special attraction, LAKE KALIMUTU, East Nusa Tenggara

 

Speaking of regular tours in East Nusa Tenggara, it turns out that not all of them are about Komodo National Park. Because in this province there is also the Kelimutu Lake which is included in the area of the Kelimutu National Park. This national park consists of hills and mountains. This forest borders the Kelimutu National Park with 24 villages in 5 sub-districts in Ende Regency. This lake itself is on top of Mount Kelimutu, which has a height of around 1,631 meters above sea level.

There is no denying that one of the most recognizable sights in Kelimutu National Park is the lake. Historically, this beautiful lake was first discovered in 1915 by B. Van Suchtelen, a Dutch military commander. At that time, Suchtelen told local residents about the lake on Mount Kelimutu. Suchtelen said that on the top of the mountain there are three lakes of different colors. At first anyone who knew could not believe it, because the three colors of the lake mentioned by B. Van Suchtelen were the same colors of the Dutch flag.

Until then, the residents of the area verified with their own eyes the existence of the lake. The beauty of the lake was later captured in a 1929 painting by Y. Bouman. Since then, the name of the lake on the mountain peak has become popular and attracts a lot of attention from tourists. The name Kelimutu itself is a combination of two words, namely quality and quality. Keli means mountain and quality means cooking. Therefore, the name Kelimutu can be literally interpreted as a boiling mountain. But actually the name Kelimutu is the name of the mountain, while the lake on top of the mountain has its own name.