Maumere and Alor Indonesia

The still wild island of Flores is 300 miles long, and has one main road from end to end, through teak forests, smoking volcanoes and multi-hued caldera lakes. Most outsiders know only its westernmost port, Labuan Bajo, as the springboard to the famous Komodo Islands, and never venture further east, to its white beaches and shining waters, or even to the cave where the bones were discovered in 2002 of the ‘Hobbit’, or Homo floresiensis, our 3-foot tall extinct cousin.

Some 5 distinct languages are spoken on Flores, and scores of further dialects. Being one of the first islands to be settled by the early Portuguese explorers, 85% of the population is nominally Christian, but they still happily practice animal sacrifice. They are also famous for producing magnificent ‘tie-dye,’ Ikat textiles – some of them years in the making – for which Flores and adjacent islands have been famous for centuries.

The island’s largest town, Maumere, lies at the North-Eastern end of Flores, and its numerous satellite villages still use back-strap looms and natural dyes and fixatives to weave their textiles. Maumere lies in the arms of a magnificent bay, loomed over by the Egon Volcano.

East of Flores lies the even more rugged islands of East Nusa Tenggara: Solor, Alor, Lembata, etc. which act as teeth dividing the Flores and Banda Seas from the deep Indian Ocean. Very clear water pours back and forth between them carrying everything from whales and marlin to sunfish and dugongs, providing astonishing opportunities for divers.

In the straits between Solor and Alor lie several small islands, torn by clear currents, which are alive with corals and sharks. In addition to giant fish traps, which require ten men to carry them, the islanders produce particularly fine Ikats with marine motifs. The inland villagers of Alor still use bows and arrows to hunt game, and they still dance circular, trance dances more reminiscent of the peoples of the South Pacific.

The still wild island of Flores is 300 miles long, and has one main road from end to end, through teak forests, smoking volcanoes and multi-hued caldera lakes.

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Most outsiders know only its westernmost port, Labuan Bajo, as the springboard to the famous Komodo Islands, and never venture further east, to its white beaches and shining waters, or even to the cave where the bones were discovered in 2002 of the ‘Hobbit’, or Homo floresiensis, our 3-foot tall extinct cousin.

Some 5 distinct languages are spoken on Flores, and scores of further dialects. Being one of the first islands to be settled by the early Portuguese explorers, 85% of the population is nominally Christian, but they still happily practice animal sacrifice. They are also famous for producing magnificent ‘tie-dye,’ Ikat textiles – some of them years in the making – for which Flores and adjacent islands have been famous for centuries.

The island’s largest town, Maumere, lies at the North-Eastern end of Flores, and its numerous satellite villages still use back-strap looms and natural dyes and fixatives to weave their textiles. Maumere lies in the arms of a magnificent bay, loomed over by the Egon Volcano.

East of Flores lies the even more rugged islands of East Nusa Tenggara: Solor, Alor, Lembata, etc. which act as teeth dividing the Flores and Banda Seas from the deep Indian Ocean. Very clear water pours back and forth between them carrying everything from whales and marlin to sunfish and dugongs, providing astonishing opportunities for divers.

In the straits between Solor and Alor lie several small islands, torn by clear currents, which are alive with corals and sharks. In addition to giant fish traps, which require ten men to carry them, the islanders produce particularly fine Ikats with marine motifs. The inland villagers of Alor still use bows and arrows to hunt game, and they still dance circular, trance dances more reminiscent of the peoples of the South Pacific.

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