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Flores is located east of
Sumbawa and Komodo and west of Lembata and the Alor
Archipelago. To the southeast is Timor. To the south,
across the Sumba strait, is Sumba and to the north,
beyond the Flores Sea, is Sulawesi.
Flores is part of the East Nusa Tenggara province. The
island is split into
six regencies (local government districts); from west
to east these are: West
Manggarai, Central Manggarai, Ngada, Ende, Sikka and
Flores Timur.
Flora and fauna
The west coast of Flores is one of the few places,
aside from the island of Komodo itself, where the
Komodo dragon can be found in the wild. The Flores
Giant Rat is also endemic to the Island.
In September 2003, at Liang Bua Cave in western
Flores, paleoanthropologists discovered skeletons of a
previously unknown hominid species. Homo floresiensis,
affectionately termed hobbits after the small
characters in the Lord of the Rings, appear to be
miniaturized versions of Homo erectus standing about
one metre tall. They may have existed until as
recently as
11,000 BC. Local reports of elf-like people, the Ebu
Gogo, or the Orang Pendek of Sumatra, have caused
speculation that Flores man may have survived into the
historical period, or even to the present. The
discovery has been published in the October 28, 2004,
issue of Nature magazine and the April 2005 issue of
the National Geographic Magazine.[2] However, on
August 21, 2006, the National Geographic Newsletter
published an article reporting that
several scientists now believe that the remains
discovered in 2004 were not of a different species but
were pygmies. Flores was also a habitat of the extinct
Stegodon dwarf elephant until approximately 18,000
years ago. It also was the habitat of species of giant
rodents. It is speculated by scientists that limited
resources drove the few species that lived upon the
island to gigantism and dwarfism.
Culture
There are many languages spoken on the island of
Flores, all of them belonging to the Austronesian
family. In the centre of the island in the districts
of Ngada and Ende there is what is variously called
the Central Flores Dialect Chain or the Central Flores
Linkage. Within this area there are slight linguistic
differences in almost every village. At least six
separate languages are identifiable. These are from
west to east: Ngadha, Nage, Keo, Ende, Lio and Palu'e,
which is spoken on the island with the same name of
the north coast of Flores. Locals would probably also
add So'a and Bajawa to this list, which
anthropologists have labeled dialects of Ngadha.
Portuguese traders and missionaries came to Flores in
the 16th century, mainly to Larantuka and Sikka. Their
influence is still discernible in Sikka's language and
culture.
Flores is almost entirely Catholic and represents one
of the "religious borders" created by the Catholic
expansion in the Pacific and the spread of Islam from
the west across Indonesia. In other places in
Indonesia, such as in the Malukus and Sulawesi, the
divide is more rigid and has been the source of bloody
sectarian clashes.
Tourism
The most famous tourist attraction in Flores is
Kelimutu; three coloured lakes in the district of
Ende. These crater lakes are in the caldera of a
volcano, and fed by a volcanic gas source, resulting
in highly acid water. The coloured lakes change
colours on an irregular basis, depending on the
oxidation state of the lake (see Pasternack, Keli Mutu
Volcanic Lakes), from bright red through green and
blue. The latest colours (late 2004) were said to be
turquoise, brown and black.
There is good snorkelling and diving on several
locations along the north coast of Flores, most
notably Maumere and Riung. However, due to the
destructive practice of local fishermen using bombs to
fish, and locals selling shells to tourists, combined
with the after effects of a devastating tsunami in
1992, the reefs have slowly been destroyed.
Labuanbajo (on the western tip of Flores) is a town
often used by tourists, from where they can visit
Komodo and Rinca. Labuanbajo also attracts scuba
divers, as whale sharks inhabit the waters around
Labuanbajo.
Tourists can visit Luba and Bena villages to see
traditional houses in Flores. Larantuka, on the isle's
eastern end, is known for its Holy Week festivals. |
