Labuan bajo is a place that is located at the east Indonesia and this small town is really beautiful. Many people though that this place is like a heaven and it is popular with the friendliness of local people. Labuan bajo is more detail located at Nusa Tenggara Timur province. To reach this place, you can use an airline from Denpasar Bali OR Jakarta and then it can be continued to Labuan Bajo or by means of transportation either by land or by sea. This cost is maybe a little bit expensive for travelling a la backpacker. However, you will forget about that after you saw the beauty of this island.
Labuan bajo is a small fishing village, the capital of the regency Mangarai Barat, in West Flores, Indonesia. Labuan Bajo is now a busy bustling epicenter of tourism, but don’t let that fool you, this small, dusty town does not have much to offer within the city limits itself. It is, however, the launching point for impressive trips to Komodo Island and Rinca Island, home of the famous Komodo dragons. Besides spotting the Varanus komodensis, the main attraction in this area is the extraordinary marine life. Komodo archipelago is indeed a paradise for both divers and snorkellers. Several islands within a hour by boat from Labuan Bajo offer great diving and snorkeling opportunities: Bidadari island, Seraya Island, Sabolo Island to the North of Labuan Bajo, Kanawa and Sebayur island to the West. Southward, on the route to Rinca there is Kalong Island house of a colony of “flying foxes”, huge bats that can be seen flying away in thousands at dusk.
The most amazing view over a number of these fields is offered at Cara Village situated on a small hill 17km west of Ruteng in Cancar. With their round, spider-web structure, these pieces of land are unique eye-catchers in Manggarai. Long before wet-rice cultivation, the ancestors of the Manggaraian people grew dry rice, corn, and tubers in the lingko fields. Every village used to own several fields. During planting and harvesting time, ceremonies and ritual offerings were held at the lodok, the ritual center of the Lingko.
The Lodok features a wooden pole and a rock. These two objects symbolize the reunion of the male and female, the heaven and earth, and the creation of mankind. If a new Lingko was developed, the sacrifice of a water buffalo was required. The division of a new lingko was guided by the tu’a teno, the Lord of the Land. This traditional leader had the authority over the land and the rituals and ceremonies related to the agricultural cycle. The distribution of the fields to different families was carried out at the lodok.
Every family of a community had the right to work a certain piece of land. Depending on the family’s size, the head of the family held a certain number of fingers to the pole in the lodok. The distance between the fingers was marked on this pole. From these two points, lines were drawn to the outer circle of the lingko, defining the size of a family’s land. These pie segments were called moso, which means ‘hand’ in the Manggarai language. The moso were not conceived as the private property of a single person or household.
Traditionally the lingko was farmed with a system of shifting cultivation, thus claims of constant land tenure were not yet common. After a two-year utilization period, the old fields were given up, and virgin forest – which in the past was abundant – or former fallow land, was cleared for new fields. Even though these fields still exist today, their agricultural and ritual context has changed drastically. Nowadays the lingko fields are primarily used for wet-rice cultivation. With the dominance of this new form of farming, the significance of the traditional agricultural calendar with its rituals and ceremonies, embedded in the planting and harvesting of dry rice and corn, has also faded.
Loh liang on Komodo island is the main tourism spot which start trip from in Labuan Bajo and this is also an entrance spot to Komodo Island. Here you can see Komodo directly on its habitat together with the other fauna like deer, pig and etc. You can also observe the birds or hiking to the Ara mountain or Sebita.
As the third biggest island in Komodo National Park area, Padar island is well known as its amazingly beautiful beach and its spectacular landscape. From the peak of this island you can see amazing scenery of three beaches with different colors. Those colors are pink, white and black. Taking trip to Padar island during your stay in Labuan Bajo is one of the perfect choice.
Padar Island in Komodo – Padar island is an island without any people who live in this place, the natural condition here is still virgin and beautiful. On this island, you can see some interesting destinations such as Pink Beach. For trekking fans and photographer, Padar island is the right heaven. It has a spectacular landscape with three different pure color of beaches. You will also rarely find Komodo dragon in this island that will make you free from the contacting risk with that exotic animal.
If you were in Padar Island, try to hike one of the hills that have a high peak and watch the beauty of its surrounded scenery. From the hill’s peak in Padar Island in Komodo, tourists can see one of the hidden heavens in Padar Island. They can see the beautiful Rinca Island and Komodo Island from these hills. The exotic landscape and scenery from Padar Island become one of the best panorama photo and selfie locations in Labuan Bajo. From the peak of the hills, you will see that Komodo Island and Rinca sea is like bounded together form a natural painting and you will not find anything like this in the world.
Padar Island in Komodo is the third biggest island in Komodo National Park after the Komodo Island and Rinca Island. Maybe Padar Island is not as famous as the Komodo Island, but its beauty is not beaten by those islands. The location of Padar Island is closer to Rinca Island than the distance to Komodo and it is separated by Lintah strait.
Padar island is also accepted as one of the UNESCO World Heritage because it is located in Komodo National Park together with Komodo island, Rinca Island and Gili Motang. Although padar island is located as a part of Komodo National Park, you will not see any Komodo here because of the food chain that is broken.
Around the Padar Island in Komodo, there are existed for about three up to four small islands that has its own unique. There is also the pink beach overlay on this Padang Island that is really perfect to use for some water sports like snorkeling or just swimming. Visitors can also hike the hills that are located in Padar Island to enjoy the beauty of its scenery from up above. The blue sea colors will hypnotize the visitors. The trekking activity will be a little bit exhausting, but visitors will be enjoyed by the hills scenery and a really beautiful view and capture these moments with your camera will be a really fun activity while you do trekking.
Second largest island in Komodo Park is Rinca where you can also find Komodo dragon and other wild life. it is located close from Labuan bajo, it just take only two hours reaching to the island.
Recommende and amazing snorkel spots with crystal clear water combining with superb white sandy beach. It has also so much marine creatures. It is just an hours by local boat from Labuan Bajo to get these island.
Rinca Island – Komodo island is maybe more popular, but in fact there are a lot of people who are interested and visiting the Rinca island. There are many reasons why they prefer to visit this island such as this island is closer from Labuan Bajo and the number of Komodo in Rinca Island is more than the other islands. Below we will explain more about this beautiful island.
Rinca Island is located in West Manggarai district, Nusa Tenggara Timur. In addition, Komodo lives at 4 places that are included to the Komodo National Park. Those places are the Komodo Island, Rinca Island, Gili Motang and Nusa Kode. You need for about 2 hours long if you planned to use the land transportation to get into the entrance of this Rinca Island, Loh Buaya or crocodile bay from Labuan Bajo.
Rinca Island is for about 19,000 hectares wide and it has for about 2,318 population of Komodo. This number is more than the Komodo Island had (with 2,126 population of Komodo). However, many tourists are usually wanting to visit these both island, the Komodo and Rinca Island to make their vacation is complete.
Rinca Island is a second biggest islands in Komodo National Park. Furthermore, it is part of Komodo National Park famous as a habitat of the giant lizards in the world. Meanwhile, the island surface is consisted of limestone hills with wide savanna where the Komodo Dragons love to stay in. Moreover, there are other species of wild animals living together in this island such as water buffalo, monkeys, forest pig, deer, birds etc. In addition, Rinca Island is one of the famous tourist destinations to discover the big reptiles of Komodo living free on the land. The popular activity for traveler visiting Rinca island is an exciting trekking adventure through the island to explore the island in discovering Komodo dragon, other wild life and spectacular landscape.
Loh Buaya in Rinca island is a small bay where the crocodiles wildly living in this place. Loh Buaya is coming from the local world where Loh means bay, while Buaya is crocodile. Since the crocodiles are found in this bay then slow down this area is called by Loh Buaya or Crocodile Bay. Furthermore, Loh Buaya is the only arrival jetty of Rinca Island where the boats are usually docking at this place. There is a wooden bridge in front of the entrance gateway to facilitate the tourists to visit the island. Meanwhile, the Rinca island the easiest island to find Komodo dragons due to we can find the Komodo when we arrive at this island. There are also several trekking adventures available through this island to discover the Komodo Dragons on the island.
Located 17 km from the town of Bajawa, the villagers still faithfully follow megalithic traditions, where sincere friendliness to strangers comes from the heart, where all around the village you will see vestiges of an age long gone when large stone monuments to ancestors were an inseparable part of daily life. The megalithic village of Bena is one of Indonesia’s rich living cultural heritage that can still be enjoyed to this very day, but should also be carefully preserved. Life in the village of Bena seems not to have changed since the megalithic age some 1,200 years ago. Here are 9 clans living in 45 houses. These are the Dizi, the Dizi Azi, the Wahtu, the Deru Lalulewa, the Deru Solamae, the Ngada, the Khopa and the Ago. Each clan lives on a different level of the terraced village, with the Bena clan in its center. This is because the Bena are deemed the oldest clan and founder of the village, for which reason the village is named Kampung Bena.
In general, the inhabitants of Bena live from agriculture tending to the many green gardens planted on the slopes of deep valleys surrounding the village. They communicate with each other in the Nga’dha language. Most villagers are Catholic. Nevertheless, they still follow the ancient believe in ancestor worship, its rituals and traditions. Today Kampung Bena counts 326 inhabitants in 120 families. However, those related to the tradition (or adat) and to the village are thousands of village descendents now living outside the core village. Bena villagers believe that the god Zeta resides on the peak of Mt. Inerie. This mountain, which reaches 2,245 meters above sea level is overgrown with thick forests on its west side only, while its south side is planted with various orchards or gardens. To the Bena people, Mt. Inerie is the right of the mother (hak mama) , while Mt. Surulaki is the right of the father ( hak bapa).
Soa hot spring is located in the Soa sub-district, about 23.5 km from Bajawa. Soa or Mangeruda hot springs offer you the Florinese highlands at their warmest. visitors often visit Mangeruda hot springs to escape chilly Bajawa and enjoy the warm water that flows from a river under the shade of coconut trees.
The spring water is believed to have curative effect for those suffering from skin conditions. Howsoever, the experience of taking a warm, soothing bath in a beautiful, natural atmosphere is definitely a true delight for your body and soul. Some pools are especially designed for visitors, including a large, artificial pool that offers space for quite a lot of people.
Belaraghi village located near Aimere, can be reach by trekking from Paukate village for 1 hours to this village. The sixteen beautiful traditional houses stand tidily in two parallel rows in a secluded forest clearing, exuding natural harmony. They are renovated in the traditional Ngada architectural style on a regular basis and are therefore in very good condition. Five of the sixteen houses are so-called sao pu’u, first or original houses, which are indicated by a miniature house on the roof; the other five distinct buildings are sao lobo, ‘last houses’, which feature a miniature human figure on the roof. Five is also the number of clans living in Belaraghi at present.
Besides the buildings mentioned, the Belaraghi clans are also affiliated with another house type: the sao kaka (kaka means ‘to share’). These houses are considered ‘children’, the descendants of a clan’s sao pu’u and sao lobo. Some of the sao kaka are even located in other villages. The kaka inhabitants support their families in the sao pu’u and the sao lobo financially, materially, and with labor. At the back of the village there is a ritual site with five bhaga-like houses called loka – one for each clan. The loka face the watu lanu, a construction consisting of an elevated stone court framed by ijuk-covered poles. This site is mainly used by the Belaraghi people for the ‘bui loka’, a ceremony to initiate reba, the Ngada-wide new year festivities
The sub-district of Riung, located to the north of Bajawa, is famed for its beautiful coral gardens. The coast and the surrounding area of the town of Riung have become a national conservation area, and were even given the status of a national park and named Pulau Tujuhbelas, or ‘Seventeen Islands’. In fact, the national park consists of more than 20 small and larger islands. The local people, though, have named the area ‘Riung Seventeen Islands’, a label that is easy to remember as it refers to the personification of a beautiful 17-year-old girl and also Indonesian Independence Day on the 17th of August. The national park area is inhabited by various exotic species, e.g. the Timor deer, hedgehogs, monkeys, ferrets, the Timor monitor lizard, marsupials, and partridges. The large variety of birds, such as eagles, white herons, black storks, partridges etc, make the area a great spot for bird watching.
Riung waters are home to plenty of exciting animals, ranging from marine mammals such as dolphins and whales to various colorful fish. The crystal-clear water makes it a perfect place for swimming, snorkeling, and underwater photography. The biggest island is the hilly Ontoloe, which is covered with short grass and a few trees, as well as fringed with mangroves. On the north coast of Ontoloe, you can observe the famous large fruit bats, called ‘flying foxes’, flying over the mangrove trees. A visit to Kalong, the ‘Flying Fox Island’, gives you the opportunity to see these fascinating animals as they fly into the sunset. The island of Bampa Barat is a temporary home to several fishermen, who sometimes sell their catch of the day directly from the boat.
Mount Kelimutu, with its three-colored crater lakes, is probably the most amazing natural phenomenon in Flores. Beyond that, the ‘steaming mountain’ is also the island’s most famous tempat angker, or mystical, haunted place. Scientific explanations aside, there are many myths about the origin of Kelimutu. This is one of the reasons why Mount Kelimutu was, and still is a sacred place for the local people. Over the years, the three crater lakes have often changed color. At present, one of the lakes is black-brown, one is green, and one is currently changing from green to a reddish color. A reason may be the varying mineral contents of the water. Another explanation suggests that the changing colors are caused by the neglected ancestral souls. The first lake is named Tiwu Ata Mbupu (lake of the ancestors’ souls ); the second is named Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai (lake of young people’s souls); and the third is called Tiwu Ata Polo (lake of evil spirits). The first and second lakes are situated close together; while the third lake is about 1.5km to the west. Kelimutu is a beautiful place at any time of the day.
However, the best time to enjoy this magical place is in the early morning when the clouds haven’t yet covered the view. Many visitors prefer to see the sunrise. The most popular and convenient starting point to visit Kelimutu is Moni, a village close to the Transflores ‘highway’. Whereas until not too long ago visitors had to hike all the way up to Kelimutu, there is now a paved road to a parking lot where you can enjoy a 30-minute walk through a lush forest full of birdsong, before entering the lake area. The Kelimutu crater lakes are only a small part of the Kelimutu National Park. This fascinating area belongs to the worldwide protected areas and is internationally recognized by the United Nations Environment Program. Due to its unique natural features, its high biodiversity, and cultural heritage, Kelimutu National Park attracts thousands of tourists each year. Numerous hills and mountains (Mount Kelibara is the highest peak at 1,731 m) give this region its characteristic touch and provide a habitat for at least 19 rare, endemic bird species. As in so many places in Flores, traditional architecture, dances, and ikat weaving are still deeply rooted among the local people.
PT. KING TRAVEL ASIA is an Indonesian local Tour Agency official based in Labuan Bajo, west Flores, Komodo Island Indonesia and branch office in West of Jakarta with legal Government No. 0408220067684. King Travel Asia is also highly recommended and reliable local Tours Company which specializes to arrange a memorable adventure tours to Flores & Komodo island.