We arrived at the Sea World Resort anchorage, site of the Maumere, Flores Island welcome for the Sail Indonesia Rally on Wednesday, August 21, 2013. There were a few other boats here that we had not seen since we left Kupang 3 weeks ago. It was nice to meet up with some old friends, who shared with us their unique visit to Kelimutu Lakes National Park. They advised us to hire a car through the Sea World Resort, so we took their advice and set up a tour to Kelimutu on Friday, August 23, 2013. What an incredible tour it was.
The driver met us at the Sea World Resort at 7am, a nice local man named Memile. He took us into Maumere, for a brief stop at the local bakery where we picked up some delicious pastries, which tasted much like the Hawaiian Sweet Bread we have on Maui. Then, we began the long drive across the island to Kelimutu, 4 hours away. About one hour into the drive, we got a flat tire and Memile stopped right in the middle of the road to change the spare! Eric & I both noticed how bald the spare tire was, and we hoped that we would not get another flat tire, since we were really a long way from any roadside assistance or another vehicle to help! We drove across the island first, almost to Emde town, and followed along the shoreline for a while, noticing the village people walking the streets and the tiny little shops selling powdered coffee and tea.
As we started to climb the hills inland, a giant statue of Jesus laid out his hands above the villages, and stood about 75’ high on the hill. We continued to drive through the mountains, where road work was everywhere. Rockslides had fallen all along the steep roads, and the repair work was tedious but well manned with several local men working in the hot sun with little more than t-shirts, shorts and bare feet. We noticed how the rocks were sorted and stacked, then cemented into place to create retaining walls and retaining basins all along the roadway. Several village homes were literally built right over the steep cliffs, hanging onto the road with little more than bamboo posts. The road was windy and the going was slow, and at points, the curves were tight and the edge of the road would drop off several hundred feet below. Our driver was slow and cautious, and we were in no rush to arrive, enjoying the views as we seemingly inched along.
As we neared Kelimutu National Park, the terrain became populated with rice fields, each surrounded by hand-formed mud berms. These rice fields were laid out in an organic maze of lush green water pads, with a few local farmers tending to their fields with pride. The fields took our breaths away, they were so beautifully laid out like tapestry fields of green, stacked up the hillsides, every inch covered with rice and water, creating a beautifully serene landscape that captured our souls. We stopped to take several pictures of the rice fields, and every turn had another incredible view, dozens and dozens of fields for several miles. It all felt almost surreal, the unique vistas as we turned up the road to Kelimutu National Park creating a sense of excitement as we neared the three lakes at Kelimutu. Again, the narrow road climbed and the curves became tighter the higher we went. The evidence of a massive rock slide, quite recently, was ominous as we drove up towards the park. The dirt had recently been pushed aside, and the giant excavators had recently left their tracks, tamping down the dirt slide but leaving the giant tree trunks sticking out of the dirt. We were thankful that our visit was on a bright, sunny day without a cloud in the sky!
Kelimutu National Park is a national treasure in Indonesia. The Lonely Planet Guide Book of Indonesia states that the park is one of the top 10 things to do in Indonesia, with the three lakes changing color without notice. Once we entered the park and paid the associated fees ($2.00 per person, and $6 per camera!), we continued uphill again by car, finally being able to park and walk after the 4 hour journey to get there. We had packed a picnic lunch to enjoy in the park itself, and we were glad we had the food along since the closest restaurant was an hour away. We hiked up the steep stairs to a trail that led us around the first two lakes, and then climbed up several more stairs to our first vista of the amazing pale blue lake, situated right next to a bright green lake. The colors of these two lakes looked unreal, like God had painted them with deep oil paints, and left a stunning view behind. The lakes are actually the remains of very old volcanoes, their changing colors are explained in the park brochure as being the result of volcanic activity. We never fully understood why the lakes change colors, or what really causes their colors to change, but we did notice that the pale blue middle lake had a creamy white streamer on its surface. There was a defining edge of color all around the edges of the lakes, they looked as if they were suspended in air, and the quiet of the park along with the amazing view kept our attention for over 2 hours. We hiked to the highest point that we could find, and enjoyed our picnic lunch in total solitude and peace at the lakes, where the local people believe the spirits of the dead come and the three lakes are for either the young spirits, the old spirits, or the bad spirits. The quiet at the lakes was only marred by the sound of the wind through the mountains, and the absence of engines, airborne or otherwise, was a delight.
When it was time for us to go, we slowly made our way back to Memile and our car. The visit to Kelimutu Lakes was well worth the +8 hours of drive time it took us, and once we returned to Sea World Resort, we noticed that the sea breeze had filled in and our dinghy took a beating on the beach. The local rally boats had kindly moved our dinghy up the shore, knowing we were hours away. While every day on the Sail Indonesia Rally 2013 has us busy with sailing to another destination along the rally, or participating in the welcome festivities, the chance to take a tour like the one to Kelimutu was well worth the effort. The experience will be with us for a very long time.
