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Welcome to Lombok holiday tour
LOMBOK ISLAND
Lombok Island has thousands of kilometers of
beaches, and millions of square kilometers of water,
making it a paradise for water sport enthusiasts of
all the time. Pounding surf, still blue seas,
unspoiled coral reefs, and deserted, unexplored
islands create a superb environment for
surfing,
swimming, scuba diving, or just relaxing on the
beach.
Lombok is still undiscovered paradise with lust
tropical. Which will attract every heart with
fascination. Some describe the island as only
holiday resort where visitors may relax and recover.
Plenty of glistening white sandy beaches are found
on almost all of the entire island boundaries, but
this is not all offer, the smaller island to the
north namely Gili Air, Gili Meno,
Gili Trawangan and
to the southwest is Gili Nanggu, Gili Gede, Gili
Genting and many others only some of which are
inhabited, provide a tropical island holiday
featuring sun, sand, sea marine beauty. Swimming,
snorkeling, and diving would be the best, or
fishing? You just get the idea and all requirements
are available.
The people of Lombok called
Sasak, comprising 90
percent of the 3 million inhabitants of the island.
Moslem is the dominant religion. The Balinese with
their Hind, faith are mostly centred in the western
part, therefore temples and shrines are available
and the Balinese way of living prevails.
Lombok has successfully intensified its nice
production, the introduction of “ dry rice “
cultivation or in Indonesia Bumi Gora Rancah ( Bumi
Gora ). And most tropical fruits, which are
freshened tasty, such as various kind, papaya,
pineapple, banana and many others are grown and
easily found in the island’s local market.
Rinjani Mountain, the third peak in Indonesia, with
its Crater Lake Segara Anak provides an everlasting
mountain attraction. The locals of Lombok frequently
make rituals visit to Rinjani as it’s considered one
of their sacred places. Segara Anak’s hot spring,
the steamy Gua Susu, and Pancuran Emas” the golden
fountain “ are some of the main spots where the
locals perform their rituals. For mountain lovers,
Rinjani is one of Lombok’s most beautiful sites.
The activities for tourists are also available on
the island such as joining our daily tours, diving,
surfing, water sports, rental cars, bikes, trekking
to Mount Rinjani Trekking, and Mount Kelimutu. New
Destinations to other islands ( Komodo Island,
Flores island, Kelimutu, ) could be an interesting
choice for those adventurous souls among you who
prefer to mix the great outdoors with a little
pampering. If you still have any other inquiries,
please do not hesitate to discuss with us and
therefore we could offer you optional solutions at
the end.
NUSA TENGGARA
which comprise the island of Lombok,
Sumbawa and
hundreds smaller ones, is another destination of
unspoilt paradise in Indonesia Lombok, the Island of
virginity and natural beauty, accessible within 20
minutes flight from the International Gateway Ngurh
Rai Airport of Bali or 2.50 Hours sailing by high
speed passenger ferry from Benoa Harbour of Bali,
and Sumbawa Island lies just across the Alas strait
and is clear viewed from most of the eastern part of
Lombok.
These island, Lombok and Sumbawa are little known in
comparison with endless attraction of Bali the
island of Gods. However, smart traveler have started
turning their eyes glancing eastwards and surely
there, awaits a pierce of Eden with its overwhelming
charms and beauty. Simplicity and gentleness
expresses among the warm and friendly smiles of the
local : make for a hospitality and relaxing visit.
The appearance of these is striking. The entire
surface is covered with rich fertile soils and
elaborate system of irrigation is carried out from
island to island. The province is home to some 4,3
million people , most are farmers cultivating rice
and lots of vegetative plantation. The inhabitants
are predominantly Moslem people, other who are
adhere to Hindu faith live mostly in the western
part of Lombok, and the rest follow Buddhism and
Christianity. Religion remains an ever present and
integral part of daily life and rituals is
maintained, and the harmony amongst the believers
allows for spiritual growth in the province.
THE WORLD HERITAGE SITE
Komodo National Park and Rinca Island.
Lying 200 nautical miles east of Bali,
Komodo
National Park nestles between the large islands of Sumbawa and Flores, all of which are part of
Indonesia's Lesser Sunda Islands.
This unique biosphere was born in the great volcanic
uplift that formed Sumatra, Java, Bali and the
islands lying eastward to Papua New Guinea. In 1928
the Dutch colonial government of the then Dutch East
Indies formalized the nature reserve status
originally conferred on Komodo in 1915 by the Raja
of Biwa in neighboring Sumbawa. Indonesia decreed
the area a national park in 1980, and in 1992 Komodo
was declared a World Heritage Site.
Komodo National Park is located between the islands
of Sumbawa and Flores in the Lesser Sunda Islands,
at a distance of 200 nautical miles to the east of
Bali. It has a total land area of 75,000 hectares
and encompasses a number of islands, the largest of
which are Komodo (34,000 hectares), Rinca (20,000
hectares), Padar, Nusa Kode, Motang, numerous
smaller islands, and the Wae Wuul sanctuary on
Flores. A total of 112,500 hectares of the
surrounding waters are also under the jurisdiction
of the park rangers.
Komodo National Park has the lowest annual rainfall
in all of Indonesia, with an abbreviated rainy
season in the month of January. For most of the year
Komodo is dry and hot, parched by arid winds from
the Australian desert that blow from April through
October. Maximum temperatures reach 43 C, with
minimums of 17 C in August.
Most of the Park is dry, rugged and hilly, a
combination of ancient volcanic eruptions and more
recent tectonic uplift of sedimentary seabeds. The
irregular coastline is indented with rocky headlands
and sandy bays, many framed by soaring volcanic
cliffs.
Komodo island is 35km long and 15km wide, and is
mountainous on a north to south axis, with an
average altitude of 500-600m. The highest peak is
Satalibo (735m) in the north. Most of the island is
lontar palm savannah with remnates of rainforest and
bamboo forest at higher elevations. On Rinca the
land rises gradually from the north coast to a
plateau that ends at Mount Dora (667m) in the south.
The rugged south coast is very sheer as a result of
volcanic activity in the distant past, as evidenced
by the crater bay in which Nusa Kode nestles.
Komodo is unique in the world in having two distinct
marine habitats - tropical and temperate - a few
nautical miles distant from each other. There is a
constant flow of the warm tropical waters of the
Flores Sea to the north which mix with the cold
upwellings brought from the south by the Indian
Ocean. The upwelling are caused by deep ocean
currents originating in Antarctica which collide
with the volcanic shelf of Komodo and surface.
The upwelling, combined with the oxygenation
occasioned by the fierce currents surrounding
Komodo, provide an endless supply of plankton and
nutrients to the surrounding seas. This in turn,
supports an amazing and colorful profusion of
temperate marine life - invertebrate, mammal and
fish. A few mile to the north lies an even greater
multitude of tropical fish life that are normally
found in equatorial waters. All in all, there are
over 1000 species of fish and marine mammals found
in the waters surrounding Komodo.
Komodo is unique in the world in having two distinct
marine habitats - tropical and temperate - a few
nautical miles distant from each other. There is a
constant flow of the warm tropical waters of the
Flores Sea to the north which mix with the cold
upwellings brought from the south by the Indian
Ocean. The upwellings are caused by deep ocean
currents originating in Antarctica which collide
with the volcanic shelf of Komodo and surface. The
upwellings, combined with the oxygenation occasioned
by the fierce currents surrounding Komodo, provide
an endless supply of plankton and nutrients to the
surrounding seas. This in turn, supports an amazing
and colourful profusion of temperate marine life -
invertebrate, mammal and fish. A few mile to the
north lies an even greater multitude of tropical
fish life that are normally found in equatorial
waters. All in all, there are over 1000 species of
fish and marine mammals found in the
Even WITHOUT a Dragon, Komodo and its surrounding
islets would for me still remain a powerful symbol
of that vanishing Garden of Eden deep within our
collective memory . With its strange orchids, flying
lizards, forests of giant fan palms and scarcity of
man, it seems less like another Place than another
Time. So remote is this tiny island that it wasn't
until l911 that Varanus Komodoensis, its 10-foot
long, running swimming, tree-climbing lizard, was
described by science and revealed to the world as
fact rather than myth.
Located at the edge-seam of the world, in no one
continent and no one sea, the dragon islands of
Komodo National Park are also surrounded by a
furious moat For the Lesser Sunda archipelago, that
thin chain of islands stretching east from Bali
towards New Guinea, is also the grid which
divides the warm shallows of the South China seas,
from the cool deeps of the Indian ocean. The ebb and
flow between these opposing bodies of water produces
not only the protective navigational hazard of tidal
races and whirlpools, but also an astounding mixture
of marine creatures of both warm and cold water,
some species having no business to be anywhere near
here at all, others found no where else, and many
more constantly revealing themselves to be new to
science. No less than fifteen different varieties of
whales and dolphins have recently been observed
here, from pods of shark-eating tropical Orcas, to
the two-foot long, exuberantly acrobatic spinner
dolphins.
Whereas the Dragon was only discovered in the first
decade of this century, it wasn't until the l960's
that it was properly surveyed and studied. In the
1970's it began receiving is first trickle of
tourists, and only the l980's did its waters first
begin being plumbed by SCUBA divers - and now, at
the turn of the Millennium, just when we have
started to see how mysteriously rich this region is,
we find it under threat. The burgeoning population
of Indonesia, the hunger for fish and meat, has
brought dynamite and cyanide fisher bandits to
Komodo's reefs, and marauding armed poachers seeking
the wild deer and pig of the islands, which are the
essential life support of the great lizard. Our last
dragon, and its moat of marine mysteries, should be
passed on, don't you think, to continue to remind
future generations of our earliest beginnings and of
that dwindling Garden of Eden within us all?
FLORES ISLAND
Flores island is one of the island on East Nusa
Tenggara province. It stretches between the east
longitudes of 118° and 125°, and between the
latitudes of 8° and 11° south. The east Nusa
Tenggara cover the area 49,880 sq km and it has a
population of 3,500,000. Flores becomes one of the
biggest island on the territory of East Nusa
Tenggara or NTT which comprises 566 islands,
including many smaller islands which are not in-habitated
and unnamed. The three main islands are Flores,
Sumba and Timor from which comes the term 'Flobamor',
which has been familiar as one of the names of NTT.
Flores is the volcanic island and has unique and
spectacular attractions. Mount Kelimutu has become a
favourite destination, with its three crater lakes
of different colours. Sumba is the island famous for
its arts, handicrafts, particularly the textile
weaving, and cultural assets. Timor, being the
principal island with Kupang as its capital, serves
as the centre of government and economic activities.
The other permanently inhabitated islands are
Lembata, Adonara, Solor, Palue, Nules, Komodo, Rinca,
Sumba, Sabu, Raijua, Rote, Semau, Alor and Pantar.
Roughly 57 percent of the territory is hilly with
mountains rising to 2427m (Gunung Mutis) in Timor
and 1792m (G. Kelimutu) in Flores. The mountains of
East Nusa Tenggara are not as high as in West Nusa
Tenggara where the highest mountain of all of Nusa
Tenggara is G. Rinjani in Lombok (3726m).
Geologically, East Nusa Tenggara can be regarded as
being divided into two zones:
a volcanic inner curve formed by the islands of
Rinca, Komodo, Flores, Alor, Pantar, Adonara,
Lembata and Solor, which have fertile soils; and
an outer curve of limestone and other rock
formations, made up up of Sumba, Sabu, Rote, Semau
and Timor.
Flora and fauna
The west coast of Flores is one of the few places,
aside from the island of Komodo itself, where the
Komodo dragon can be found in the wild. The Flores
giant rat is also endemic to the Island.
In September 2004, at Liang Bua Cave in western
Flores, paleoanthropologists discovered skeletons of
a previously unknown hominid species. Homo
floresiensis, affectionately termed hobbits after
the small characters in the Lord of the Rings,
appear to be miniaturized versions of Homo erectus
standing about one metre tall. They may have existed
until as recently as 11,000 BC. Local reports of
elf-like people, the Ebu Gogo, or the Orang Pendek
of Sumatra, have caused speculation that Flores man
may have survived into the historical period, or
even to the present. The discovery has been
published in the October 28, 2004, issue of Nature
magazine and the April 2005 issue of the National
Geographic Magazine. [1] However, on August 21,
2006, the National Geographic Newsletter published
an article reporting that several scientists now
believe that the remains discovered in 2004 were not
of a different species but were pygmies. Flores was
also a habitat of the extinct Stegodon dwarf
elephant until approximately 18,000 years ago.
There are many languages spoken on the island of
Flores, all of them belonging to the Austronesian
family. In the centre of the island in the districts
of Ngada and Ende there is what is variously called
the Central Flores Dialect Chain or the Central
Flores Linkage. Within this area there are slight
linguistic differences in almost every village. At
least six separate languages are identifiable. These
are from west to east: Ngadha, Nage, Keo, Ende, Lio
and Palu'e, which is spoken on the island with the
same name of the north coast of Flores. Locals would
probably also add So'a and Bajawa to this list,
which anthropologists have labeled dialects of
Ngadha.
Portuguese traders and missionaries came to Flores
in the 16th century, mainly to Larantuka and Sikka.
Their influence is still discernible in Sikka's
language and culture.
Flores is almost all Catholic and represents one of
the "religious borders" created by the Catholic
expansion in the Pacific and the spread of Islam
from the west across Indonesia. In other places in
Indonesia, such as in the Malukus and Sulawesi, the
divide is more rigid and has been the source of
bloody sectarian clashe
The most famous tourist attraction in Flores is
Kelimutu three coloured
lakes in the district of
Ende. These coloured lakes change colours on a
regular basis. The latest colours (late 2004) were
said to be turquoise, brown and black.
There is good snorkeling and diving on several
locations along the north coast of Flores, most
notably Maumere and Riung. However, due to the
destructive practice of local fishermen using bombs
to fish, and locals selling shells to tourists,
combined with the after effects of a devastating
tsunami in 1992, the reefs have slowly been
destroyed.
Labuanbajo (on the western tip of Flores) is a town
often used by tourists, from where they can visit
Komodo and Rinca. Labuanbajo also attracts scuba
divers, as whale sharks inhabit the waters around
Labuanbajo. |
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