Flores...

Maumere... East Flores.


An easy flight from Bali in 30 seater twin engine plane flying over east coast of Bali, Gilli’s, Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo and most of Flores. The view is of sparsely populated and mountainous islands with the odd town/ village snaking along the coast or through the mountains obviously linked by winding roads. We land in Maumere and organise a driver, named Antolino, to Sunset cottages. “you catolic or muslim” asks our virgin mary statued, cross ordained car driver. Ahhh...protestant? OK

First impressions of Maumere....very dry, dusty, no gardens dirt grounds.

Drove 30kms out of town along a level and gently winding new tarred road then down a dusty dirt road barely passable and came to a place by the ocean..bamboo huts and dirt . The driver says we’re here....mmmmm I look in amazement and think to myself.. Where. ??

Shown huts and decide I can actually see order in the place. A cooking room. An outdoor fire room an eating shelter and 8 bamboo huts. We choose the large one, a hexagonal shape with a wooden floor and a veranda strung with shells and two chairs waiting for us. The bathroom is a separate outdoor mandi with a toilet. Although it’s all dirt grounds it’s well swept of all leaves and pathways are marked out with small rocks.

We decide to stay much to the shock of our driver.

The room is quite large; the bed sits in the middle covered with a mosquito net. It feels very welcoming and we wander to the beach, sit beneath coconut trees drink ginger tea and look out across the water to a couple of islands. It is so quiet and still it feels incredible.

A walk along the beach reveals moving sand. Alive with hermit crabs, it feels almost impossible to step comfortably through fear of squashing them. So many different sizes and shapes all shells seem to be able to be used!!

Great food, master chef! You have to wait awhile as everything is cut and prepared fresh and cooked without electricity, then served with a huge smile.........

Snorkelling..hire a boat go across to an island...amazing snorkelling “Maumere Sea Gardens” aptly named for the soft corals it looks just like a shrub garden.

...seahorses, I watch them for ages! Corals, sea slug, lobster, fish, drop off ledge with a ‘mountain’ under the sea. The sun is shining and the visibility awesome!..lunch on white sandy beach/spit, 100m long and 2m wide......no one to be seen.

..another snorkel...back home sunburnt and exhausted.

....Catholicism is the main religion and peoples’ names reflect this; Angel, Angelino, Brian, Adams etc. Churches and mosques compete in every village. The churches slightly ramshackle and looking like something out of a Clint Eastwood western..A.

An early morning local bus to Moni, 125km west, along the flat road back to Maumere then we start the continuous winding up and down and around mountains and valleys that run the length of Flores. 5hrs later in Moni we choose another room for the night and ojek straight up Gunung Kelimutu, 1hr winding up to a carpark then 30min walk to the top.

The three different coloured crater lakes are the attraction and they don’t disappoint. The afternoon sun highlighting the depth of colour and pattern in the water.

A pre dawn ride and walk to the summit results in a surreal and silent sunrise, with views of the distant volcanoes and the coast. The lakes come alive as the light touches them, and we experience this with a few locals and other tourists.

A 2.5 hr walk back down to Moni, with amazing bird song along the track, views and villages. In one village I buy my first ikat sarong of the trip........ “Traditional design made by my mother in her village”.....

Heading to Ende in the afternoon the bus loaded with all manner of passenger, in and on top of it. The road winds through misty villages then descends a long, near vertical gorge, with a flat valley floor and river. The sides of the road are strewn with boulders and soil from previous landslides and road works in preparation for the next wet season. Eventually the gorge widens and we are near the coast. Ende is a gritty port town, quite spectacular, but only there to serve as a transport hub, though it has a great market on the harbour....R