Seat of Our Pants

If I had to assign our Indonesian tour a theme it would definitely be volcanoes. Kelimutu, on Flores, is the third volcano we’ve climbed. Well, actually, to be honest, we were driven to a spot that was within a 15 minute walk of the top. But climb we did! For 15 minutes. Just in time to see the sun peak over the rim of one of three calderas that make this volcano so special.

Kelimutu is a triple cratered, extinct volcano. Each crater is filled with water, each with it’s own intense color which, for unexplained reasons, changes sometimes. The brochure illustrated the lakes as red, blue and turquoise. When we were there, one lake was blue, the other turquoise and the third was black.

The locals believe that the souls of the deceased enter one of the three lakes. Each souls is judged based on either it’s supernatural power while living or if it’s done something extraordinary in life. If it passes this test, it enters the black lake. If it is deemed a “teenager” (someone who hasn’t yet attained proper supernatural powers) then off to the turquoise lake they go. The blue lake is known as the place for evil. The average souls are assigned an eternity to the outer ridges of the calderas.

As I’ve been known to be pretty extraordinary (Martin: “Um, what?”), I’m pretty sure it’s the black lake for me.

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