Flores island
Flores is an exceptional scenic island, located east of Sumbawa and Komodo and west of Lembata and Alor. To the southeast is Timor. To the south, across the Sumba strait, lies the island of Sumba and to the north, beyond the Flores Sea, is the island of Sulawesi.
The name Flores is Portuguese and means 'flower' as the Portuguese were the first Europeans to colonize East Nusa Tenggara. They eventually sold it to the Dutch.
Flores measures 17,164 square kilometer, is heavily treed with forests and is mountainous, rising to 2,399 m. above sea level. The island is divided by strings of volcanic mountains into several regions with distinctive languages and traditions. The largest town is Maumere.
The western part of the island is mainly of Malayan origin whereas the eastern part is mainly inhabited by people of Papuan origin.
Flores Man In September 2004, at the Liang Bua Cave in western Flores, Paleoanthropologist 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 meter tall. They may have existed until as recently as 11.000 BC. |  Flores Man | Local reports of elf 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. Flores was also a habitat of the extinct Stegodon dwarf elephant until approximately 18,000 years ago. |
Volcanoes
Flores has several active and dormant volcanoes, including Egon, Ilimuda, Leroboleng, and Lewotobi.
Kelimutu is a mountain which is famous for its "Three Color Lakes", dark brown, light blue, and dark blue. It is really a magic natural wonder. According to the people who live around the lakes the colors of these lakes sometimes change. Climb to the top of the mountain to experience a truly dramatic panorama on these lakes.
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. Culture
There are many languages spoken on the island of Flores, all of them belonging to the Austronesian family. In the center 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: Ngada, 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.
