Jacek Piwowarczyk Photography - Indonesia - Flores

KELI MUTU


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At about 4 a.m. a small girl woke us up knocking on the door. It was time to get up if we wanted to be on time for the famous spectacle on the top of the volcano. Even a couple of years ago a trip to Keli Mutu required getting up at least two hours earlier and climbing along a 12 km long road or hiring a horse. Now this part of the trip was done in 45 minutes via a lorry provided by the people of Moni. Sometimes there were so many people that two trucks have to climb along a steep road, but not today. We were lucky. When we reached a parking lot it was still dark. The sky was full of stars and a full moon helped illuminate a clear path through pine forest and across the plateau leading to the summit. The last part of the climb was steep but finally we got to the top. The acrid scent of sulphur reminded us that we were on the volcano. It was very cold and windy but the spectacle was about to begin. The sky first turned red, then orange, then yellow and finally the sun rose over the clouds hanging up on the horizon. The scenery was really overwhelming. There were mountains all around, separated by deep valleys still in shade. It was getting bright quickly and in a moment I could look around.


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There was a truly amazing view stretching out from under my feet. Nature created three round volcanic craters here, filled with different coloured lakes! The eastern lake was black and occupied the deepest crater with vertical walls. The western lakes were turquoise and green colours and filled two neighbouring craters divided by a narrow strip. The lakes of Keli Mutu had very characteristic features; they changeed colours from time to time. Apparently only a couple of years ago they were blue, brown and black, respectively. In 1930, the colours were the same as today and in 1960, blue, red-brown and coffee-like.


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Nobody has explained the reason behind this extraordinary phenomenon apart from the fact that there are some minerals dissolved in the water. Residents of neighbouring villages have their own myths and legends concerning the lakes. According to them, the souls of deceased people go to the volcano after death and submerge in the water. Souls of young people go to the warm green lake, those of the old go to the turquoise lake, and finally, souls of murderers and thieves go to the black lake. How did the souls know which lake they should had choosen, legends did not explain! The wonderful spectacle in which I was participating had not over yet. In order to see the real colours of the lakes one had to wait for about two hours until the sun started to light them up.

Keli Mutu, flores, Indonesia, Jacek Piwowarczyk, 1993

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At about ten o'clock, the first clouds began to gather around the summit and soon they obscured the view. That meant that it was time to hit the road back to Moni. I followed a narrow footpath that lead among green, tropical vegetation, across terraced rice paddies, past small villages and observed the life of their inhabitants.