Exploring Mt. Kelimutu

Moni, Central Flores, Indonesia
October 01 - 03, 2016

The last time I explored the wonderful islands of Indonesia was when I climbed the majestic Gunung Rinjani in the Island of Lombok. For more than three years since, I was again ready to wander in the wonderful islands of Indonesia and to see another volcano.

There are many volcanoes in Indonesia, in fact, according to experts, most of the active volcanoes in the world today can be found in this country. For quite sometime, I had been planning to visit Indonesia again to see a special volcano.

This particular volcano is special because it is unique from any other volcano that I had explored in the past. There are two things that made this volcano unique for me. First, this volcano has not one but three unique craters and second, these craters are changing colors regularly, according to the locals.

Aerial View of Mt. Kelimutu
(Image source: https://feel-planet.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/kelimutu.jpg)

Finally, after careful planning and close coordination with a friend in Indonesia, once again, I had another unforgettable adventure exploring an active volcano overseas.

"Gunung" in the Indonesian language means mountain. Gunung Kelimutu is a unique volcano with three crater lakes of varying colors. According to the tourism office in Indonesia, Kelimutu (pronounced [keli'mutu]) is a volcano close to the small town of Moni in central Flores island in Indonesia.

The volcano is around 50 km to the east of Ende, Indonesia, the capital of Ende regency in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Gunung Kelimutu rise to an elevation of 1,639 MASL. Each of its three crater lakes are called differently by the locals.

Tiwu Ata Bupu

Tiwu Ata Bupu (Lake of Old People) is usually blue and is the westernmost of the three lakes.

Tiwu Ko'o Fai Nuwa Muri

On the eastern side of the volcano, the first crater is called Tiwu Ko'o Fai Nuwa Muri (Lake of Young Men and Maidens).

Tiwu Ata Polo

Tiwu Ata Polo (Bewitched or Enchanted Lake) is another crater at the eastern side of the volcano and separated with Tiwu Ko'o Fai Nuwa Muri by a shared crater wall and are typically green or red respectively. 

The lake colors vary on a periodic basis. Subaqueous fumaroles are the probable cause of active upwelling that occurs at the two eastern lakes.

Eastern Craters

According to volcanologists, the lakes 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.

Kelimutu is also of interest to geologists because the three lakes have different colors yet are at the crest of the same volcano. According to Kelimutu National Park officials, the colour changes as a result of chemical reactions resulting from the minerals contained in the lake perhaps triggered by volcano gas activity.

DAY 1: Travel to Indonesia

I left Manila at 0400H onboard a flight bound for Denpasar (Bali) and landed at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali at 0750H. Immediately after my arrival, I met an old friend Mr. Alyn at the domestic airport. We were both set to travel to Maumere Airport in the island of Flores at 1125H.

We left Bali International Airport at 1125H and boarded a flight bound for Maumere. Travel time from Bali to Maumere at approximately 2H. I was reminded by the chartered plane that brought me to Batanes in the Philippines looking at the plane that brought us to Maumere.

 

At 1315H, we landed at Maumere Airport and we met Edy who accompanied us to Moni, the nearest place to Gunung Kelimutu. Onboard Edy's car, we left the airport and headed on to Moni. Along the way, we decided to have a lunch at Ikab Bakar Suroboyo. This is the equivalent of "Turo-Turo" eatery in Manila.

 

After lunch before finally departing for Moni, Edy suggested that we drop by his place to pick some mangoes. It was the fruit season in Indonesia at that time. I enjoyed the sweet taste of the ripe apple mango from the mango tree at the backyard of Edy's home.

The people of Flores are predominantly Roman Catholic. According to Alyn, the Portuguese brought the faith to the people in the island several hundred years ago. As such, it was not surprising to see churches all over Flores. 

We had a chance to see one along our way to Moni. The church, according to Alyn was built in the late 18th century.

 

Upon entering the church, I immediately noticed the spectacular display of wooden trusses, beams and columns. According to the church care taker, the present church walls, columns and trusses are still the original ones.

It was only the roof that had been changed. Just like the baroque churches of the Philippines, Indonesian catholic churches have their own architectural design that is uniquely Indonesian.

Beside the church, there was a demonstration of the making of the native cloth in Flores. I was reminded of the "Inabel" the native Ilocano cloth and the "Tinalak" in Mindanao. 

 

The process is quite the same as the process in making "Inabel" but instead of using nylon or abaca thread, the thread is created out of cotton from a tree and then designed and finally colored with a pigment from plant roots.

 

It took us almost four hours to reach Moni on a winding road through the mountains and dense forests. We reached the town past 1825H.

I checked in at a lodge perched on a hill overlooking the highway from Maumere. Alyn and I had a sumptuous dinner together. 

 

Lights out at 1000H and prepared to explore the crater lakes of Gunung Kelimutu the following day.

DAY 2: Explore Kelimutu

I woke up at 0300H and prepared to explore Mt. Kelimutu. Alyn picked me up from the lodge at 0430H and then we drove to the jump-off point.

 

Gunung Kelimutu is a National Park in Indonesia. From the jump-off point, it took us 25 minutes to reach the summit of the volcano.

The trail going to the volcano summit is very well maintained. There are also signs along the trail that points to the summit to guide tourists.

 

At the highest point of the volcano, a concrete viewing deck was installed by the park authorities.

We were a bit early hoping to see the sunrise, however, it turned out cloudy at that time and so we missed the actual sunrise.

Though it was still quite dark when we reached the summit, I started to get amazed as the crater lakes started to appear slowly. The two lakes at the eastern side of the volcano became visible first. It was in Green color while the remaining crater lake at the western side of the volcano was still covered with clouds at that time.

Alyn and I had to wait for nearly four hours to get a complete clearing and to see the full magnificence of the three crater lakes.

It was 0920H when we had a very clear view of the three crater lakes. I was completely amazed.

The two crater lakes at the eastern side of the volcano were both in Green color at that time. Locals said, these crater lakes were usually in Blue and Red colors. While the remaining crater lake at the western side of the volcano is in dark Blue color. usually, it was Black according to Alyn.

At 0945H, we proceeded to the crater rim of the two crater lakes and there I saw the full magnificence of the two craters closely.

I enjoyed taking few shots in between the two eastern craters and created a panorama of both craters.

At 1010H, we left Gunung Kelimutu and drove back to the lodge and prepared to leave Moni and traveled back to Maumere.

We finally left Moni at 1123H and headed back to Maumere.

Along the way, we visited a white sand beach called "Sikka Beach". At the beach, we had a bite of a fried Banana, similar to "Toron" in the Philippines.

 

At 1506H, we were back at Maumere and had a lunch at "Surya Minang" where I had my regular fried chicken favorite.

After lunch, I checked in at a hotel few minutes away from Maumere airport and then we had our dinner at "Bunaken" at 1930H.

 

Lights out at 2330H.

DAY 3: Travel back to Manila

We left Maumere and traveled back to Bali at 0825H. Alyn took a domestic flight from Bali to Lombok while I took a flight bound for Singapore and then Manila.

It was another memorable adventure in Indonesia.

Terima Kasih!

--o0o--