors and traders used Larantuka as a hub in the flourishing sandalwood trade on Timor Island. They were followed by Dominican missionaries, who had fled from the Island of Solor, after its takeover by the Dutch. As some of the Portuguese settled down in this area, they started to marry local people, herewith building up a new community. By the end of the 16th century, these Larantuqueiros or Topasses – or ‘black Portuguese’, as they were called by the Dutch – had developed their own distinct culture in Larantuka and later also in some parts of Timor Island. They used Portuguese as their formal language and adapted the Malay language for trade. Formally, the Larantuqueiros were subjects of the crown of Portugal and close to the Dominican mission, but as they were successfully resistant to Portuguese control, they mostly lived under their own rules, controlling the sandalwood trade and also setting up trade networks and war alliances with the indigenous people of the interior areas. In the middle of the 19th century, the Portuguese crown sold its ruling rights in Flores – among other places in Eastern Indonesia – to the Dutch, who kept themselves in the background and did not interfere much with the daily life of the Larantuqueiro community. With the decline of the sandalwood boom, the Larantuqueiros drew back from their extensive trade activities and made a living mostly out of subsistence agriculture.
Even though the golden years of the Larantuqueiros are now history, some elements of their culture linger on. During their peak period of trade, the Larantuqueiros founded many brotherhoods, one of which, the Confraria do Rainha Rosario, has kept its presence until now and actively participates in Catholic ceremonies, above all, the famous Easter procession. Furthermore, parts of the Catholic mass are still held in Portuguese, and some Portuguese words have found their way into the Lamaholot ritual adat language as well.
Sources:
Ms.Christine Moser (swiss contact)
Arnoldus Hurit Welan, Lewoharang; and Swisscontact WISATA on behalf of the Flores DMO
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Webspider Ricefield Golocara Manggarai Flores
Golo Cara; the unique lingko rice fields, circular terraces arranged like a spider web.
Lake Kelimutu Flores Indonesia
LAKE KELIMUTU
East Nusa Tenggara's natural wonder and one of Indonesia's most mysterious and dramatic sights that can be found on top this mountain, some 66 kilometers from Ende, or 83 kilometers from Maumere. It has a unique and spectacular view on its three crater lakes with their respective colors. The colors, however, have changed continually since the eruption of Mount /ye in Ende in 1969.
The mountain is located at the back of Mount Kelibara, in the Wolowaru District in the Ende, Regency of Central Flores. Keli means mountain and Mutu means boiling. In short, it means volcano. To the local people, this mountain is holy, and a token of God's blessings. It provides fertility to the surrounding lands. It is both heaven and the hell to the people of Lio Ende. Many travelers and scientists, have written about Kelimutu since it was discovered by Van Suchtelen, a Ducth government officer,
in 1915
Father Bouman published an article in 1929, which made the name Kelimutu known all over the world. Since then, many researchers and tourits have come, as well as the Governor General of Batavia (Jakarta). To get to the lakes, one follows the road, from Moni, then proceed to the crater's top. Near the crater rim was a bungalow, which has now been dismantled.
The presence of the white men, or Ata Bara, was regarded disturbing to the peace of the ancestral spirits. As a result the spirits of Kelimutu disappeared. Earth quakes began rocking the land. Smoke is often released from the crater.
The eruption of 1928 caused many victims and much damage. In 1938 there was another eruption, coming from Tiwu Ata Koo Fai Noo, Ata Nuwa Muri (the Lake of Youth). The biggest took place in 1968, in which the water in the lakes was shot 10 kilometers high into the sky. The peak of Kelimutu itself is 1,690 meters high, and its lake crater I ,410. Other geological data are as follows: Tiwu Ata Polo (the Lake of Evil) has a slopping wall, 150 meters high. The lake is 380 by 280 meters large and 64 meters deep. The volume of the water is about 446,000 cubic meters.
Tiwu Ata Koo Fai Noo and Ata Nawa Muri (the Lake of Youth) has walls 128 meters high. The lake is 430 by 300 square large and 127 meters deep with a water content of about 500.000 cubic meters.
Timu Ata Bupo (the Lake of the old) has twi layers of walls, 240 meters high. The lake covers a surface of 300 by 280 meters high. The water is 67 meters deep and 345,000 cubic meters in volume. The total water content of the three lakes amounts to 1,3 million cubic meters.
In the last three ti five years, the lakes of Kelimutu have changed in color, a phenomenon caused by the geological and chemical processes in the bottom and walls of take lakes. It could also have resulted from changes in the bacteria and micro organism populations due to changes in temperature.
Another theory proposed by village elders, is that there has actually been no change at all, but that the effect is due to optical illusions. To reach Kelimutu can be done by flying to Ende or Maumere, then going by car to Kelimutu
The surrounding villages are good places serving as bases for visits to Kelimutu, particularly those who wish to have a more leisurely pace and enjoy the views along the road between Ende and maumere, or spend more time in Kelimutu. Those title villages are also known for their excellent weaving all hand made, still use natural dyes.
East Nusa Tenggara's natural wonder and one of Indonesia's most mysterious and dramatic sights that can be found on top this mountain, some 66 kilometers from Ende, or 83 kilometers from Maumere. It has a unique and spectacular view on its three crater lakes with their respective colors. The colors, however, have changed continually since the eruption of Mount /ye in Ende in 1969.
The mountain is located at the back of Mount Kelibara, in the Wolowaru District in the Ende, Regency of Central Flores. Keli means mountain and Mutu means boiling. In short, it means volcano. To the local people, this mountain is holy, and a token of God's blessings. It provides fertility to the surrounding lands. It is both heaven and the hell to the people of Lio Ende. Many travelers and scientists, have written about Kelimutu since it was discovered by Van Suchtelen, a Ducth government officer,
in 1915
Father Bouman published an article in 1929, which made the name Kelimutu known all over the world. Since then, many researchers and tourits have come, as well as the Governor General of Batavia (Jakarta). To get to the lakes, one follows the road, from Moni, then proceed to the crater's top. Near the crater rim was a bungalow, which has now been dismantled.
The presence of the white men, or Ata Bara, was regarded disturbing to the peace of the ancestral spirits. As a result the spirits of Kelimutu disappeared. Earth quakes began rocking the land. Smoke is often released from the crater.
The eruption of 1928 caused many victims and much damage. In 1938 there was another eruption, coming from Tiwu Ata Koo Fai Noo, Ata Nuwa Muri (the Lake of Youth). The biggest took place in 1968, in which the water in the lakes was shot 10 kilometers high into the sky. The peak of Kelimutu itself is 1,690 meters high, and its lake crater I ,410. Other geological data are as follows: Tiwu Ata Polo (the Lake of Evil) has a slopping wall, 150 meters high. The lake is 380 by 280 meters large and 64 meters deep. The volume of the water is about 446,000 cubic meters.
Tiwu Ata Koo Fai Noo and Ata Nawa Muri (the Lake of Youth) has walls 128 meters high. The lake is 430 by 300 square large and 127 meters deep with a water content of about 500.000 cubic meters.
Timu Ata Bupo (the Lake of the old) has twi layers of walls, 240 meters high. The lake covers a surface of 300 by 280 meters high. The water is 67 meters deep and 345,000 cubic meters in volume. The total water content of the three lakes amounts to 1,3 million cubic meters.
In the last three ti five years, the lakes of Kelimutu have changed in color, a phenomenon caused by the geological and chemical processes in the bottom and walls of take lakes. It could also have resulted from changes in the bacteria and micro organism populations due to changes in temperature.
Another theory proposed by village elders, is that there has actually been no change at all, but that the effect is due to optical illusions. To reach Kelimutu can be done by flying to Ende or Maumere, then going by car to Kelimutu
The surrounding villages are good places serving as bases for visits to Kelimutu, particularly those who wish to have a more leisurely pace and enjoy the views along the road between Ende and maumere, or spend more time in Kelimutu. Those title villages are also known for their excellent weaving all hand made, still use natural dyes.
Riung Marine park
Riung Marine park
Natural Park Seventeen Riung Island is a group of large and small islands of Pau, Borong, Pulau Tiga Riung marine parkOntoloe, Dua, Kolong, Lainjawa, Besar, Halima, Patta, Rutong, Meja, Bampa (Tampa or Tembang island), Tiga (Panjang island), Tembaga, Taor, Sui and Wire island. The whole island is uninhabited by humans.
This park is located on the mainland island of Flores in public administration including the District of Riung, Regency of Ngada. This area is about 70 km next Bajawa City, the capital Ngada. Area Natural Park is an island Seventeen types of dry forest with a mixture of vegetation types Ketapang (Terminalia catappa), hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliacus), hazelnut (Aleuritis molucana), pandan (Pandanus tectorius), teak (Tectona grandis), bulging ( Sterculia foetida), kesambi (Schleichera oleosa), sandalwood (Santalum album), cinnamon (Mangivera indica), tamarind (Tamarindus indica), sea sengon (Albizia sp), johar (Cassia siamea), Calophyllum inophyllum (Calophyllum inophykum) and Ampupu ( Eucalyptus urophylla). Almost the entire coastal area of the island group was overgrown with mangrove forests that are still intact with dominant species Rhizophora sp, Bruquiera gymnoriza, and Sonneratia sp. Various types of fauna that Rutong beach, seventeen island, riung marine parklive in this area include the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), Timor deer (Cervus timorensis), hedgehogs (Zaglossus sp), monkeys (Macaca sp), ferrets (Paradoxurus haemaproditus), timor monitor lizard (Varanus timorensis), Kuskus ( Phalanger sp), partridges (Gallus sp), crocodile (Crododulus porosus), and various species of birds such as eagles (Elanus sp), bluwok or white heron (Egretta Sacra), clothing glawe or black stork (Ciconia episcopus), Lorikeet bird chest yellow (Trichoglosus haemotodus), parrot (Lorius domicella), Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis), bird or birds singed wontong (Megapodius Reinwadrtii) and bats (Pteropsus veropirus).
In addition, the area is also rich Seventeen Island coral reef ecosystems and the types of marine biota. There are about 27 species of corals such as Montipora sp, Acropora sp, spLobophylla, Platygyra sp, sp Galaxea, Pavites sp, Stylopora sp, Pavona sp, sp and Echynopora Echynophylla sp. The types of biota living waters include marine mammals such as dugongs (Dugong dugon), dolphins and whales (Physister catodon) as well as a variety of Riung Village, Ngada regency,Floresornamental fish that live in coral reefs. Natural Park Area Seventeen Island has rich biological resources, whether living on land or in waters, as well as panoramic and beautiful natural phenomena, which all high potential for recreational activities and nature tourism. Seventeen Island is a natural potential that was quite interesting for a variety of tourism activities, both land and water tour
Some attractions within and outside the region . Some of the old tourist activities that can be done in this area include cross-shore and underwater scenery and marine tourism.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Caci Whip Fighting - more than just a traditional Manggarai dance
Caci Whip Fighting - more than just a traditional Manggarai dance
Written by Ms. Christiane Moser
Two men. A whip. A shield. The vibrating sound of drums and gongs. A sharp hit. Blood.
Caci, a traditional ritual whip fighting dance, is a major element of Manggarai cultural identity. Being a unique and aesthetic delight for the spectator, Caci performances are an attraction to foreign as well as domestic visitors of Manggarai.
Caci is played by two male adversaries, one of them mostly coming from another village to compete. The spectators who support their favourite party by cheerfully shouting out their encouragement make Caci a very lively event. Caci equipment, consisting of a whip, a shield, masks and sticks, is bursting with symbolism: The aggressor’s whip is made out of rattan, with a leather-covered handle. It stands symbolically for the male, the phallic element, the father and the sky. The defender’s round shield, on the other hand, represents the female, the womb and the earth. It is usually made out of bamboo, rattan and covered with buffalo skin. As these meanings suggest, the male and the female elements are united whenever the whip hits the shield – a unity which is an essential premise for giving live. The players’ heads are covered by a wooden or leather mask wrapped with cloth and goat hair hanging down on its back side. The two horns of the mask represent the strength of the water buffalo. For additional protection from the whiplash, the defender holds a stick in his left hand.
While playing Caci, the men wear the traditional songket (woven cloth) over a pair of regular pants. A belt of bells worn on the hip and strings of bells strapped on the ankles give the fighters in action a peculiar sound. The upper body remains bare and uncovered, leaving it exposed to the whip strikes.
After a starting signal, the whip and shield duel begins. The dancers shuffle their feet and raise the spectators’ tension by running back and forth towards each other. The aggressor tries to hit his opponent’s body with the whip. However being hit does not automatically mean losing the game - it is more important which part of the body to hit to make one a winner: A hit in the face or on the head means losing game; a hit on the back, though, is a good sign, promising that next year’s harvest will be prosperous.
The roles of aggressor and defender are changed after every whip strike, and after four trials, a new pair of opponents will take their chance. Even though being a playful event, the purpose of Caci is also sacrificial: the blood that is shed from the wounds caused by the whiplash is an offering to the ancestors who will ensure the fertility of the land.
Originally, Caci used to be performed mainly during Penti, a festival which is held after the harvest to end the old agricultural year and start the new cycle. Being part of the integral ceremonial and ritual context of Penti, Caci never was performed as a standalone event. The Caci performances lasted at least one day, more often two or three days, always accompanied by drum and gong music. The preparations for Caci required many fixed ritual procedures accompanied by animal sacrifice. Other occasions for Caci performances included marriage, birth and funeral ceremonies. The functions of Caci were manifold: Besides being a sociable event and a way to fulfil obligations of offering to the ancestors, it is also an opportunity for young men to prove their virility and – in the past - a means of conflict management for disputing villages.
With changing social and agricultural circumstances and the increased interest of domestic and international tourists in this cultural attraction of Manggarai, Caci performances have by now also turned into a business for local cultural cooperatives. As most visitors do not want to spend a whole day or more watching Caci, the length of the performances is drastically reduced, showing only fragments of the process. Some people criticize that Caci fights performed on demand are alienated from their original ritual and ceremonial context and thus lose their authenticity. However, the growing interest of foreign visitors definitely increased the pride and self-consciousness of the Manggarai people in a fascinating element of their culture.
Opportunities to see Caci in its original context:
• During Penti, the Agricultural New Year ceremony. Penti festivals usually take place in the dry season between July and November, depending on the region. Nowadays most villages are celebrating Penti on a five-year interval. If you happen to be in Manggarai in the dry season, just ask the local people if there is an upcoming Penti festival.
• If you are lucky, you get invited to a marriage where there are Caci performances.
Opportunities to see organized Caci:
• Todo village, about 50 km southwest of Ruteng, offers Caci performances to visitors. Please contact Pak Titus, a government officer and original resident of Todo, at least one day in advance for more information: +62 8137984914. To go to Todo takes about 2 hours by car or 3 hours by public transport (bis kayu). It is also possible to go there by motorbike, but be aware that the last part of the road is quite a challenge. Take the main road west for about 30 km, then follow the sign to the small rugged road and enjoy the nice view over river valleys and rice terraces on the way to the village.
• Visitors also have the opportunity to see a Caci performance in Melo village, located on the Trans Flores Highway about 20 km on the road from Labuan Bajo to Ruteng. It can be reached by car, motorbike or public transport. Contact Pak Yoseph, Ugis, the leader of the local cultural cooperative: +62-81353778858.
• If you prefer to have a Caci performance within a guided tour, contact Pak Leonardus Nyoman from Flores Exotic Tours (www.floresexotictours.com; +628123662110).
Written by Ms. Christiane Moser
Two men. A whip. A shield. The vibrating sound of drums and gongs. A sharp hit. Blood.
Caci, a traditional ritual whip fighting dance, is a major element of Manggarai cultural identity. Being a unique and aesthetic delight for the spectator, Caci performances are an attraction to foreign as well as domestic visitors of Manggarai.
Caci is played by two male adversaries, one of them mostly coming from another village to compete. The spectators who support their favourite party by cheerfully shouting out their encouragement make Caci a very lively event. Caci equipment, consisting of a whip, a shield, masks and sticks, is bursting with symbolism: The aggressor’s whip is made out of rattan, with a leather-covered handle. It stands symbolically for the male, the phallic element, the father and the sky. The defender’s round shield, on the other hand, represents the female, the womb and the earth. It is usually made out of bamboo, rattan and covered with buffalo skin. As these meanings suggest, the male and the female elements are united whenever the whip hits the shield – a unity which is an essential premise for giving live. The players’ heads are covered by a wooden or leather mask wrapped with cloth and goat hair hanging down on its back side. The two horns of the mask represent the strength of the water buffalo. For additional protection from the whiplash, the defender holds a stick in his left hand.
While playing Caci, the men wear the traditional songket (woven cloth) over a pair of regular pants. A belt of bells worn on the hip and strings of bells strapped on the ankles give the fighters in action a peculiar sound. The upper body remains bare and uncovered, leaving it exposed to the whip strikes.
After a starting signal, the whip and shield duel begins. The dancers shuffle their feet and raise the spectators’ tension by running back and forth towards each other. The aggressor tries to hit his opponent’s body with the whip. However being hit does not automatically mean losing the game - it is more important which part of the body to hit to make one a winner: A hit in the face or on the head means losing game; a hit on the back, though, is a good sign, promising that next year’s harvest will be prosperous.
The roles of aggressor and defender are changed after every whip strike, and after four trials, a new pair of opponents will take their chance. Even though being a playful event, the purpose of Caci is also sacrificial: the blood that is shed from the wounds caused by the whiplash is an offering to the ancestors who will ensure the fertility of the land.
Originally, Caci used to be performed mainly during Penti, a festival which is held after the harvest to end the old agricultural year and start the new cycle. Being part of the integral ceremonial and ritual context of Penti, Caci never was performed as a standalone event. The Caci performances lasted at least one day, more often two or three days, always accompanied by drum and gong music. The preparations for Caci required many fixed ritual procedures accompanied by animal sacrifice. Other occasions for Caci performances included marriage, birth and funeral ceremonies. The functions of Caci were manifold: Besides being a sociable event and a way to fulfil obligations of offering to the ancestors, it is also an opportunity for young men to prove their virility and – in the past - a means of conflict management for disputing villages.
With changing social and agricultural circumstances and the increased interest of domestic and international tourists in this cultural attraction of Manggarai, Caci performances have by now also turned into a business for local cultural cooperatives. As most visitors do not want to spend a whole day or more watching Caci, the length of the performances is drastically reduced, showing only fragments of the process. Some people criticize that Caci fights performed on demand are alienated from their original ritual and ceremonial context and thus lose their authenticity. However, the growing interest of foreign visitors definitely increased the pride and self-consciousness of the Manggarai people in a fascinating element of their culture.
Opportunities to see Caci in its original context:
• During Penti, the Agricultural New Year ceremony. Penti festivals usually take place in the dry season between July and November, depending on the region. Nowadays most villages are celebrating Penti on a five-year interval. If you happen to be in Manggarai in the dry season, just ask the local people if there is an upcoming Penti festival.
• If you are lucky, you get invited to a marriage where there are Caci performances.
Opportunities to see organized Caci:
• Todo village, about 50 km southwest of Ruteng, offers Caci performances to visitors. Please contact Pak Titus, a government officer and original resident of Todo, at least one day in advance for more information: +62 8137984914. To go to Todo takes about 2 hours by car or 3 hours by public transport (bis kayu). It is also possible to go there by motorbike, but be aware that the last part of the road is quite a challenge. Take the main road west for about 30 km, then follow the sign to the small rugged road and enjoy the nice view over river valleys and rice terraces on the way to the village.
• Visitors also have the opportunity to see a Caci performance in Melo village, located on the Trans Flores Highway about 20 km on the road from Labuan Bajo to Ruteng. It can be reached by car, motorbike or public transport. Contact Pak Yoseph, Ugis, the leader of the local cultural cooperative: +62-81353778858.
• If you prefer to have a Caci performance within a guided tour, contact Pak Leonardus Nyoman from Flores Exotic Tours (www.floresexotictours.com; +628123662110).
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
'Hobbits' on Flores, Indonesia
The Island of Flores
Flores is one of many Wallacean islands, which lie east of Wallace's Line and west of Lydekker's Line. Wallacean islands are interesting because they have rarely, if ever, been connected via land bridges to either the Asian continent to the west or the Greater Australian continent to the east. This longstanding separation from the surrounding continents has severely limited the ability of animal species to disperse either into or away from the Wallacean islands. Thus, on Flores there were only a small number of mammal and reptile species during the entire Pleistocene. These included komodo dragons and other smaller monitor lizards, crocodiles, several species of Stegodon (an extinct close relative of modern elephants), giant tortoise, and several kinds of small, medium, and large-bodied rats.
During the 1950s and 60s, a Dutch priest named Father Theodor Verhoeven lived and worked on Flores at a Catholic Seminary. Verhoeven had a keen interest in archeology and had studied it at university. While living on Flores, he identified dozens of archeological sites and conducted excavations at many of these, including the now famous site of Liang Bua where the "hobbits" of human evolution were discovered (Homo floresiensis). Verhoeven was the first to report and publish that stone tools were found in association with Stegodon remains in central Flores at several sites within the Soa Basin. He even argued that Homo erectus from Java was likely behind making the stone tools found on Flores and may have reached the island around 750,000 years ago. At the time, paleoanthropologists took little notice of Verhoeven's claims or if they did, they discounted them outright.
Father Verhoeven sitting near the site of one of his excavations on Flores at the Soa Basin during the 1960s. Image from Verhoeven, 1968.
Father Verhoeven sitting near the site of one of his excavations on Flores at the Soa Basin during the 1960s. Image from Verhoeven, 1968.
Almost thirty years later, an Indonesian-Dutch research team uncovered evidence at the Soa Basin which confirmed Verhoeven's original findings. This team even went further by dating some of the stone tools and fossils using paleomagnetism (a method of determining the age of ancient sediments) and showed they were probably around 700,000 years old. These new findings did not become widely known within the paleoanthropological community until additional sediments were dated using a different technique called zircon fission-track analysis. Thus, by the late 1990s more scientists were beginning to accept the possibility that another human species (likely Homo erectus) had crossed the Wallace Line and reached Flores well before our own species, Homo sapiens, had evolved in Africa around 200,000 years ago.
In 2001, an Indonesian-Australian research team began excavations at a large limestone cave located in west central Flores. This cave, known as Liang Bua (which means "cool cave"), was first excavated by Father Verhoeven in 1965. Professor Raden Soejono, the leading archeologist in Indonesia, heard about Liang Bua from Verhoeven and conducted six different excavations there from the late 1970s until 1989. All of this early work at Liang Bua only explored deposits that occurred within the first three meters of the cave floor. These deposits are dated to within the last 10,000 years and contain considerable archeological and faunal evidence of modern human use of the cave, as well as skeletal remains of modern humans. However, in 2001 the new goals were to excavate deeper into the cave's stratigraphy to explore if modern or pre-modern humans were using Liang Bua prior to 10,000 years ago. In September of 2003, they got their answer.
The Discovery of Homo floresiensis
On Saturday, September 6, 2003, Indonesian archeologist Wahyu Saptomo was overseeing the excavation of Sector VII at Liang Bua. Benyamin Tarus, one of the locally hired workers, was excavating the 2 x 2 meter square when all of a sudden the top of a skull began to reveal itself. Six meters beneath the surface of the cave, Wahyu immediately joined Benyamin and the two of them slowly and carefully removed some more sediment from around the top of the skull. Wahyu then asked Indonesian faunal expert Rokus Due Awe to inspect the excavated portion of the skull. Rokus told Wahyu that the skull definitely belonged to a hominin and most likely that of a small child given the size of its braincase. Two days later, the team returned to the site and Thomas Sutikna, the Indonesian archeologist in charge of the excavations, joined Wahyu at the bottom of the square. After several days, enough of the cranium and mandible had been exposed for Rokus to realize that this was no small child; instead, all of its teeth were permanent meaning that this was a fully grown adult. A few weeks later, the team had recovered the rest of this hominin's partial skeleton, the likes of which had never been discovered before. Today, this specimen is referred to as LB1 (Liang Bua 1), and is the holotype specimen for the species Homo floresiensis.
At the time of the discovery, the Liang Bua Research Team included specialists in archeology, geochronology, and faunal identification, but there was no physical anthropologist. Dr. Mike Morwood, the co-leader of the project, invited his colleague at the University of New England in Australia, Dr. Peter Brown, to lead the description and analysis of the skeletal remains. Dr. Brown is an expert on cranial, mandibular, and dental anatomy of early and modern humans and he agreed to apply his expertise to the study of the new bones from Liang Bua. This important scientific work resulted in the first descriptions of these skeletal remains in the journal Nature on October 28, 2004. This work also gave the scientific name, Homo floresiensis, to the hominin species that is represented by the skeletal material from the Late Pleistocene sediments at Liang Bua.
Just before the two Nature articles on Homo floresiensis were published in 2004, the Liang Bua Research Team uncovered additional skeletal material. This included the arm bones of LB1, and several bones of another individual, LB6, including the mandible and other bones of the arm. Drs. Morwood and Brown, and other Indonesian and Australian members of the Liang Bua Research Team, described and analyzed these new skeletal remains of Homo floresiensis and again published their results in Nature on October 13, 2005.
The skeletal evidence suggests that adults of this species had extremely small brains (400 cubic centimeters), stood only about 1 meter (3'6") tall, and weighed around 30 kg (66 lbs). For their height, these individuals have large body masses, and in this regard appear more similar to earlier hominins like "Lucy" (Australopithecus afarensis) than they do to modern humans, including small and large-bodied people. The proportions between the upper arm (humerus) and upper leg (femur) also appear more similar to those in Australopithecus and Homo habilis than those of modern humans.
Further Research
As additional postcranial material of Homo floresiensis was being recovered, Dr. Morwood contacted Dr. Susan Larson and Dr. William Jungers, of Stony Brook University Medical Center. Drs. Larson and Jungers are experts on human evolutionary anatomy, particularly with regard to the functional morphology of the arms and legs. Dr. Larson has shown that the shoulder of Homo floresiensis is more like that in Homo erectus rather than modern humans, and Dr. Jungers has demonstrated many anatomical features of the "hobbit" foot that are shared with African apes and early hominins like Australopithecus afarensis (e.g., "Lucy"). Dr. Morwood also invited hominin brain expert Dr. Dean Falk to analyze the endocast of Homo floresiensis. Dr. Falk has identified several features in the "hobbit" brain that suggest neural reorganization despite its overall small size. Additional research focused on the paleobiology and archeology of Homo floresiensis by Drs. Morwood, Brown, Larson, Jungers, Falk, their many Indonesian colleagues, and a large international network of scientific experts, was recently published in a special issue of Journal of Human Evolution (November 2009). Discussions and summaries of some of the work included in that special issue will be presented on this web page over the coming weeks and months.
In total, over a dozen scientific articles have been published based on analysis of the original skeletal remains of Homo floresiensis, and hundreds of scientific articles and news stories about Homo floresiensis have appeared in print or on the web during the past seven years since the partial skeleton of LB1 was discovered. As excavations at Liang Bua and elsewhere on Flores continue, we will keep you up-to-date on the latest discoveries and scientific analyses of materials related to Homo floresiensis, the so-called "hobbits" of human evolution. One of our Human Origins Program researchers, Dr. Matt Tocheri who has studied the wrist of Homo floresiensis, is looking forward to taking part in excavations this coming summer at Liang Bua and the Soa Basin.
Flores is one of many Wallacean islands, which lie east of Wallace's Line and west of Lydekker's Line. Wallacean islands are interesting because they have rarely, if ever, been connected via land bridges to either the Asian continent to the west or the Greater Australian continent to the east. This longstanding separation from the surrounding continents has severely limited the ability of animal species to disperse either into or away from the Wallacean islands. Thus, on Flores there were only a small number of mammal and reptile species during the entire Pleistocene. These included komodo dragons and other smaller monitor lizards, crocodiles, several species of Stegodon (an extinct close relative of modern elephants), giant tortoise, and several kinds of small, medium, and large-bodied rats.
During the 1950s and 60s, a Dutch priest named Father Theodor Verhoeven lived and worked on Flores at a Catholic Seminary. Verhoeven had a keen interest in archeology and had studied it at university. While living on Flores, he identified dozens of archeological sites and conducted excavations at many of these, including the now famous site of Liang Bua where the "hobbits" of human evolution were discovered (Homo floresiensis). Verhoeven was the first to report and publish that stone tools were found in association with Stegodon remains in central Flores at several sites within the Soa Basin. He even argued that Homo erectus from Java was likely behind making the stone tools found on Flores and may have reached the island around 750,000 years ago. At the time, paleoanthropologists took little notice of Verhoeven's claims or if they did, they discounted them outright.
Father Verhoeven sitting near the site of one of his excavations on Flores at the Soa Basin during the 1960s. Image from Verhoeven, 1968.
Father Verhoeven sitting near the site of one of his excavations on Flores at the Soa Basin during the 1960s. Image from Verhoeven, 1968.
Almost thirty years later, an Indonesian-Dutch research team uncovered evidence at the Soa Basin which confirmed Verhoeven's original findings. This team even went further by dating some of the stone tools and fossils using paleomagnetism (a method of determining the age of ancient sediments) and showed they were probably around 700,000 years old. These new findings did not become widely known within the paleoanthropological community until additional sediments were dated using a different technique called zircon fission-track analysis. Thus, by the late 1990s more scientists were beginning to accept the possibility that another human species (likely Homo erectus) had crossed the Wallace Line and reached Flores well before our own species, Homo sapiens, had evolved in Africa around 200,000 years ago.
In 2001, an Indonesian-Australian research team began excavations at a large limestone cave located in west central Flores. This cave, known as Liang Bua (which means "cool cave"), was first excavated by Father Verhoeven in 1965. Professor Raden Soejono, the leading archeologist in Indonesia, heard about Liang Bua from Verhoeven and conducted six different excavations there from the late 1970s until 1989. All of this early work at Liang Bua only explored deposits that occurred within the first three meters of the cave floor. These deposits are dated to within the last 10,000 years and contain considerable archeological and faunal evidence of modern human use of the cave, as well as skeletal remains of modern humans. However, in 2001 the new goals were to excavate deeper into the cave's stratigraphy to explore if modern or pre-modern humans were using Liang Bua prior to 10,000 years ago. In September of 2003, they got their answer.
The Discovery of Homo floresiensis
On Saturday, September 6, 2003, Indonesian archeologist Wahyu Saptomo was overseeing the excavation of Sector VII at Liang Bua. Benyamin Tarus, one of the locally hired workers, was excavating the 2 x 2 meter square when all of a sudden the top of a skull began to reveal itself. Six meters beneath the surface of the cave, Wahyu immediately joined Benyamin and the two of them slowly and carefully removed some more sediment from around the top of the skull. Wahyu then asked Indonesian faunal expert Rokus Due Awe to inspect the excavated portion of the skull. Rokus told Wahyu that the skull definitely belonged to a hominin and most likely that of a small child given the size of its braincase. Two days later, the team returned to the site and Thomas Sutikna, the Indonesian archeologist in charge of the excavations, joined Wahyu at the bottom of the square. After several days, enough of the cranium and mandible had been exposed for Rokus to realize that this was no small child; instead, all of its teeth were permanent meaning that this was a fully grown adult. A few weeks later, the team had recovered the rest of this hominin's partial skeleton, the likes of which had never been discovered before. Today, this specimen is referred to as LB1 (Liang Bua 1), and is the holotype specimen for the species Homo floresiensis.
At the time of the discovery, the Liang Bua Research Team included specialists in archeology, geochronology, and faunal identification, but there was no physical anthropologist. Dr. Mike Morwood, the co-leader of the project, invited his colleague at the University of New England in Australia, Dr. Peter Brown, to lead the description and analysis of the skeletal remains. Dr. Brown is an expert on cranial, mandibular, and dental anatomy of early and modern humans and he agreed to apply his expertise to the study of the new bones from Liang Bua. This important scientific work resulted in the first descriptions of these skeletal remains in the journal Nature on October 28, 2004. This work also gave the scientific name, Homo floresiensis, to the hominin species that is represented by the skeletal material from the Late Pleistocene sediments at Liang Bua.
Just before the two Nature articles on Homo floresiensis were published in 2004, the Liang Bua Research Team uncovered additional skeletal material. This included the arm bones of LB1, and several bones of another individual, LB6, including the mandible and other bones of the arm. Drs. Morwood and Brown, and other Indonesian and Australian members of the Liang Bua Research Team, described and analyzed these new skeletal remains of Homo floresiensis and again published their results in Nature on October 13, 2005.
The skeletal evidence suggests that adults of this species had extremely small brains (400 cubic centimeters), stood only about 1 meter (3'6") tall, and weighed around 30 kg (66 lbs). For their height, these individuals have large body masses, and in this regard appear more similar to earlier hominins like "Lucy" (Australopithecus afarensis) than they do to modern humans, including small and large-bodied people. The proportions between the upper arm (humerus) and upper leg (femur) also appear more similar to those in Australopithecus and Homo habilis than those of modern humans.
Further Research
As additional postcranial material of Homo floresiensis was being recovered, Dr. Morwood contacted Dr. Susan Larson and Dr. William Jungers, of Stony Brook University Medical Center. Drs. Larson and Jungers are experts on human evolutionary anatomy, particularly with regard to the functional morphology of the arms and legs. Dr. Larson has shown that the shoulder of Homo floresiensis is more like that in Homo erectus rather than modern humans, and Dr. Jungers has demonstrated many anatomical features of the "hobbit" foot that are shared with African apes and early hominins like Australopithecus afarensis (e.g., "Lucy"). Dr. Morwood also invited hominin brain expert Dr. Dean Falk to analyze the endocast of Homo floresiensis. Dr. Falk has identified several features in the "hobbit" brain that suggest neural reorganization despite its overall small size. Additional research focused on the paleobiology and archeology of Homo floresiensis by Drs. Morwood, Brown, Larson, Jungers, Falk, their many Indonesian colleagues, and a large international network of scientific experts, was recently published in a special issue of Journal of Human Evolution (November 2009). Discussions and summaries of some of the work included in that special issue will be presented on this web page over the coming weeks and months.
In total, over a dozen scientific articles have been published based on analysis of the original skeletal remains of Homo floresiensis, and hundreds of scientific articles and news stories about Homo floresiensis have appeared in print or on the web during the past seven years since the partial skeleton of LB1 was discovered. As excavations at Liang Bua and elsewhere on Flores continue, we will keep you up-to-date on the latest discoveries and scientific analyses of materials related to Homo floresiensis, the so-called "hobbits" of human evolution. One of our Human Origins Program researchers, Dr. Matt Tocheri who has studied the wrist of Homo floresiensis, is looking forward to taking part in excavations this coming summer at Liang Bua and the Soa Basin.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Manggarai Awarded the Most Unique Destination at Indonesia Tourism Award 2010
2 December 2010 marked an important stage in the development of Flores as a new tourist destination when Mr. Agustinus Ch Dula, the newly elected Regent of West Manggarai on behalf of West Manggarai province received the award for the Most Unique Destination at the Indonesia Tourism Award 2010. The award presentation was attended by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Jero Wacik, Director General of Marketing, Mr. Sapta Nirwandar and SWA Chief Editor Kemal Effendi Gani. The award is an appreciation dedicated to regencies and cities as well as national tourism players to continuously develop, promote and strengthen all tourism sectors in the Indonesian Archipelago to attract more travellers visiting Indonesia to achieve the targeted seven-million visitors for 2010.
The prestigious award was presented on 2 Desember 2010 by The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia in association with SWA Magazine as a result of a survey done in 25 cities and regencies from 16 Augustus - 14 October 2010 involving 1,169 respondents consisting of 1,470 local tourists and 149 overseas travellers. The survey questionnaire comprised best city/regency in tourist services, the most favourite tourist destination, most favourite tourism object, best tourism support service which is divided into nine sub-categories: non-starred hotel, starred-hotel, airline, tour operator/travel agent, taxi, restaurant, golf, spa service provider and shopping mall. Another category is also dedicated to provinces with highest committment in tourism development.
Congratulations!
Source and photo courtesy of:
SWA
tourismindonesiaonline.com
Mr. Paulus Selasa, Head of Tourism Department of West Manggarai Regency
The prestigious award was presented on 2 Desember 2010 by The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia in association with SWA Magazine as a result of a survey done in 25 cities and regencies from 16 Augustus - 14 October 2010 involving 1,169 respondents consisting of 1,470 local tourists and 149 overseas travellers. The survey questionnaire comprised best city/regency in tourist services, the most favourite tourist destination, most favourite tourism object, best tourism support service which is divided into nine sub-categories: non-starred hotel, starred-hotel, airline, tour operator/travel agent, taxi, restaurant, golf, spa service provider and shopping mall. Another category is also dedicated to provinces with highest committment in tourism development.
Congratulations!
Source and photo courtesy of:
SWA
tourismindonesiaonline.com
Mr. Paulus Selasa, Head of Tourism Department of West Manggarai Regency
Flores Exotic Tours
Flores Exotic Tours
We are a group of 8 young Florenese, having many years of experience in the field of tourism in Flores and Bali and have done local and international tourism training.
Our aim is to share our experiences with those who wish to know more about our Flores island and Komodo dragon island, including Komodo National Park and tiny surrounding islands near Labuanbajo in west Flores and Lembata and Alor islands to the east of Flores. In addition, we wish to show closely our pure nature, for others to enjoy the stunning beauty of Flores nature, to get closer with the friendly local tribes, to see with their own and wonderful arts and cultures, and to discover the world’s most diverse and exotic wildlife.
We also focus on ecotourism, community-based ecotourism, trekking and bird watching, as programs offered in Tado, Werang, Mbeliling, and Wae rebo Village, located in West Flores. This may help develop local community development, local economy and local resources
We are concerned about sustainable tourism development by helping local economy and resources and every visitor has high respect for local culture, people and nature.
Address : Jalan Kakatua 8 Ngencung Ruteng 86511 Flores East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
Phone : +62 385 2705022
Fax : +62 385 21824
Email : info@floresexotictours.com
Website : http://floresexotictours.com/
We are a group of 8 young Florenese, having many years of experience in the field of tourism in Flores and Bali and have done local and international tourism training.
Our aim is to share our experiences with those who wish to know more about our Flores island and Komodo dragon island, including Komodo National Park and tiny surrounding islands near Labuanbajo in west Flores and Lembata and Alor islands to the east of Flores. In addition, we wish to show closely our pure nature, for others to enjoy the stunning beauty of Flores nature, to get closer with the friendly local tribes, to see with their own and wonderful arts and cultures, and to discover the world’s most diverse and exotic wildlife.
We also focus on ecotourism, community-based ecotourism, trekking and bird watching, as programs offered in Tado, Werang, Mbeliling, and Wae rebo Village, located in West Flores. This may help develop local community development, local economy and local resources
We are concerned about sustainable tourism development by helping local economy and resources and every visitor has high respect for local culture, people and nature.
Address : Jalan Kakatua 8 Ngencung Ruteng 86511 Flores East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
Phone : +62 385 2705022
Fax : +62 385 21824
Email : info@floresexotictours.com
Website : http://floresexotictours.com/
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Reba, Thanksgiving Celebrations and Hopes for a Better Year
Reba, Thanksgiving Celebrations and Hopes for a Better Year
Ngadha or Ngada, is a famous region of Flores’ indigenous cultural richness and famed for its preservation of ancient rites, physical and non-physical artifacts that is searched for, observed and enjoyed by travelers coming to the island.
Bena, a village approximately 13km from Bajawa on the southern mountainous landscape, Ngada’s capital city, has been exposed by many travel guidebooks including the traveler’s bible “The Lonely Planet” as “the” place to experience the amazing Florinese tradition and culture. The existence of Bena can be traced down to the Megalithic remains found in most areas of the village. Lying at the feet of Mount Inerie, Bena offers not only a scenic view of the blue-colored mountain but also a hiking trip along its winding hilly path. For the art lovers, Florinese Ikat weaving is an inseparable artistic feature of Bena.
December is an important month for the community of Bena who holds an annual celebration called Reba. Reba is the festival similar to Thanksgiving, paying respect to the Almighty for the blessing of the great harvest and the people’s wealth. The three-day festival consists of communal ceremonies where rituals involving a huge amount of crops and livestock collected. Historically, Reba tells the story of the community’s ancestors who traveled from time to time to different places in search of better livestock and crops, especially yam, as well as seeking farmland in the neighborhood.
It is amazing to see that the villagers still hold up their traditional way of life with a strong commitment inherited and inspired by their ancestors. The role of the ancestors is not only admitted but respect of their existence is also shown in every part of their lives.
For religious reason and based on communal consensus, the yearly ceremony of Reba is held on 27th of December annually. Bena is being considered as the eldest village compared to surrounding related sibling villages, which makes it the first place to hold Reba, followed by other villages after a certain number of days.
Animal offerings are part of the sacred rituals during the festive days. A series of ceremonies will be held in the Kisanatha, the village’s yard, where all the rites and meals will be held and served. Nga’dhu, a tall wooden trunk with carvings and a conical thatched-roof on top, representing the first male ancestor and Bhaga, a miniature of a traditional house representing the first female ancestor will be at the center of the rituals.
Rites related to Reba actually already started one week before the actual festival. Some pre-ceremonial rituals as the initiation of Reba, like Paki Sobhi (comb making), a thirteen-rowed comb made of thin bamboo believed to prevent the village from wind or storm, and Bui Loka, a ceremony meant to clean the Loka or Lanu--structured stones where the blood of the offered animals is spilled on, both rituals are held at the outskirts of the village.
In general, Reba in Bena is performed in the following stages:
Dheke Reba is the initial stage where materials or ceremonial instruments including animals to offer such as pigs, dogs and chicken are collected. The collection process called Ngapa is done by the members of the clans (Woe). At this stage, Kobe Dheke is the gathering where all attending participants discuss about the work to be done, problems, and observations to each member of the family. The discussion is usually held in Teda One, the main house of the Ngadanese. The night will be closed with a communal dinner called ‘Ka Maki Reba’.
Sedo Uwi is the day when all members of the village proudly dress up in their best traditional costume and dance together. Songs telling stories adoring the yam, a typical staple food in their olden days, accompany the dancing. ‘O Uwi’ meaning “oh yam” is sung many times during the song. The ceremonial dancing is commonly done the day after the first night of Reba. In this special occasion, the cheers are shared to all including any visitors who are encouraged to participate in the amusing dance.
Kobe Dho’I is claimed to be the most expressive part of the ongoing Reba ceremony when people of the village invite relatives from other villages or any outside traveler to enjoy meals served in the house.
Su’i Uwi is the most sacred ritual in Reba where the Tua Adat (the elderly chief) cuts a yam and recite poetic verses telling an ancient story of their ancestor’s journey from a land called ‘One Sina’ that has long been interpreted by some anthropologists as China. They had sailed across oceans and hiked mountains, then migrated through Java, Bima, Sumba and then on to the north until they arrive in Ngadha. Yam is adorned in many lines of the verses as their ancestors’ staple food.
Rora Wuki Uwi or throwing out the yam peels at the village’s backyard closes the festival of Reba.
If you wish to experience this inspiring and rich-of-Florinese culture festival, Reba, please circle these important dates:
• 1 January 2011, in Gurusina, 4 km South of Bena, (Lat: 8°53'44.18"S, Long: 120°59'24.68"E)
• 15 January 2011, in Langa, 8 km North of Bena (Lat: 8°49'34.91"S, Long: 120°57'49.19"E)
Other villages such as Nage in Jerebu’u, Wogo in Golewa, and Beiposo in Bajawa will also hold Reba in January, while Deru in Jerebu’u, Ruto in Aimere, Turekisa in will do Reba in February. It is recommended to dress up politely if you wish to participate. Even though not obligatory, it is advisable to wear Ngada traditional costume especially during the sacred ritual procession.
Source: http://www.florestourism.com/newsletter/
Ngadha or Ngada, is a famous region of Flores’ indigenous cultural richness and famed for its preservation of ancient rites, physical and non-physical artifacts that is searched for, observed and enjoyed by travelers coming to the island.
Bena, a village approximately 13km from Bajawa on the southern mountainous landscape, Ngada’s capital city, has been exposed by many travel guidebooks including the traveler’s bible “The Lonely Planet” as “the” place to experience the amazing Florinese tradition and culture. The existence of Bena can be traced down to the Megalithic remains found in most areas of the village. Lying at the feet of Mount Inerie, Bena offers not only a scenic view of the blue-colored mountain but also a hiking trip along its winding hilly path. For the art lovers, Florinese Ikat weaving is an inseparable artistic feature of Bena.
December is an important month for the community of Bena who holds an annual celebration called Reba. Reba is the festival similar to Thanksgiving, paying respect to the Almighty for the blessing of the great harvest and the people’s wealth. The three-day festival consists of communal ceremonies where rituals involving a huge amount of crops and livestock collected. Historically, Reba tells the story of the community’s ancestors who traveled from time to time to different places in search of better livestock and crops, especially yam, as well as seeking farmland in the neighborhood.
It is amazing to see that the villagers still hold up their traditional way of life with a strong commitment inherited and inspired by their ancestors. The role of the ancestors is not only admitted but respect of their existence is also shown in every part of their lives.
For religious reason and based on communal consensus, the yearly ceremony of Reba is held on 27th of December annually. Bena is being considered as the eldest village compared to surrounding related sibling villages, which makes it the first place to hold Reba, followed by other villages after a certain number of days.
Animal offerings are part of the sacred rituals during the festive days. A series of ceremonies will be held in the Kisanatha, the village’s yard, where all the rites and meals will be held and served. Nga’dhu, a tall wooden trunk with carvings and a conical thatched-roof on top, representing the first male ancestor and Bhaga, a miniature of a traditional house representing the first female ancestor will be at the center of the rituals.
Rites related to Reba actually already started one week before the actual festival. Some pre-ceremonial rituals as the initiation of Reba, like Paki Sobhi (comb making), a thirteen-rowed comb made of thin bamboo believed to prevent the village from wind or storm, and Bui Loka, a ceremony meant to clean the Loka or Lanu--structured stones where the blood of the offered animals is spilled on, both rituals are held at the outskirts of the village.
In general, Reba in Bena is performed in the following stages:
Dheke Reba is the initial stage where materials or ceremonial instruments including animals to offer such as pigs, dogs and chicken are collected. The collection process called Ngapa is done by the members of the clans (Woe). At this stage, Kobe Dheke is the gathering where all attending participants discuss about the work to be done, problems, and observations to each member of the family. The discussion is usually held in Teda One, the main house of the Ngadanese. The night will be closed with a communal dinner called ‘Ka Maki Reba’.
Sedo Uwi is the day when all members of the village proudly dress up in their best traditional costume and dance together. Songs telling stories adoring the yam, a typical staple food in their olden days, accompany the dancing. ‘O Uwi’ meaning “oh yam” is sung many times during the song. The ceremonial dancing is commonly done the day after the first night of Reba. In this special occasion, the cheers are shared to all including any visitors who are encouraged to participate in the amusing dance.
Kobe Dho’I is claimed to be the most expressive part of the ongoing Reba ceremony when people of the village invite relatives from other villages or any outside traveler to enjoy meals served in the house.
Su’i Uwi is the most sacred ritual in Reba where the Tua Adat (the elderly chief) cuts a yam and recite poetic verses telling an ancient story of their ancestor’s journey from a land called ‘One Sina’ that has long been interpreted by some anthropologists as China. They had sailed across oceans and hiked mountains, then migrated through Java, Bima, Sumba and then on to the north until they arrive in Ngadha. Yam is adorned in many lines of the verses as their ancestors’ staple food.
Rora Wuki Uwi or throwing out the yam peels at the village’s backyard closes the festival of Reba.
If you wish to experience this inspiring and rich-of-Florinese culture festival, Reba, please circle these important dates:
• 1 January 2011, in Gurusina, 4 km South of Bena, (Lat: 8°53'44.18"S, Long: 120°59'24.68"E)
• 15 January 2011, in Langa, 8 km North of Bena (Lat: 8°49'34.91"S, Long: 120°57'49.19"E)
Other villages such as Nage in Jerebu’u, Wogo in Golewa, and Beiposo in Bajawa will also hold Reba in January, while Deru in Jerebu’u, Ruto in Aimere, Turekisa in will do Reba in February. It is recommended to dress up politely if you wish to participate. Even though not obligatory, it is advisable to wear Ngada traditional costume especially during the sacred ritual procession.
Source: http://www.florestourism.com/newsletter/
Monday, December 20, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Dive sites at Komodo National park
Komodo National park
Dive sites
Lohwenci
A good variety of hard and soft corals, plenty of fish life and other marine creatures can be found at this site. This site is a pleasant, relatively current-free dive just north of the ranger station where there is a small white sandy beach and a group of low, black rocks sitting on the reef. The entry point is just off the small white beach. The dive continues towards the ranger station with the reef at left.
The Alley
This area is marked with very large giant trevally, sharks, beautiful coral and a high diversity of other invertebrate life in relatively shallow water between 5-20m depth. Sometimes lots of manta rays may be seen feeding between September and January each year. The tiny rocky islands in this southern Komodo bay are great for snorkeling and diving, with even if there are no mantas. Only little damage has been done to the corals in this area and the damaged corals seem to be recovering rapidly. The best diving entry point is on the northeastern side of a rock located near a coral mound that is submerged 3-5m below the surface The temperature of the water can drop to the low 20°C range and this site tends to be current-prone.
German Flag
From September to January high densities of plankton attract many large manta rays that can normally be seen swimming on the surface along the shores and rocks along southern Komodo Island. The nearshore water is quite shallow (5 - 20m deep) and is composed of large rocks and boulders that shelter huge malabar grouper, potato cod, napoleon wrasse, schools of surgeon fishes and red snappers. Cooler water from the upwellings off the south coast provide a nutrient-rich environment in this area. There is usually current at this site and a drift dive is usually the best way to go .
depth.
Crinoid Canyon
Many kinds of small invertebrate life can be found here on very colorful walls carpeted in featherstars. This site is located in a small cove just outside the southern entrance of Loh Dasami on the island of Nusa Kode, almost directly opposite Yellow Wall. The diving entry point is just south of the cove then continues along the wall in a counter-clockwise direction. Best to start the dive at 25 m depth and then continue swimming back and forth up along the wall to the surface. This is a easy dive location with no current and is good in the early morning as it catches the morning sun.
Nusa Kode
The south western tip of Kode island is characterized by large, coral-encrusted boulders and huge groupers. Amongst the boulders are some of the largest reef fishes residing in the Park such as gigantic potato cod and malabar grouper. Schools of large red snapper are normally prevalent. Diving entry is west of a small island at this site. Swim down to a depth of about 10 m and follow the ridge, which juts out in a southerly direction. Swim along the crest of the ridge and down to a max of 50 m depth.
Pantai Merah/ Pink Beach
There as a great variety of fishes here and also a good selection of critters such as leaf scorpionfish, blue ribbon eels, crocodile fish, nudibranchs, and more. Visibility varies but is best during falling tide. This is the most frequently visited site in the Park for snorkeling and diving. Snorkeling is excellent from the beach and there is a very good dive around a small area of reef around a steep rocky wall which is visible from the surface of the water at low tide. This site is also a very good night dive and offers excellent macro-photography opportunities. Several mooring buoys are stationed at this site.
Batu Tiga
An excellent “big fish” dive. Large boulders in deeper water to the west offer excellent habitat for grouper and other creatures. Mantas, giant trevally and other pelagic fishes are frequently seen here. Most of the coral growth is stunted as a result of the strong prevailing currents. Batu Tiga is without a doubt one of the most current-effected sites in Komodo and is tricky to dive. A rocky reef is situated southeast of Tanjung Kuning in Linta Strait and extends below the surface up towards Komodo Island. The best diving entry is at the northeastern side of the three rocks. Swim counter-clockwise until reaching some big boulders at 33 m depth. After exploring the area around these boulders turn around and swim back, keeping the reef to your right.
Karang Makasar
This site is for snorkling only, please don’t dive here as it will disturb the manta rays. The reef does not have much in the way of coral or fish life however this location is manta ray aggregation site. The best way to find the mantas is to cruise along the eastern face of the reef until you see them on the surface. The best time is during rising tide. Sometimes there can be between 40 to 50 mantas.
Batu Bolong
The top of the reef is covered in colorful corals, invertebrate life and thousands of brilliant reef fish. Along the steep walls in deeper water many large fishes including sharks, napoleon wrasse, giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, and large schools of rainbow runners can be observed on almost every occasion. Batu Bolong is a tiny rocky outcropping in the strait between Tatawa Kecil and Komodo Island. The reef is undamaged due to strong currents and steep dropoffs, which are difficult conditions for local fishermen to use dynamite or cyanide fishing techniques. This site is one of the top diving locations in the Park but it can only be dived around slack tide when the current is not too strong.
Tatawa Kecil
Rocks, caves and beautiful coral gardens grace the reef on the western side of the islet. Many coral reef fishes including large groupers, snappers, sweetlips, trevally and sharks can be seen. Amazing numbers of anthias swim amongst colorful fields of branching corals. Dugongs have been spotted here and manta rays are often seen on the southern side of the island. This small rocky islet southwest of Tatawa Besar Island is an egret nesting site and a fantastic snorkel and dive site when the current is not too fast. Large or inexperienced groups should only attempt this site around slack tide.
Tatawa Besar
Good reef fish life and an endless field of orange soft corals. Mantas are often seen in this area. A good drift dive starts at the northwest tip of the island and runs along the western side in about 15- 20 m of water. A similar drift dive is also possible along the north coast of the Tatawa Besar from the same entry point. This site is a good dive option if the current is too strong at Tatawa Kecil or Batu Bolong.
Sabolan Kecil
This is another good site within easy reach of Labuanbajo. On the west side of the island there is a small white sandy beach. At the northern most point of the beach where the sand meets the rocks is the best point to enter. The reef slopes down to sand and there is a patch reef isolated from the islands fringing reef . The Water clarity is usually good and so is the dive. Once you have seen the patch reef you can return to the fringing reef slope to finish your dive.
Sebayor Kecil
Large boulders shelter groups of giant trevally, whitetip reef sharks, coral trout, snappers and emperors. The northwestern corner of Sebayor Kecil is one of the better dive sites near Labuanbajo. A small reef extends northwest from the island where it drops off to greater depths along the northern coast of the island. A few hundred meters from the shore there are some large boulders with notable fish life. Currents can be quite strong at this site.
Gililawa Laut
Always a great dive site to see fish but does not have much to show in terms of hard corals. Behind a very large rock on the corner of the reef is a drop-off covered in boulders and many holes in between with hidden animals. Excellent grouper sightings, especially in October and November during spawning aggregations. There are usually many golden trevallies, snappers and sometimes huge napoleon wrasses. The site is located on the northeastern tip of Gililawa Laut. The best time to dive this site is when there is a slight current just before or after slack-tide.
Castle Rock
Curious batfish as well as schooling barracuda, trevally and mackerels swim at 30- 40m depth. At approximately 20m depth there is excellent soft coral growth and numerous seafans that host pygmy seahorses. The top of the rock is a good, calm place to explore during safety stops. This site usually has excellent visibility but is prone to strong currents. The current usually flows eastwards and is much stronger at the surface than in the deeper water. However, the top of the rock, which is approximately 3 to 4m deep, also offers shelter from the current; hence the name “Castle Rock”.Recommended dive entry point is in blue water approximately 50m up-current from the shallowest point of the reef.
Crystal Rock
A very colorful dive with excellent soft coral coverage. Clouds of anthias and schools of yellow-ribbon sweetlips are always encountered while frogfish, moray eels and scorpionfish are commonly seen. There is a small mound northwest of the rock where different species of fish school seasonally, including tuna and mackerel. An excellent dive usually worth doing twice. This name of this site is from the very clear water surrounding it. The top of the site is exposed at low tide. This site is prone to currents, which usually flow eastwards. Best time to dive is during slacktide. Darat Passage North,
More info: http://www.komodonationalpark.org/
Dive sites
Lohwenci
A good variety of hard and soft corals, plenty of fish life and other marine creatures can be found at this site. This site is a pleasant, relatively current-free dive just north of the ranger station where there is a small white sandy beach and a group of low, black rocks sitting on the reef. The entry point is just off the small white beach. The dive continues towards the ranger station with the reef at left.
The Alley
This area is marked with very large giant trevally, sharks, beautiful coral and a high diversity of other invertebrate life in relatively shallow water between 5-20m depth. Sometimes lots of manta rays may be seen feeding between September and January each year. The tiny rocky islands in this southern Komodo bay are great for snorkeling and diving, with even if there are no mantas. Only little damage has been done to the corals in this area and the damaged corals seem to be recovering rapidly. The best diving entry point is on the northeastern side of a rock located near a coral mound that is submerged 3-5m below the surface The temperature of the water can drop to the low 20°C range and this site tends to be current-prone.
German Flag
From September to January high densities of plankton attract many large manta rays that can normally be seen swimming on the surface along the shores and rocks along southern Komodo Island. The nearshore water is quite shallow (5 - 20m deep) and is composed of large rocks and boulders that shelter huge malabar grouper, potato cod, napoleon wrasse, schools of surgeon fishes and red snappers. Cooler water from the upwellings off the south coast provide a nutrient-rich environment in this area. There is usually current at this site and a drift dive is usually the best way to go .
depth.
Crinoid Canyon
Many kinds of small invertebrate life can be found here on very colorful walls carpeted in featherstars. This site is located in a small cove just outside the southern entrance of Loh Dasami on the island of Nusa Kode, almost directly opposite Yellow Wall. The diving entry point is just south of the cove then continues along the wall in a counter-clockwise direction. Best to start the dive at 25 m depth and then continue swimming back and forth up along the wall to the surface. This is a easy dive location with no current and is good in the early morning as it catches the morning sun.
Nusa Kode
The south western tip of Kode island is characterized by large, coral-encrusted boulders and huge groupers. Amongst the boulders are some of the largest reef fishes residing in the Park such as gigantic potato cod and malabar grouper. Schools of large red snapper are normally prevalent. Diving entry is west of a small island at this site. Swim down to a depth of about 10 m and follow the ridge, which juts out in a southerly direction. Swim along the crest of the ridge and down to a max of 50 m depth.
Pantai Merah/ Pink Beach
There as a great variety of fishes here and also a good selection of critters such as leaf scorpionfish, blue ribbon eels, crocodile fish, nudibranchs, and more. Visibility varies but is best during falling tide. This is the most frequently visited site in the Park for snorkeling and diving. Snorkeling is excellent from the beach and there is a very good dive around a small area of reef around a steep rocky wall which is visible from the surface of the water at low tide. This site is also a very good night dive and offers excellent macro-photography opportunities. Several mooring buoys are stationed at this site.
Batu Tiga
An excellent “big fish” dive. Large boulders in deeper water to the west offer excellent habitat for grouper and other creatures. Mantas, giant trevally and other pelagic fishes are frequently seen here. Most of the coral growth is stunted as a result of the strong prevailing currents. Batu Tiga is without a doubt one of the most current-effected sites in Komodo and is tricky to dive. A rocky reef is situated southeast of Tanjung Kuning in Linta Strait and extends below the surface up towards Komodo Island. The best diving entry is at the northeastern side of the three rocks. Swim counter-clockwise until reaching some big boulders at 33 m depth. After exploring the area around these boulders turn around and swim back, keeping the reef to your right.
Karang Makasar
This site is for snorkling only, please don’t dive here as it will disturb the manta rays. The reef does not have much in the way of coral or fish life however this location is manta ray aggregation site. The best way to find the mantas is to cruise along the eastern face of the reef until you see them on the surface. The best time is during rising tide. Sometimes there can be between 40 to 50 mantas.
Batu Bolong
The top of the reef is covered in colorful corals, invertebrate life and thousands of brilliant reef fish. Along the steep walls in deeper water many large fishes including sharks, napoleon wrasse, giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, and large schools of rainbow runners can be observed on almost every occasion. Batu Bolong is a tiny rocky outcropping in the strait between Tatawa Kecil and Komodo Island. The reef is undamaged due to strong currents and steep dropoffs, which are difficult conditions for local fishermen to use dynamite or cyanide fishing techniques. This site is one of the top diving locations in the Park but it can only be dived around slack tide when the current is not too strong.
Tatawa Kecil
Rocks, caves and beautiful coral gardens grace the reef on the western side of the islet. Many coral reef fishes including large groupers, snappers, sweetlips, trevally and sharks can be seen. Amazing numbers of anthias swim amongst colorful fields of branching corals. Dugongs have been spotted here and manta rays are often seen on the southern side of the island. This small rocky islet southwest of Tatawa Besar Island is an egret nesting site and a fantastic snorkel and dive site when the current is not too fast. Large or inexperienced groups should only attempt this site around slack tide.
Tatawa Besar
Good reef fish life and an endless field of orange soft corals. Mantas are often seen in this area. A good drift dive starts at the northwest tip of the island and runs along the western side in about 15- 20 m of water. A similar drift dive is also possible along the north coast of the Tatawa Besar from the same entry point. This site is a good dive option if the current is too strong at Tatawa Kecil or Batu Bolong.
Sabolan Kecil
This is another good site within easy reach of Labuanbajo. On the west side of the island there is a small white sandy beach. At the northern most point of the beach where the sand meets the rocks is the best point to enter. The reef slopes down to sand and there is a patch reef isolated from the islands fringing reef . The Water clarity is usually good and so is the dive. Once you have seen the patch reef you can return to the fringing reef slope to finish your dive.
Sebayor Kecil
Large boulders shelter groups of giant trevally, whitetip reef sharks, coral trout, snappers and emperors. The northwestern corner of Sebayor Kecil is one of the better dive sites near Labuanbajo. A small reef extends northwest from the island where it drops off to greater depths along the northern coast of the island. A few hundred meters from the shore there are some large boulders with notable fish life. Currents can be quite strong at this site.
Gililawa Laut
Always a great dive site to see fish but does not have much to show in terms of hard corals. Behind a very large rock on the corner of the reef is a drop-off covered in boulders and many holes in between with hidden animals. Excellent grouper sightings, especially in October and November during spawning aggregations. There are usually many golden trevallies, snappers and sometimes huge napoleon wrasses. The site is located on the northeastern tip of Gililawa Laut. The best time to dive this site is when there is a slight current just before or after slack-tide.
Castle Rock
Curious batfish as well as schooling barracuda, trevally and mackerels swim at 30- 40m depth. At approximately 20m depth there is excellent soft coral growth and numerous seafans that host pygmy seahorses. The top of the rock is a good, calm place to explore during safety stops. This site usually has excellent visibility but is prone to strong currents. The current usually flows eastwards and is much stronger at the surface than in the deeper water. However, the top of the rock, which is approximately 3 to 4m deep, also offers shelter from the current; hence the name “Castle Rock”.Recommended dive entry point is in blue water approximately 50m up-current from the shallowest point of the reef.
Crystal Rock
A very colorful dive with excellent soft coral coverage. Clouds of anthias and schools of yellow-ribbon sweetlips are always encountered while frogfish, moray eels and scorpionfish are commonly seen. There is a small mound northwest of the rock where different species of fish school seasonally, including tuna and mackerel. An excellent dive usually worth doing twice. This name of this site is from the very clear water surrounding it. The top of the site is exposed at low tide. This site is prone to currents, which usually flow eastwards. Best time to dive is during slacktide. Darat Passage North,
More info: http://www.komodonationalpark.org/
Monday, November 15, 2010
Nusa Tenggara
Nusa Tenggara
West-Nusa Tenggara
Die Wallace-Linie, benannt nach dem Naturforscher Alfred Russell Wallace, markiert den Übergang zwischen der Flora und Fauna des Westens und des Ostens Indonesiens und ist gleichzeitig die westliche Grenze von West-Nusa Tenggara. Zu dieser Inselgruppe gehören auch die Inseln Lombok und Sumbawa.
Lombok unterscheidet sich deutlich vom benachbarten Bali. Der nördliche Teil der Insel ist gebirgsreich und üppig bewachsen. Der Süden dagegen ist trocken und gleicht eher einer Savanne. Statt großer asiatischer Säugetiere gibt es hier kleinere Tiere wie Beuteltiere, Eidechsen, Kakadus und Papageien. Weiter im Osten Lomboks wird der Unterschied zu Bali noch offensichtlicher. Hier sind die Trockenzeiten sehr lang. Getreide und Maniok, nicht Reis, sind die Haupterzeugnisse dieser Region.
Als der Islam die Inseln des heutigen West-Nusa-Tenggara erstmals erreichte, koexistierten dort vier Hindu-Königreiche in Frieden miteinander. Lombok wurde zwar stark von Bali beeinflusst, bewahrte jedoch seine eigene Identität. Die Ureinwohner Lomboks, die Sasak, sind überwiegend Muslime und haben wie die Bewohner der Nachbarinsel Sumbawa starke Traditionen.
Mit seinen weiche weißen Sandstränden ist Lombok immer noch ein Geheimtipp. Hier gilt das Motto: “Man kann Bali von Lombok aus sehen, aber Lombok nicht von Bali aus.” Die Insel, die vor allem für ihre handgewebten Ikatstoffe bekannt ist, hat einen außergewöhnlichen Charme und ist zum großen Teil noch relativ unerschlossen. Ausnahme ist der Badeort Senggigi. Mit Linienflügen aus Bali und Surabaya oder per Fähre ist Lombok exzellent mit den anderen Inseln der Provinz und dem Rest Indonesiens verbunden.
Ost-Nusa Tenggera
Die Inselgruppe Ost-Nusa Tenggara wurde durch die Kraft und die Gewalt der mächtigen Vulkankette, die nördlich von Sumatra beginnt und sich östlich bis nach Java streckt, geteilt. Die Provinz besteht aus mehr als 500 Inseln. Die drei Hauptinseln sind Flores, Sumba und Timor. Die trockene Landschaft Ost- und Süd-Nusa-Tenggeras ist das Ergebnis der heißen und trockenen Winde, die vor dem australischen Kontinent wehen. In vielen Küstengebieten fallen im Jahr kaum Niederschläge. Der Name Flores ist portugiesisch und bedeutet Blume und beschreibt passend die Schönheit des Ortes. Diese lange Insel zwischen Sumbawa und Timor ist voller Vulkane und Gebirge. Die Insel ist in mehrere Regionen unterteilt, die unterschiedliche Sprachen und Traditionen haben. Wegen dem starken Einfluss Portugals ist der Katholizismus die Hauptreligion. Es gibt sehr viele Beispiele, die das europäische Kulturerbe zeigen, wie z.B. das Osterfest in Larantuka und die königlichen Insignien des früheren Königs in Maumere.
Früher bekannt als die Sandelholzinsel, ist Sumba heutzutage vor allem wegen seiner Pferde und seiner herrlichen Ikatstoffe berühmt. In Westsumba gibt es beeindruckende Megalith-Gräber und Stelzenhäuser. Unglaubliche Rituale gehören hier zum Leben, wie z.B. die “Pasola”, wo hunderte von Reitern sich in einer traditionellen Zeremonie gegenseitig mit Speeren bewerfen. Die meisten Rituale finden zwischen Juli und Oktober statt, so auch der Bau der traditionellen „adat“-Häuser. Für Beerdigungszeremonien werden Hunderte Schweine, Wasserbüffel und Hunde geopfert. Andere Zeremonien sind z.B. die “Pajura”, das traditionelle Boxen, das Lunar-Neujahrfest im Oktober und November, Pferderennen und rituelle Tänze.
West-Nusa Tenggara
Die Wallace-Linie, benannt nach dem Naturforscher Alfred Russell Wallace, markiert den Übergang zwischen der Flora und Fauna des Westens und des Ostens Indonesiens und ist gleichzeitig die westliche Grenze von West-Nusa Tenggara. Zu dieser Inselgruppe gehören auch die Inseln Lombok und Sumbawa.
Lombok unterscheidet sich deutlich vom benachbarten Bali. Der nördliche Teil der Insel ist gebirgsreich und üppig bewachsen. Der Süden dagegen ist trocken und gleicht eher einer Savanne. Statt großer asiatischer Säugetiere gibt es hier kleinere Tiere wie Beuteltiere, Eidechsen, Kakadus und Papageien. Weiter im Osten Lomboks wird der Unterschied zu Bali noch offensichtlicher. Hier sind die Trockenzeiten sehr lang. Getreide und Maniok, nicht Reis, sind die Haupterzeugnisse dieser Region.
Als der Islam die Inseln des heutigen West-Nusa-Tenggara erstmals erreichte, koexistierten dort vier Hindu-Königreiche in Frieden miteinander. Lombok wurde zwar stark von Bali beeinflusst, bewahrte jedoch seine eigene Identität. Die Ureinwohner Lomboks, die Sasak, sind überwiegend Muslime und haben wie die Bewohner der Nachbarinsel Sumbawa starke Traditionen.
Mit seinen weiche weißen Sandstränden ist Lombok immer noch ein Geheimtipp. Hier gilt das Motto: “Man kann Bali von Lombok aus sehen, aber Lombok nicht von Bali aus.” Die Insel, die vor allem für ihre handgewebten Ikatstoffe bekannt ist, hat einen außergewöhnlichen Charme und ist zum großen Teil noch relativ unerschlossen. Ausnahme ist der Badeort Senggigi. Mit Linienflügen aus Bali und Surabaya oder per Fähre ist Lombok exzellent mit den anderen Inseln der Provinz und dem Rest Indonesiens verbunden.
Ost-Nusa Tenggera
Die Inselgruppe Ost-Nusa Tenggara wurde durch die Kraft und die Gewalt der mächtigen Vulkankette, die nördlich von Sumatra beginnt und sich östlich bis nach Java streckt, geteilt. Die Provinz besteht aus mehr als 500 Inseln. Die drei Hauptinseln sind Flores, Sumba und Timor. Die trockene Landschaft Ost- und Süd-Nusa-Tenggeras ist das Ergebnis der heißen und trockenen Winde, die vor dem australischen Kontinent wehen. In vielen Küstengebieten fallen im Jahr kaum Niederschläge. Der Name Flores ist portugiesisch und bedeutet Blume und beschreibt passend die Schönheit des Ortes. Diese lange Insel zwischen Sumbawa und Timor ist voller Vulkane und Gebirge. Die Insel ist in mehrere Regionen unterteilt, die unterschiedliche Sprachen und Traditionen haben. Wegen dem starken Einfluss Portugals ist der Katholizismus die Hauptreligion. Es gibt sehr viele Beispiele, die das europäische Kulturerbe zeigen, wie z.B. das Osterfest in Larantuka und die königlichen Insignien des früheren Königs in Maumere.
Früher bekannt als die Sandelholzinsel, ist Sumba heutzutage vor allem wegen seiner Pferde und seiner herrlichen Ikatstoffe berühmt. In Westsumba gibt es beeindruckende Megalith-Gräber und Stelzenhäuser. Unglaubliche Rituale gehören hier zum Leben, wie z.B. die “Pasola”, wo hunderte von Reitern sich in einer traditionellen Zeremonie gegenseitig mit Speeren bewerfen. Die meisten Rituale finden zwischen Juli und Oktober statt, so auch der Bau der traditionellen „adat“-Häuser. Für Beerdigungszeremonien werden Hunderte Schweine, Wasserbüffel und Hunde geopfert. Andere Zeremonien sind z.B. die “Pajura”, das traditionelle Boxen, das Lunar-Neujahrfest im Oktober und November, Pferderennen und rituelle Tänze.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Flores, Community based eco-tourism
Waerebo Traditional Village of Manggarai
West Flores
Administratively, Waerebo is within the Todo Forest area, Satarlenda Village, West Satarmese District, Manggarai Region, Flores NTT Province. It is 158 km from Labuan Bajo, the major town of West Manggarai and 88 km from Ruteng, the major town of the Manggarai Region. Add to this another 9 km walk, which can take up to approximately 5 hours.
Tourist Visits
A total of 300 recorded tourists had visited Waerebo Traditional Enclave by 2008 (source: LPW). The majority of these visitors were Dutch and used one of a few travel agents.
Waerebo is the only remaining village in the original style of round houses with straw rooves (mbaru niang) in the whole of Manggarai. Visitors will enjoy an interactive experience while learning about community lifestyle in previous times.
Community Based Tourism Assistance Mode
To establish community based tourism in Waerebo traditional enclave, NGO BirdLife Indonesia implemented a facilitation model designed to increase the capacity of human resources and improve the local economy through environmental conservation. This method involved small groups forming the Waerebo Tourism body with 20 male and 15 female members.
1.Assistance activities include:
Awareness Building and Learning About Tourism
This program includes learning methods for the local community, especially group members, about how to identify potential, plan and develop a product that is appealing to tourists and is based in environmental conservation. Activities are as follows:
Group discussion about tourism and culture
Cleaning up the environment - "No Plastic" campaig
English language training
2.Building Capacity of the Local Community
In developing community based tourism, NGO BirdLife Indonesia also provided hospitality training to groups. Activities included:
Service training
Tourist Guide training
Local Food training
Preparing Homestays and the Home Environment training
Grass Weaving training
Art and Culture training
3.Participative Tourism Facilities Provision
Tourism development requires tourism facilities, as in every tourism activity people need accommodation, food, drink and information. NGO BirdLife Indonesia ensures facilities development involves the community and is carried out in a participative manner. The outcome of this is for the community to maintain the facilities into the future. Facilities include clean water, an eco-tourism trail to Warebo and a billboard advertising the potential of Waerebo at cross-roads in Pela and Dintor.
Lake Sano Nggoang , West Flores Indonesia
•Administrative Site
For administrative purposes, Lake Sano Nggoang is located in Wae Sano village, Sano Nggoang district, West Manggarai. It is 63 kilometres from Labuan Bajo and takes about 3 hours by car or motorbike. Between Labuan Bajo and Werang - the major village of Sano Nggoang district – the road is asphalt, from Werang to Lake Sano Nggoang is is a stone road. However, a current project to asphalt the surface to Lake Sano Nggoang will improve tourist access.
•Tourist visits
The total number of tourist visits to the area of Lake Sano Nggoang in 2008 was just 30 and in 2009 this increased to a total of 175 (source: Lake Sano Nggoang Ecotourism Group). There were 20,634 international visitors to Labuan Bajo in 2007 as well as 11,123 domestic tourists.
Tourism potential of Lake Sano Nggoang Area
Lake Sano Nggoang is located 750m above sea level, south east of Mbeliling Fores in the separate Sesok Forest block. Tourism potential in the area is as follows:
Volcanic Lake
The lake has an area of approximately 513 há, 2.5 and 3 kilometres wide, and a depth of ±600m. The lake has sulphuric content high enough for activites related to skin health, revitalisation and can be circled by horse back. Lake Sano Nggoang is in a still natural area and when viewed from above at a distance of 150 metres its beauty is two-fold.
Hot Springs and Sulphur
Around Lake Sano Nggoang are hot springs up to 100 degrees Farenheit / 37 degrees Celsius with true natural value. The real attraction here is the water being hot enough to cook eggs and bananas in just 3 minutes. Visitors can also experience a Natural Spa in a small pool near the lakes' edge.
Flores Endemic Birds (Flores Crow)
Bird species found in the region of Lake Sano Nggoang include: Teals (Anas superciliosa, Anas gibberifrons); endemic Flores crow species (Corvus florensis); Swamp species (Tesia everetti, Rhipidura diluta, Caridonax fulgidus). Lake Sano Nggoang is attractive as a bird watching location with a high population of birds in the region.
Natural Medicine
In Sesok Forest natural medicine is often used by the local community for fever, flu, malaria, pregnancy and cancer. These medicines can be seen while trekking.
Ecotourism Savanna Peak
Trekking to Savanna Peak is short but steep. From the peak, the lake, Mbeliling Forest and a number of small islands can be seen. It is also possible to enjoy traditional coffee and local food at the peak.
Religious Tourism
There is a picturesque, old wooden church at Lake Sano Nggoang and parish houses. The church has never been renovated and is maintained in its original condition.
Tourism Facilities
Tourism facilities at Lake Sano Nggoang are relatively limited as development of infrastructure will require an environmental impact assessment to ensure the environment is not damanaged in the development process. Facilities in existence are:
Home Stays,Birdwatching equipment,Information board
Community-based Tourism Model
To optimise the potential of tourism in the Lake Sano Nggoang area, NGO BirdLife Indonesia implemented a facilitation model to increase the quality of local community resources through community participation in tourism development that contributes to improving the local economy, conserving the environment and educating community members and tourists about the environment. This work is undertaken with the Lake Sano Nggoang Ecotourism Group made up of 15 people. These members represent Nunang and Lempe communities and work without self-interest for the preservation and sustainability of Lake Sano Nggoang. For the time being BirdLife Indonesia has only implemented ecotourism facilitation with these two communities. These activities started in September 2008 are as follows:
1.Tourism Awareness and Training
This program involves training the community, especially ecotourism gorup members, about how to realise potential, plan, make products and market them to tourists with a basis in the value of environmental conservation. Activities being implemented are:
Group discussions about tourism and culture
Cleaning up the environment - 'No Plastic' campaign
English language training
2.Tourism Management Training
To create community-based tourism, NGO BirdLife Indonesia also give the ecotourism group training in providing satisfactory service to tourists. This training involves:
Hospitality
Guiding
Local food
Homes tay and room structure
Cane work
Art and culture
3.Participative Tourism Facilities Provision
Tourism development can not be separated from the provision of tourist facilities. In all activities tourists undertake, they require accommodation, refreshments and information. Tourism facilities provision implemented by Burung Indonesia incorporates community involvement for the sake of maintaining/guarding infrastructure. Facilities such as rubbish bins, home stays, tourism awareness board and bird watching equipment (e.g. Binoculars).
West Flores
Administratively, Waerebo is within the Todo Forest area, Satarlenda Village, West Satarmese District, Manggarai Region, Flores NTT Province. It is 158 km from Labuan Bajo, the major town of West Manggarai and 88 km from Ruteng, the major town of the Manggarai Region. Add to this another 9 km walk, which can take up to approximately 5 hours.
Tourist Visits
A total of 300 recorded tourists had visited Waerebo Traditional Enclave by 2008 (source: LPW). The majority of these visitors were Dutch and used one of a few travel agents.
Waerebo is the only remaining village in the original style of round houses with straw rooves (mbaru niang) in the whole of Manggarai. Visitors will enjoy an interactive experience while learning about community lifestyle in previous times.
Community Based Tourism Assistance Mode
To establish community based tourism in Waerebo traditional enclave, NGO BirdLife Indonesia implemented a facilitation model designed to increase the capacity of human resources and improve the local economy through environmental conservation. This method involved small groups forming the Waerebo Tourism body with 20 male and 15 female members.
1.Assistance activities include:
Awareness Building and Learning About Tourism
This program includes learning methods for the local community, especially group members, about how to identify potential, plan and develop a product that is appealing to tourists and is based in environmental conservation. Activities are as follows:
Group discussion about tourism and culture
Cleaning up the environment - "No Plastic" campaig
English language training
2.Building Capacity of the Local Community
In developing community based tourism, NGO BirdLife Indonesia also provided hospitality training to groups. Activities included:
Service training
Tourist Guide training
Local Food training
Preparing Homestays and the Home Environment training
Grass Weaving training
Art and Culture training
3.Participative Tourism Facilities Provision
Tourism development requires tourism facilities, as in every tourism activity people need accommodation, food, drink and information. NGO BirdLife Indonesia ensures facilities development involves the community and is carried out in a participative manner. The outcome of this is for the community to maintain the facilities into the future. Facilities include clean water, an eco-tourism trail to Warebo and a billboard advertising the potential of Waerebo at cross-roads in Pela and Dintor.
Lake Sano Nggoang , West Flores Indonesia
•Administrative Site
For administrative purposes, Lake Sano Nggoang is located in Wae Sano village, Sano Nggoang district, West Manggarai. It is 63 kilometres from Labuan Bajo and takes about 3 hours by car or motorbike. Between Labuan Bajo and Werang - the major village of Sano Nggoang district – the road is asphalt, from Werang to Lake Sano Nggoang is is a stone road. However, a current project to asphalt the surface to Lake Sano Nggoang will improve tourist access.
•Tourist visits
The total number of tourist visits to the area of Lake Sano Nggoang in 2008 was just 30 and in 2009 this increased to a total of 175 (source: Lake Sano Nggoang Ecotourism Group). There were 20,634 international visitors to Labuan Bajo in 2007 as well as 11,123 domestic tourists.
Tourism potential of Lake Sano Nggoang Area
Lake Sano Nggoang is located 750m above sea level, south east of Mbeliling Fores in the separate Sesok Forest block. Tourism potential in the area is as follows:
Volcanic Lake
The lake has an area of approximately 513 há, 2.5 and 3 kilometres wide, and a depth of ±600m. The lake has sulphuric content high enough for activites related to skin health, revitalisation and can be circled by horse back. Lake Sano Nggoang is in a still natural area and when viewed from above at a distance of 150 metres its beauty is two-fold.
Hot Springs and Sulphur
Around Lake Sano Nggoang are hot springs up to 100 degrees Farenheit / 37 degrees Celsius with true natural value. The real attraction here is the water being hot enough to cook eggs and bananas in just 3 minutes. Visitors can also experience a Natural Spa in a small pool near the lakes' edge.
Flores Endemic Birds (Flores Crow)
Bird species found in the region of Lake Sano Nggoang include: Teals (Anas superciliosa, Anas gibberifrons); endemic Flores crow species (Corvus florensis); Swamp species (Tesia everetti, Rhipidura diluta, Caridonax fulgidus). Lake Sano Nggoang is attractive as a bird watching location with a high population of birds in the region.
Natural Medicine
In Sesok Forest natural medicine is often used by the local community for fever, flu, malaria, pregnancy and cancer. These medicines can be seen while trekking.
Ecotourism Savanna Peak
Trekking to Savanna Peak is short but steep. From the peak, the lake, Mbeliling Forest and a number of small islands can be seen. It is also possible to enjoy traditional coffee and local food at the peak.
Religious Tourism
There is a picturesque, old wooden church at Lake Sano Nggoang and parish houses. The church has never been renovated and is maintained in its original condition.
Tourism Facilities
Tourism facilities at Lake Sano Nggoang are relatively limited as development of infrastructure will require an environmental impact assessment to ensure the environment is not damanaged in the development process. Facilities in existence are:
Home Stays,Birdwatching equipment,Information board
Community-based Tourism Model
To optimise the potential of tourism in the Lake Sano Nggoang area, NGO BirdLife Indonesia implemented a facilitation model to increase the quality of local community resources through community participation in tourism development that contributes to improving the local economy, conserving the environment and educating community members and tourists about the environment. This work is undertaken with the Lake Sano Nggoang Ecotourism Group made up of 15 people. These members represent Nunang and Lempe communities and work without self-interest for the preservation and sustainability of Lake Sano Nggoang. For the time being BirdLife Indonesia has only implemented ecotourism facilitation with these two communities. These activities started in September 2008 are as follows:
1.Tourism Awareness and Training
This program involves training the community, especially ecotourism gorup members, about how to realise potential, plan, make products and market them to tourists with a basis in the value of environmental conservation. Activities being implemented are:
Group discussions about tourism and culture
Cleaning up the environment - 'No Plastic' campaign
English language training
2.Tourism Management Training
To create community-based tourism, NGO BirdLife Indonesia also give the ecotourism group training in providing satisfactory service to tourists. This training involves:
Hospitality
Guiding
Local food
Homes tay and room structure
Cane work
Art and culture
3.Participative Tourism Facilities Provision
Tourism development can not be separated from the provision of tourist facilities. In all activities tourists undertake, they require accommodation, refreshments and information. Tourism facilities provision implemented by Burung Indonesia incorporates community involvement for the sake of maintaining/guarding infrastructure. Facilities such as rubbish bins, home stays, tourism awareness board and bird watching equipment (e.g. Binoculars).
Friday, November 5, 2010
Gewaltige-Eruption-am-Vulkan-Merapi-49-Tote
Die Region um den indonesischen Vulkan Merapi kommt nicht zur Ruhe. Beim schwersten Ausbruch seit 100 Jahren gab es zahlreiche Opfer.
Der Ausbruch des Vulkans Merapi
Foto: AFP Bei der bislang schwersten Eruption hat der Merapi Asche bis zu zehn kilometerweit geschleudert.
Bei dem bislang schwersten Ausbruch des Vulkans Merapi auf der indonesischen Insel Java sind am Freitag nach Krankenhausangaben mindestens 49 Menschen ums Leben gekommen. Wie ein Sprecher des Sarjito-Krankenhauses in der Stadt Yogyakarta sagte, wurden zudem 66 Menschen wegen Verbrennungen und Atemproblemen behandelt. Insgesamt starben seit vergangener Woche mehr als 90 Menschen durch die Ausbrüche des Merapi.
Nach Behördenangaben verbrannte die heiße Vulkanasche umliegende Dörfer bis in 18 Kilometer Entfernung. Rettungskräfte vermuteten, dass unter den Opfern viele Kinder aus dem 18 Kilometer vom Vulkan entfernten Argomulyo waren. „Das Dorf Argomolyo brannte vollständig nieder“, sagte der Polizeiarzt Teguh Dwi Santosa. „Viele Kinder starben dort. Als ich in dem Dorf war, war der Boden noch heiß.“
Merapi bricht erneut gewaltig aus
Der schwere Ausbruch mitten in der Nacht habe Panik unter den Anwohnern des Merapi ausgelöst, sagte der Koordinator der Rettungsmaßnahmen, Widi Sutikno. „Alle zur Verfügung stehenden Verkehrsmittel wurden genutzt, um die Menschen in Sicherheit zu bringen.“
Das Sperrgebiet wurde nach dem erneuten Ausbruch am Freitag von 15 auf 20 Kilometer erweitert. Die Anwohner in einem Umkreis von 20 Kilometern um den Merapi mussten ihre Häuser verlassen. Erst am Mittwoch war die Sperrzone wegen der erhöhten Aktivität des Vulkans von zehn auf 15 Kilometer vergrößert worden. Seitdem stieg die Zahl der in Notunterkünften untergebrachten Menschen von 75.000 auf 100.000. „Die Notunterkünfte sind jetzt überfüllt“, sagte Sutikno.
Vulkanausbrüche in der Geschichte
________________________________________
Seit Jahrhunderten bringen Vulkanausbrüche Flutwellen, Ascheregen, Brände und Flüchtlingselend über die Menschen. Jährlich werden rund 50 Vulkane in unberechenbarem Rhythmus tätig. Beispiele für folgenschwere Vulkanausbrüche: ...
Dezember 2009 Mayon, Philippinen
________________________________________
Bei einem Ausbruch sterben mindestens vier Menschen, Tausende sind auf der Flucht. Bereits 2000 und 2001 mussten bis zu 61 000 Menschen vor den Aktivitäten des Feuerbergs in Sicherheit gebracht werden.
2008 Tungurahua, Ecuador
________________________________________
Bei einem Ausbruch sterben zehn Menschen. Seit 1999 stößt der Vulkan immer wieder Lava und Asche aus.
2002 Nyiragongo, Kongo
________________________________________
Etwa 89 Menschen kommen ums Leben, als Lavamassen die Stadt Goma und angrenzende Dörfer zerstören.
2000 Popocatepetl, Mexiko
________________________________________
Nach dem schwersten Ausbruch des Vulkans seit 500 Jahren werden zehntausende Menschen in Sicherheit gebracht.
1997 Soufrière, Montserrat
________________________________________
Die Hauptstadt der Karibikinsel, Plymouth, wird zerstört, Dutzende Einwohner sterben.
1994 Merapi, Indonesien
________________________________________
Die meisten der fast 70 Todesopfer sterben durch glühend heiße Gaswolken.
1991 Pinatubo, Philippinen
________________________________________
Einer der schwersten Ausbrüche des Jahrhunderts fordert bis zu 1000 Menschenleben.
1986 Nios, Kamerun
________________________________________
Eine Giftgaswolke aus dem Kratersee tötet nahezu 1800 Anwohner.
1985 Nevado del Ruiz, Kolumbien
________________________________________
Bis zu 25 000 Menschen sterben in Schlammlawinen.
1980 St. Helens, USA
________________________________________
Bei einem Ausbruch wird die Gipfelspitze weggesprengt, 57 Menschen sterben. Eine riesige Aschewolke umkreist die Erde.
1902 Montagne Pelee, Martinique
________________________________________
Bis zu 30 000 Menschen werden durch Auswurf und eine Glutwolke getötet.
1883 Krakatau, Indonesien
________________________________________
Rund 70 000 Tote sind zu beklagen, Aschewolken verdunkeln weite Teile der Erde.
1815 Tambora, Indonesien
________________________________________
Bei dem folgenschwersten Vulkanausbruch der Geschichte werden mehr als 100 Kubikkilometer Gestein ausgeworfen. Etwa 10.000 Menschen sterben gleich, weitere 80 000 später an Hungersnöten und Krankheiten.
1792 Unzen, Japan
________________________________________
Der Ausbruch zieht Erdbeben und eine Flutwelle nach sich, rund 15 000 Menschen sterben.
1669 Ätna, Italien
________________________________________
Lava und Erdbeben töten etwa 20 000 Menschen.
1631 und 79 n. Chr., Italien
Der Ausbruch des Vulkans Merapi
Foto: AFP Bei der bislang schwersten Eruption hat der Merapi Asche bis zu zehn kilometerweit geschleudert.
Bei dem bislang schwersten Ausbruch des Vulkans Merapi auf der indonesischen Insel Java sind am Freitag nach Krankenhausangaben mindestens 49 Menschen ums Leben gekommen. Wie ein Sprecher des Sarjito-Krankenhauses in der Stadt Yogyakarta sagte, wurden zudem 66 Menschen wegen Verbrennungen und Atemproblemen behandelt. Insgesamt starben seit vergangener Woche mehr als 90 Menschen durch die Ausbrüche des Merapi.
Nach Behördenangaben verbrannte die heiße Vulkanasche umliegende Dörfer bis in 18 Kilometer Entfernung. Rettungskräfte vermuteten, dass unter den Opfern viele Kinder aus dem 18 Kilometer vom Vulkan entfernten Argomulyo waren. „Das Dorf Argomolyo brannte vollständig nieder“, sagte der Polizeiarzt Teguh Dwi Santosa. „Viele Kinder starben dort. Als ich in dem Dorf war, war der Boden noch heiß.“
Merapi bricht erneut gewaltig aus
Der schwere Ausbruch mitten in der Nacht habe Panik unter den Anwohnern des Merapi ausgelöst, sagte der Koordinator der Rettungsmaßnahmen, Widi Sutikno. „Alle zur Verfügung stehenden Verkehrsmittel wurden genutzt, um die Menschen in Sicherheit zu bringen.“
Das Sperrgebiet wurde nach dem erneuten Ausbruch am Freitag von 15 auf 20 Kilometer erweitert. Die Anwohner in einem Umkreis von 20 Kilometern um den Merapi mussten ihre Häuser verlassen. Erst am Mittwoch war die Sperrzone wegen der erhöhten Aktivität des Vulkans von zehn auf 15 Kilometer vergrößert worden. Seitdem stieg die Zahl der in Notunterkünften untergebrachten Menschen von 75.000 auf 100.000. „Die Notunterkünfte sind jetzt überfüllt“, sagte Sutikno.
Vulkanausbrüche in der Geschichte
________________________________________
Seit Jahrhunderten bringen Vulkanausbrüche Flutwellen, Ascheregen, Brände und Flüchtlingselend über die Menschen. Jährlich werden rund 50 Vulkane in unberechenbarem Rhythmus tätig. Beispiele für folgenschwere Vulkanausbrüche: ...
Dezember 2009 Mayon, Philippinen
________________________________________
Bei einem Ausbruch sterben mindestens vier Menschen, Tausende sind auf der Flucht. Bereits 2000 und 2001 mussten bis zu 61 000 Menschen vor den Aktivitäten des Feuerbergs in Sicherheit gebracht werden.
2008 Tungurahua, Ecuador
________________________________________
Bei einem Ausbruch sterben zehn Menschen. Seit 1999 stößt der Vulkan immer wieder Lava und Asche aus.
2002 Nyiragongo, Kongo
________________________________________
Etwa 89 Menschen kommen ums Leben, als Lavamassen die Stadt Goma und angrenzende Dörfer zerstören.
2000 Popocatepetl, Mexiko
________________________________________
Nach dem schwersten Ausbruch des Vulkans seit 500 Jahren werden zehntausende Menschen in Sicherheit gebracht.
1997 Soufrière, Montserrat
________________________________________
Die Hauptstadt der Karibikinsel, Plymouth, wird zerstört, Dutzende Einwohner sterben.
1994 Merapi, Indonesien
________________________________________
Die meisten der fast 70 Todesopfer sterben durch glühend heiße Gaswolken.
1991 Pinatubo, Philippinen
________________________________________
Einer der schwersten Ausbrüche des Jahrhunderts fordert bis zu 1000 Menschenleben.
1986 Nios, Kamerun
________________________________________
Eine Giftgaswolke aus dem Kratersee tötet nahezu 1800 Anwohner.
1985 Nevado del Ruiz, Kolumbien
________________________________________
Bis zu 25 000 Menschen sterben in Schlammlawinen.
1980 St. Helens, USA
________________________________________
Bei einem Ausbruch wird die Gipfelspitze weggesprengt, 57 Menschen sterben. Eine riesige Aschewolke umkreist die Erde.
1902 Montagne Pelee, Martinique
________________________________________
Bis zu 30 000 Menschen werden durch Auswurf und eine Glutwolke getötet.
1883 Krakatau, Indonesien
________________________________________
Rund 70 000 Tote sind zu beklagen, Aschewolken verdunkeln weite Teile der Erde.
1815 Tambora, Indonesien
________________________________________
Bei dem folgenschwersten Vulkanausbruch der Geschichte werden mehr als 100 Kubikkilometer Gestein ausgeworfen. Etwa 10.000 Menschen sterben gleich, weitere 80 000 später an Hungersnöten und Krankheiten.
1792 Unzen, Japan
________________________________________
Der Ausbruch zieht Erdbeben und eine Flutwelle nach sich, rund 15 000 Menschen sterben.
1669 Ätna, Italien
________________________________________
Lava und Erdbeben töten etwa 20 000 Menschen.
1631 und 79 n. Chr., Italien
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Lake Kelimutu Flores Indonesia
Kelimutu is a volcano, close to the town of Moni in central Flores Island of Indonesia containing three summit crater lakes of varying colors. Tiwu Ata Mbupu (Lake of Old People) is usually blue and is the westernmost of the three lakes. The other two lakes, Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai (Lake of Young Men and Maidens) and Tiwu Ata Polo (Bewitched or Enchanted Lake) are separated by a shared crater wall and are typically green or red in color, respectively. The lake colors do vary on a periodic basis. Subaqueous fumaroles are the probable cause of active upwelling that occurs at the two eastern lakes.[1]
The lake have been a source of minor phreatic eruptions in historical time. The summit of the compound 1639-m-high Kelimutu volcano is elongated two km in a WNW-ESE direction; the older cones of Kelido and Kelibara are located respectively three km to the north and two km to the south. The scenic lakes are a popular tourist destination. Keli Mutu is also of interest to geologists because the three lakes are different colors yet reside at the crest of the same volcano [2].
The closest airports are Maumere, and Ende. There are regular flights to Maumere from Bali.
The drive from Maumere to Moni, the town at the base of Keli Mutu, takes about 3 hours.
Indonesian setting
Indonesia is one of the world's most geologically active countries. Given its combination of active volcanism and tropical climate, it is home to several volcanoes which exemplify the type of dynamic interactions between the forces of the endosphere and exosphere that are characteristic of volcanic lake environments. Of all the volcanos in Indonesia, Keli Mutu on the island of Flores appears to have the most exotic lakes. In fact, its lakes are so brightly colored that they are featured on the 5,000 rupiah bill and thought of as a national treasure by the people of Indonesia.
Located between Malaysia and Australia, the islands comprising the approximately 3,000 mile long latitudinal axis of Indonesia are the physical expression of the subduction of the Indo-Australian plate to the south beneath the Eurasian plate to the north. Typical features of such "island arcs" are andesitic stratovolcanoes. These volcanoes may either be 1) well-developed lofty cones (e.g. Merapi in central Java) or 2) complex structures featuring mutiple craters and irregular moonscape summits sculpted by alternate periods of building up and destruction (e.g. Una-Una in Celebes) (Umbgrove, 1949). The active stratovolcanoes of Indonesia are particularly well known for their highly explosive eruptions, devastating lahars (mud-flows), and associated tsunami waves. Currently there are more than 200 active and many more extinct volcanoes present in Indonesia.
Because Indonesia straddles the equator it does not have temperature-defined seasons. The year-round average monthly temperature is ~80 deg F and the average rainfall is ~3 m/year (Ulack & Pauer, 1989). Those islands that deviate to the north or south of the equator may experience monsoons, while those that are closer to Australia are subject to a more pronounced dry season. Where present, the dry season spans from August through part of October and is immediately followed by a wet season that eventually winds down in March. Striking seasonal variations in precipitation along the latitudinal axis of Indonesia were first described by the naturalist George Wallace (co-founder of the theory of evolution by natural selection) in the mid 1800's.
Keli Mutu Setting
Keli Mutu is a passively degassing stratovolcano (Fig.1) capped by three crater lakes (Fig. 2) containing exotic fluids and whose physico-chemical expressions have changed dramatically through the years. The volcano is located on Flores, an island along the Lesser Sunda islands chain of Indonesia. An early description of Keli Mutu was provided by the French naturalist LeRoux, who mentions it in his travel log of eastern Indonesia in 1896. A more comprehensive geologic and topographic survey was performed in the 1920's by the Dutch colonial geologist Kemmerling, who traveled through Flores on horseback and early motor vehicle. Since 1929 no publicly reported systematic survey of Flores has been done using modern techniques. A map of Flores (TPC N-12BG) was published in 1972 as part of the World Aeronautical Chart (WAC) series, but the topographic information is sketchy.
Keli Mutu Crater Lakes
Three crater lakes are located on the eastern summit of Keli Mutu. Each of the lakes has a distinctive physical structure, a unique geochemical and hydrothermal regime, and a particular historical sequence of color changes controlled by changes in physico-chemical conditions.
Tiwu Ata Polo (TAP), the "enchanted lake", lies on the southeastern side of the volcanic peak (Fig.3). A thermal plume in the northwest part of the lake indicates underlying subaerial fumarolic or hydrothermal activity. A white froth is present on the lake's surface around the plume when the convective activity momentarily increases. Rock debris is often carried into TAP during rainstorms by water draining the volcano summit around the lake. Two peaks abutting the crater rim help stabilize the east and northeast crater wall, while further around to the southeast a dip suggests a possible one-time overflow outlet. Such an outlet would have fed the river Ria Mbuli, whose upland source is in that area.
Tiwu Nua Muri Koohi Fah (TiN), the "lake of young men and maidens", is adjacent to TAP and is the deepest lake (Fig.4). A sizable tear in the western wall was the location of a pre-1929 breaching and overflow event. Visible fumarolic activity above the shoreline of TiN was reported by Kemmerling, but this activity has declined and is no longer present. Subaerial fumarolic or hydrothermal activity is implied by a large thermal plume in the center of the lake which slowly convects the water. A fresh supply of yellow froth (probably the same type of elemental sulfur found in the "cool acid-brine" crater lake at Kawa Ijen) is brought up by the plume and pushed out toward the crater wall. A particularly large cover of this froth has accumulated at the base of the north wall (Fig.4). During rainstorms the froth is scattered by inflowing water and landslides, though some of it may be disappearing altogether.
TAP and TiN are only separated by a steep parabolic partition that arcs down to a minimum height of ~35m above the surface level of the lakes (Fig.3). According to Kemmerling this separating wall was as high as the surrounding crater rim 70 years before his survey, but it had subsequently eroded down by the time of his visit (Kemmerling, 1929). Recent unconfirmed reports (1996) state that the partition has crumbled and the lakes are now mingled. A directory of volcanoes published by the Smithsonain Institute lists moderate "hydrothermal blasts" of TiN that occured in 1938 and again in 1965. Each of these events was reported to have lasted longer than a month but was small and confined to the crater (Simkin et al, 1981).
Tiwu Ata Mbupu (TAM), the "lake of elders", is the western-most lake (Fig. 5). TAM is structurally different from the other two in that the pit crater it is in is itself located in the center of a larger crater. Kemmerling reported both aerial and subaerial fumarolic activity for the TAM crater, but none was observed in 1992. Small landslides constantly add to the steep rubble slopes along the lake's shore, and large boulders periodically drop into the lake. TAM's shoreline is coated with a film colored in different shades of red, orange, and yellow depending on how thick it is. Gypsum crystals grow in the cracks of the crater wall in the first few meters above the prosent water surface.
Research at Keli Mutu
Geochemical surveys and subsequent analyses of the lakes on Keli Mutu have been carried out recently by scientists from Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT, USA). Results have been published in
Pasternack, G.B. (1993) Acid-brine crater lakes: a case study. Undergraduate senior thesis, Wesleyan University, 160 pp.
Pasternack, G.B. and Varekamp, J.C. (1994) The geochemistry of the Keli Mutu crater lakes, Flores, Indonesia, Geochemical Journal 28:243-262.
reprint requests to: gpast@jhu.edu
The work involved describing the chemistry of each lake, interpreting the chemistries in terms of water-rock interactions and volcanic fluxes, and deriving a physical lake model that delineates the parameter-window for volcanic crater lake existence.
Geochemical investigation of the vertical and lateral compositions of the lakes on Keli Mutu required the use of a remote sampling system. Lake temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen content were determined in the field, while the analytical chemistries of lake fluids and sediments were determined in the months after the expedition to Keli Mutu. To reconstruct the in situ chemistries of the lakes' aqueous systems, a solution equilibrium modeling program (SOLVEQ) was applied.
The primary conclusion of the work at Keli Mutu is that the three Keli Mutu lakes are all fed by a similar volcanic gas source, but as a result of the mediated subaqueous transport of that gas it yields different chemical "expressions" in each crater lake. Specific findings include the following:
• Tiwu Ata Polo (TAP) is an intermediate "acid-saline" volcanic crater lake whose frequent color changes are probably the direct result of changes in the oxidation state of the lake's water. TAP is intermediate in volcanic activity relative to the other Keli Mutu lakes.
• Tiwu Nua Moori Koohi Fah (TiN) is a "cool acid-brine" volcanic crater lake that contains exotic sulfur compounds and probably a host of copper-rich minerals in the sediments. Of the three Keli Mutu lakes, TiN is presently experiencing the greatest fumarolic input, which may include a flux of ~85 tonnes of sulfur dioxide per day (~55MW energy output).
• Tiwu Ata Mbupu (TAM) is an "acid-sulfate" volcanic crater lake whose gaseous input is presently very small relative to those for the other Keli Mutu lakes. In the 1970s it appears that TAM was much more active than it presently is.
• Comparison of the individual lakes with their respective historic chemistries demonstrates that they are all approaching chemical steady state.
• Several seepage outlets exist on and around Keli Mutu. The river Watu Gana bears a strong TAP fluid signature, but other hydrothermal waters show no crater lake signature at all.
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Info for Keli Mutu Tourists
Many Indonesian guidebooks describe the vibrant colors of the Keli Mutu lakes as resulting from the minerals in the lakes. While this is partly correct, the most important determinant of color in the lakes is oxygen. Just like your blood, when the lake waters lack oxygen they look green (look at your wrist). Conversely, when they are rich in oxygen, they are a deep red to black. Obviously this is oversimplifying matters a little, but the point is that you should not be misled... Contrary to guidebook authors claims (which aim to increase drama, mystery, suspense, etc), scientists do in fact understand why the lakes looks like they do.
________________________________________
Back to Volcanic Lakes or Greg Pasternack's Research
The lake have been a source of minor phreatic eruptions in historical time. The summit of the compound 1639-m-high Kelimutu volcano is elongated two km in a WNW-ESE direction; the older cones of Kelido and Kelibara are located respectively three km to the north and two km to the south. The scenic lakes are a popular tourist destination. Keli Mutu is also of interest to geologists because the three lakes are different colors yet reside at the crest of the same volcano [2].
The closest airports are Maumere, and Ende. There are regular flights to Maumere from Bali.
The drive from Maumere to Moni, the town at the base of Keli Mutu, takes about 3 hours.
Indonesian setting
Indonesia is one of the world's most geologically active countries. Given its combination of active volcanism and tropical climate, it is home to several volcanoes which exemplify the type of dynamic interactions between the forces of the endosphere and exosphere that are characteristic of volcanic lake environments. Of all the volcanos in Indonesia, Keli Mutu on the island of Flores appears to have the most exotic lakes. In fact, its lakes are so brightly colored that they are featured on the 5,000 rupiah bill and thought of as a national treasure by the people of Indonesia.
Located between Malaysia and Australia, the islands comprising the approximately 3,000 mile long latitudinal axis of Indonesia are the physical expression of the subduction of the Indo-Australian plate to the south beneath the Eurasian plate to the north. Typical features of such "island arcs" are andesitic stratovolcanoes. These volcanoes may either be 1) well-developed lofty cones (e.g. Merapi in central Java) or 2) complex structures featuring mutiple craters and irregular moonscape summits sculpted by alternate periods of building up and destruction (e.g. Una-Una in Celebes) (Umbgrove, 1949). The active stratovolcanoes of Indonesia are particularly well known for their highly explosive eruptions, devastating lahars (mud-flows), and associated tsunami waves. Currently there are more than 200 active and many more extinct volcanoes present in Indonesia.
Because Indonesia straddles the equator it does not have temperature-defined seasons. The year-round average monthly temperature is ~80 deg F and the average rainfall is ~3 m/year (Ulack & Pauer, 1989). Those islands that deviate to the north or south of the equator may experience monsoons, while those that are closer to Australia are subject to a more pronounced dry season. Where present, the dry season spans from August through part of October and is immediately followed by a wet season that eventually winds down in March. Striking seasonal variations in precipitation along the latitudinal axis of Indonesia were first described by the naturalist George Wallace (co-founder of the theory of evolution by natural selection) in the mid 1800's.
Keli Mutu Setting
Keli Mutu is a passively degassing stratovolcano (Fig.1) capped by three crater lakes (Fig. 2) containing exotic fluids and whose physico-chemical expressions have changed dramatically through the years. The volcano is located on Flores, an island along the Lesser Sunda islands chain of Indonesia. An early description of Keli Mutu was provided by the French naturalist LeRoux, who mentions it in his travel log of eastern Indonesia in 1896. A more comprehensive geologic and topographic survey was performed in the 1920's by the Dutch colonial geologist Kemmerling, who traveled through Flores on horseback and early motor vehicle. Since 1929 no publicly reported systematic survey of Flores has been done using modern techniques. A map of Flores (TPC N-12BG) was published in 1972 as part of the World Aeronautical Chart (WAC) series, but the topographic information is sketchy.
Keli Mutu Crater Lakes
Three crater lakes are located on the eastern summit of Keli Mutu. Each of the lakes has a distinctive physical structure, a unique geochemical and hydrothermal regime, and a particular historical sequence of color changes controlled by changes in physico-chemical conditions.
Tiwu Ata Polo (TAP), the "enchanted lake", lies on the southeastern side of the volcanic peak (Fig.3). A thermal plume in the northwest part of the lake indicates underlying subaerial fumarolic or hydrothermal activity. A white froth is present on the lake's surface around the plume when the convective activity momentarily increases. Rock debris is often carried into TAP during rainstorms by water draining the volcano summit around the lake. Two peaks abutting the crater rim help stabilize the east and northeast crater wall, while further around to the southeast a dip suggests a possible one-time overflow outlet. Such an outlet would have fed the river Ria Mbuli, whose upland source is in that area.
Tiwu Nua Muri Koohi Fah (TiN), the "lake of young men and maidens", is adjacent to TAP and is the deepest lake (Fig.4). A sizable tear in the western wall was the location of a pre-1929 breaching and overflow event. Visible fumarolic activity above the shoreline of TiN was reported by Kemmerling, but this activity has declined and is no longer present. Subaerial fumarolic or hydrothermal activity is implied by a large thermal plume in the center of the lake which slowly convects the water. A fresh supply of yellow froth (probably the same type of elemental sulfur found in the "cool acid-brine" crater lake at Kawa Ijen) is brought up by the plume and pushed out toward the crater wall. A particularly large cover of this froth has accumulated at the base of the north wall (Fig.4). During rainstorms the froth is scattered by inflowing water and landslides, though some of it may be disappearing altogether.
TAP and TiN are only separated by a steep parabolic partition that arcs down to a minimum height of ~35m above the surface level of the lakes (Fig.3). According to Kemmerling this separating wall was as high as the surrounding crater rim 70 years before his survey, but it had subsequently eroded down by the time of his visit (Kemmerling, 1929). Recent unconfirmed reports (1996) state that the partition has crumbled and the lakes are now mingled. A directory of volcanoes published by the Smithsonain Institute lists moderate "hydrothermal blasts" of TiN that occured in 1938 and again in 1965. Each of these events was reported to have lasted longer than a month but was small and confined to the crater (Simkin et al, 1981).
Tiwu Ata Mbupu (TAM), the "lake of elders", is the western-most lake (Fig. 5). TAM is structurally different from the other two in that the pit crater it is in is itself located in the center of a larger crater. Kemmerling reported both aerial and subaerial fumarolic activity for the TAM crater, but none was observed in 1992. Small landslides constantly add to the steep rubble slopes along the lake's shore, and large boulders periodically drop into the lake. TAM's shoreline is coated with a film colored in different shades of red, orange, and yellow depending on how thick it is. Gypsum crystals grow in the cracks of the crater wall in the first few meters above the prosent water surface.
Research at Keli Mutu
Geochemical surveys and subsequent analyses of the lakes on Keli Mutu have been carried out recently by scientists from Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT, USA). Results have been published in
Pasternack, G.B. (1993) Acid-brine crater lakes: a case study. Undergraduate senior thesis, Wesleyan University, 160 pp.
Pasternack, G.B. and Varekamp, J.C. (1994) The geochemistry of the Keli Mutu crater lakes, Flores, Indonesia, Geochemical Journal 28:243-262.
reprint requests to: gpast@jhu.edu
The work involved describing the chemistry of each lake, interpreting the chemistries in terms of water-rock interactions and volcanic fluxes, and deriving a physical lake model that delineates the parameter-window for volcanic crater lake existence.
Geochemical investigation of the vertical and lateral compositions of the lakes on Keli Mutu required the use of a remote sampling system. Lake temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen content were determined in the field, while the analytical chemistries of lake fluids and sediments were determined in the months after the expedition to Keli Mutu. To reconstruct the in situ chemistries of the lakes' aqueous systems, a solution equilibrium modeling program (SOLVEQ) was applied.
The primary conclusion of the work at Keli Mutu is that the three Keli Mutu lakes are all fed by a similar volcanic gas source, but as a result of the mediated subaqueous transport of that gas it yields different chemical "expressions" in each crater lake. Specific findings include the following:
• Tiwu Ata Polo (TAP) is an intermediate "acid-saline" volcanic crater lake whose frequent color changes are probably the direct result of changes in the oxidation state of the lake's water. TAP is intermediate in volcanic activity relative to the other Keli Mutu lakes.
• Tiwu Nua Moori Koohi Fah (TiN) is a "cool acid-brine" volcanic crater lake that contains exotic sulfur compounds and probably a host of copper-rich minerals in the sediments. Of the three Keli Mutu lakes, TiN is presently experiencing the greatest fumarolic input, which may include a flux of ~85 tonnes of sulfur dioxide per day (~55MW energy output).
• Tiwu Ata Mbupu (TAM) is an "acid-sulfate" volcanic crater lake whose gaseous input is presently very small relative to those for the other Keli Mutu lakes. In the 1970s it appears that TAM was much more active than it presently is.
• Comparison of the individual lakes with their respective historic chemistries demonstrates that they are all approaching chemical steady state.
• Several seepage outlets exist on and around Keli Mutu. The river Watu Gana bears a strong TAP fluid signature, but other hydrothermal waters show no crater lake signature at all.
________________________________________
Info for Keli Mutu Tourists
Many Indonesian guidebooks describe the vibrant colors of the Keli Mutu lakes as resulting from the minerals in the lakes. While this is partly correct, the most important determinant of color in the lakes is oxygen. Just like your blood, when the lake waters lack oxygen they look green (look at your wrist). Conversely, when they are rich in oxygen, they are a deep red to black. Obviously this is oversimplifying matters a little, but the point is that you should not be misled... Contrary to guidebook authors claims (which aim to increase drama, mystery, suspense, etc), scientists do in fact understand why the lakes looks like they do.
________________________________________
Back to Volcanic Lakes or Greg Pasternack's Research
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