Colorful lakes on the Kelimutu volcano (Flores island, Indonesia). Why vacation on Flores is attractive

Material from GS

The first final game of the Second Team Tournament.

Participants

Vadim Karlinsky

Maxim Anfinagenov

Alexander Likhtshangof

• Vadim Karlinsky, programmer from Moscow
• Maxim Anfinagenov, TV journalist from Kharkov (Ukraine)
• Alexander Likhtshangof, teacher from St. Petersburg

Game progress

First round

Themes:

• Heroes
• People and animals
• Special services
• 2 to 5
• Signs and Symbols
• Ends in "y"

Ends in "y" (300)

On the set of "I'm Going Into a Thunderstorm" Rostislav Plyatt in the role of physicist Dankevich was made up according to the portrait of this academician - the prototype of Dankevich.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Lev Davidovich Landau

Ends in "y" (400)

On February 2, 1920, a peace treaty was signed in this city between Estonia and Soviet Russia with mutual recognition of sovereignty.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Tartu

Ends in "y" (200)

On the Indonesian island of Flores, 500 centuries ago, these "birds" lived up to 2 meters in height and weighing up to 16 kilograms. Today their relatives are much smaller.

Vadim answers.
Player response: Cockatoo
Maxim answers.
Player response: Emu
Correct answer: Marabou

Ends in "y" (100)

Bruce Lee developed his original style this called "Jeet Kune Do".

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Kung Fu

2 to 5 (400)

That was the number of people included in the Directory - the highest executive body of revolutionary France in the 18th century.

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: 5

2 to 5 (500)

After the monetary reform of 1839, seven old kopecks began to correspond to just so many new ones.

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: 2

2 to 5 (200)

So many homemade “Stalingrad” burners were lit in the foyer of the Taganka Theater after the performance “The Dawns Here Are Quiet”.

Vadim answers.
Correct answer: 5

People & Animals (300)

The world's fastest serial motorcycle Hayabusa is the namesake of this falcon.

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: Peregrine falcon

2 to 5 (100)

Everybody dance! (500)

The cat in the bag. Topic: Everybody dance! In a cartoon two centuries ago, two peasants forced him to dance.

Vadim plays. The rate is 500.
Correct answer: Napoleon

People & Animals (400)

In honor of this artist from the Barnum circus, one of the Disney characters was named Jumbo.

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: Elephant

People and animals (200)

On the other side (500)

The cat in the bag. Topic: On the other side. Long ago, Pushkin moved to the site of the demolished Passionate Monastery. But this is what he still holds in his hand.

Vadim plays. The rate is 500.
Player response: Scroll with his works
Correct answer: Hat

Heroes (400)

Question-auction. Clement Voroshilov received the first Star of the Hero Soviet Union to its 75th anniversary. The second - to the 50th anniversary of this.

Alexander plays. The stake is 1 600 (all-in).
Correct answer: Soviet army

Heroes (300)

IN Russian Empire this city was founded last, and the title of "Hero City" was received by the last - only for the 40th anniversary of the Victory, together with Smolensk.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Murmansk

Special services (300)

In 1992, Stella Rimington became the first woman to head this British counterintelligence service.

Vadim answers.
Correct answer: MI5

Heroes (500)

In Spaarndam, there is a monument to an 8-year-old boy who allegedly saved the Netherlands from this. Although the heroic feat was composed by Mary Map Dodge in the book "Silver Skates".

Vadim answers.
Correct answer: From the flood caused by the break of the dam

Signs & Symbols (400)

At the top of the Kiev Independence Monument, the girl holds a branch of this shrub - the symbol of Ukraine.

Maxim answers.
Player response: The turn
Correct answer: Viburnum

Signs & Symbols (500)

Question-auction. In the grammar of Alexander Vostokov, published in 1831, it was referred to as a "stop sign".

Vadim plays. The stake is 800 (all-in).
Player response: Colon
Correct answer: Ellipsis

Special services (500)

The operation to identify Nazi values ​​in Switzerland, developed with the participation of Ian Fleming, bore this code name.

Correct answer: "James Bond"

Special services (400)

Three-year-old Gordon Lonsdale died with his parents. The KGB legend about saving the boy helped this Soviet intelligence officer to legalize and work.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Conan the Young

Special services (200)

The agents of this US service were allowed to carry weapons only in the twenty-seventh year of its existence after the death of one of the employees.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: FBI

Special services (100)

Stripped to the skin by the Romanian border guards, the great schemer cursed this special service.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: "Siguranza"

People & Animals (100)

This inhabitant of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve left her home in the spring, where the engineer Alexei Matveev climbed to create an Internet model of the “house”.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: She-bear

Heroes (200)

Finish the line from “The March of the Happy Children”: “We will get everything, understand and open it: // Cold pole and blue vault! // When the country orders to be a hero ... ".

Vadim answers.
Correct answer: "... in our country anyone becomes a hero"

Signs & Symbols (300)

In the synagogue of Tiberias, Israel, on an ancient mosaic floor, along with the signs of the zodiac, 4 women are depicted, symbolizing just that.

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: Seasons

Signs & Symbols (200)

Since ancient times, in Japan, the dragonfly has been a symbol of their fortitude and selfless courage.

Alexander answers.
Player response: Pilots
Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Samurai

Round result

• Vadim - 200
• Maxim - 1 500
• Alexander - 3 300

Round two

Themes:

• Watermelon
• Stop thief!
• Questions from ...
• Our old cinema
• Who sings?

Who sings? (800)

“We, friends, are migratory birds. // Only our life is not good alone: ​​// They didn't have time to get married on earth, // And you won't find a wife in heaven! "

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: "Because, because we are pilots ..." (from the movie "Sky Slow")

Who sings? (600)

"Our years are long, // We are old friends, // You are faithful, as before, to me."

Vadim answers.
Correct answer: "Song of the old cab"

Who sings? (1,000)

“I see off my pets - // Sons, // Daughters. // Fly to the sun // And return home soon.

Vadim answers.
Correct answer: "I am the Earth"

Our old cinema (800)

Our old cinema (800)

The large-scale reconstruction of Berlin came in handy. Buildings exploded and collapsed right in the frame. Name the movie.

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: "Shield and sword"

Who sings? (400)

"That to the one whom I meet, - // Even in the beast - I believe, I believe, - // I will not forget, I will, I will, // I will say hello."

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: "Little Red Riding Hood's Song"

Who sings? (200)

We built, we built (1,000)

The cat in the bag. Topic: We built, we built. Water from mountain lake Noir in the Vosges, flows in a cascade into the neighboring Lake Blanc, and almost a hundred years ago this structure was built on a beautiful reservoir.

Vadim plays. The rate is 1,000.
Correct answer: Power plant

Our old cinema (600)

The artist of the film "Kin-dza-dza" Teodor Tezhik brought a model of this apparatus, and Danelia was delighted: “Exactly! Old Armenian coffee grinder! "

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: Pepelats

United States (600)

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: In space flight

Our old cinema (1,000)

Question-auction. This year, on the occasion of his 85th birthday, "The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!" shown on television not under New Year, and at the end of April.

Maxim plays. The stake is 2 900 (all-in).
Player response: Eldar Ryazanov
Correct answer: Yuri Vasilievich Yakovlev

Our old cinema (400)

For this song, Gaidai simply did not see a place in the film, but Yuri Nikulin persuaded the director to insert the song into the episode on the ship. And for good reason!

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: "Island of bad luck"

Our old cinema (200)

Our old cinema (200)

This Soviet cartoon, seen in childhood, is a feat of the future animator Hayao Miyazaki towards choosing a profession.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: "The Snow Queen"

Questions from ... (200)

Questions from the dentist (200)

Questions are asked by the dentist Svetlana Vanglis.
What does a dentist do with this tool?

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Pulls out bad teeth

Questions from ... (400)

In what story by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov did the paramedic unsuccessfully save the sexton from toothache?

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: "Surgery"

Questions from ... (600)

The first drill was invented in the USA in 1870. By what means was it set in motion?

Vadim answers.
Correct answer: Foot-operated pedal

Questions from ... (800)

In which comedy directed by Georgy Danelia, the protagonist's extra false tooth almost brought worldwide fame?

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: "Thirty three"

Questions from ... (1,000)

In 1480, the Italian Giovanni Arcalani first used gold for this. For what?

Vadim answers.
Correct answer: For filling teeth

Stop thief! (600)

In May of this year, a safe with jewelry intended for guests and participants of this festival was stolen from a five-star hotel. The theft "pulled" a million dollars.

Vadim answers.
Correct answer: Cannes Film Festival

Stop thief! (800)

In a store from an Englishwoman Tracy Thomson, a wallet with money and dear photos was stolen, but this friend of her daughter, named Sam, quickly found the loss. True, no money.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Dog

Stop thief! (400)

The unlucky bank robber in the American town of Abilene managed to at least set this "world record". No wonder that he could not escape from the police.

Alexander answers.
Player response: By the number and weight of the stolen
Correct answer: By the age at which he committed the robbery

Stop thief! (200)

Louvre director Åmoll boasted that stealing it was like stealing Notre Dame. After the theft, Omol was fired.

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: Mona Lisa

United States (800)

By the will of fate, his eldest son Robert witnessed the murder of three presidents: his father, Garfield and McKinley.

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: Abraham Lincoln

United States (1,000)

In early 2012, Jeremiah Franco and Karin Shreve set a record for watching this animated series - 86 hours 37 minutes in a row - and got into the Guinness Book.

Correct answer: "The Simpsons"

United States (400)

It wasn't until February of this year that Mississippi was the last to ratify the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, repealing this.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Slavery

Watermelons (600)

Six years ago, the All-Russian Research Institute of Irrigated Melons and Melons created the Lunny watermelon variety with pulp of this color.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Yellow

Watermelons (1,000)

Question-auction. Candied peels are made from watermelon peels. At the last boil, add turmeric, beet juice or, for example, a decoction of onion peels for this purpose.

Maxim plays. The stake is 3 400 (all-in).
Correct answer: For coloring

Round result

• Vadim - 5 000
• Maxim - 6 800
• Alexander - 6 100

Third round

Themes:

• Milk
• Sports history
• Parodies
• Art and money
• Everyone knows them
• Eureka!

Everyone knows them (900)

Albert Einstein often took money from those who wanted to get it. And he sent his "earned" to good deeds.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: His autograph

Parodies (900)

Veniamin Smekhov called this musical performance the result of his slovenly skits and a parody of the boring Scheherazade.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves"

Parodies (1200)

This "genius of parody" often sang from the stage better than that or the one he portrayed. Alas, he died in a plane crash, barely living to the age of 28.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Victor Ivanovich Chistyakov

Parodies (1,500)

This comedy by Ezio Greggio parodies Silence of the Lambs, Basic Instinct, Jurassic Park, The Woman in Red and Psycho at the same time.

Correct answer: "Silence of the Ham"

Parodies (600)

Alice Randall wrote a parody of The Wind Verse. Unlike Gone with the Wind, all the heroes are just like that.

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: Blacks

Art and money (1,200)

Antonio Salieri refused the order of Emperor Joseph II, and Mozart wrote this opera for 200 ducats. What kind of opera?

Correct answer: "Everyone does this."

Art & Money (900)

To support his own art center in New York, he auctioned Vereshchagin's 1976 painting "View of St. Petersburg" at auction.

Maxim answers.
Player response: Armand Hammer
Correct answer: Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov

Art & Money (600)

Error exited (1,500)

The cat in the bag. Topic: The error came out. Not finding gold in California, the Spaniards lost interest in it. This error on the maps did not bother them in the least.

Vadim plays. The rate is 1,500.
Player response: They called the Gulf of California the sea
Correct answer: The California Peninsula was depicted as an island on maps

Sports History (900)

Question-auction. In 1941, the Boston Bruins' hockey players set a record. Seems like for all time. They did it 83 times in a match. What?

Maxim plays. The stake is 8,900 (all-in).
Player response: Retired
Correct answer: Throwed at the rivals' goal

Parodies (300)

“But the goats, those who have been offended, are dearest and closest to me. Did you see the dog licking its beating hand? " Whom did Parnassus stand on end parody?

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky

Sports History (1,500)

In 1936, two Japanese brought silver and bronze medals from Berlin, showing the same result in pole vaulting. And they did it.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: They made themselves silver-bronze medals by sawing them in half and connecting them in opposite parts.

Sports History (600)

Last year, Andy Murray not only became the first British winner of the US Open in 76 years, but also the first tennis player to win these competitions in the same year.

Maxim answers.
Player response: Wimbledon
Correct answer: Olympic Games

Everyone knows them (1 200)

Everyone knows them (1 200)

“Once a century, a lady is born, from whom the whole continent cannot look away,” director Alexander Korda admired her.

Maxim answers.
Player response: Greta Garbo
Correct answer: Vivien Leigh

Everyone knows them (1,500) Buffalo

Milk (1200)

In this month, immediately after sunset, according to custom, they eat milk with dates.

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: Ramadan

Sports History (300)

Back in the late 17th century, women played football in the Scottish town of Inveresk. Two teams were formed according to this principle.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Married versus unmarried

Art and money (1,500)

This American presented the USSR with Goya's canvas for 60 thousand dollars, and the moved Furtseva was given away by Malevich from the Tretyakov Gallery for 750 thousand dollars.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Armand Hammer

Milk (1,500)

"Harry, has it really come to the point that they drink this veal swill in the bar ?!" - cowboy Danly was indignant. Name the film.

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: "The Man from Boulevard des Capucines"

Milk (300)

In African myth, the first girl on earth threw ash from a fire into the sky. It turned out.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Milky Way

Eureka! (900)

Graphene airgel, made in China, is 6 times lighter than air and, among other things, will be used to eliminate just such spills.

Vadim answers.
Correct answer: Oil

Eureka! (1,200)

These glassware appeared in 1888; invented by the Swiss ophthalmologist Adolph Fick.

Maxim answers.
Correct answer: Contact lenses

Everyone knows them (600)

In 1916, as a simple orderly, he carried the wounded out of the battle, "earning" the Order of St. Stanislav, two George and a severe concussion. In the hospital he returned to chess.

Alexander answers.
Correct answer: Alexander Alekhin

Round result

• Vadim - 5 800
• Maxim - 3 300
• Alexander - 10 900

Final round

Topic: Appeals

In “Traveling Impressions”, Alexander Dumas wrote: “… a widespread Russian address, which is usually used by a higher person in relation to a lower one. This is indeed a particularly affectionate word that is loved by many Russian people. " Name the word.

Vadim's answer: Kind
The rate is 3,000.

Maxim's answer: Dearest
The bet is 700.

Alexander's answer: Kind
The rate is 701.

Correct answer: Darling

The outcome of the game

• Vadim - 2 800
• Maxim - 2 600
• Alexander - 10 199

Alexander Likhtshangof wins the first final game.

V. MUZHCHINKIN, candidate of biological sciences.

In the fall of 2004, the preliminary results of the excavations of the Australian-Indonesian expedition on the island of Flores were published. This Indonesian island is located between Java and Timor, south of Sulawesi, where the Asian block of the earth's crust borders the Australian-New Guinean. The finds made by the expedition in the Liang Bua grotto became a scientific sensation.

Reconstruction of the Pygmy camp from Flores Island.

The stone tools found on the island may have belonged to Floresian "hobbits". So the world press, remembering the heroes of Tolkien's epic, immediately christened the ancient inhabitants of the island.

This is how the forest dwarfs looked like, stories about which have been passed down by the modern inhabitants of the island of Flores by word of mouth for many generations.

Comparison of the skulls (left to right) of Floresian man, Neanderthal man and modern Homo sapiens.

The dwarf stegodon, which could be hunted by pygmies, is now an extinct relative of the elephant (one and a half meters at the withers).

The Indonesian region is remembered for one of the first anthropological sensations. In 1891, the Dutch explorer E. Dubois found fragments of the skeleton of a monkey-man - Pithecanthropus in Java. The commotion produced at that time in the press was gradually replaced by the obligatory presence in all school textbooks. detailed story about a Javanese find. It was found that creatures like Pithecanthropus - erect, about 170 cm tall, with a kilogram brain, capable of using fire (the oldest fireplaces are more than a million years old) and making a variety of stone (and, probably, bone and wood) implements - were common in the vastness of Eurasia and Africa. Now they are referred to as "Homo erectus".

The island itself was discovered in the 16th century by the Portuguese, who gave it the name Flores - the Island of Flowers. Archaeologists have been digging in Flores since 1952, and even then it became clear that people lived here in the early Pleistocene. The Dutch priest and amateur archaeologist Theodor Verhoeven discovered human stone tools along with the bones of giant Komodo monitor lizards and small stegodons (distant relatives of modern elephants). And now, in a karst depression 40 meters deep, filled with sediment and located 25 kilometers from the sea coast, at an altitude of 500 meters above its current level, an almost complete skeleton of a woman and the remains of several more similar individuals were found.

The skeleton belonged to a normally built adult woman measuring only one meter and weighing, apparently, 20-30 kilograms. These diminutive dimensions confuse anthropologists very much. Of the three currently identified species of the genus Homo (Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Homo erectus, and Homo sapiens), the creature found in all characteristics, except for size, fits within the species "Homo erectus", which includes the Javanese Pithecanthropus. But so far a separate species has been created for him (more precisely, for her) - the Floresian man, Homo floresiensis.

The small size of the Floresian person and especially the small size of his brain inevitably lead to a continuation of the discussion, which has been going on for almost two centuries, about the importance of such indicators as the size of the brain and the whole body for assessing a person's capabilities.

A Floresian man possessed a four-hundred-gram brain (judging by the volume of the cranium), as much as the brain of an adult chimpanzee and a newborn modern man. The intellectual capabilities of a newborn infant are still difficult to assess. Every year we learn something new about the capabilities of the chimpanzee brain: this brain allows us to operate with two hundred words of sign language, use improvised objects as tools, adopt the skills of the members of our social group ... So the four-hundred-gram brain of "hobbits" conceals more possibilities than it seems at first sight. But is it really possible that the stone scrapers, cutters and punches found in the same layer with the skeleton can be considered the products of these pygmies, and not other members of our genus Homo? And the next inevitable and still unanswered question: how do the capabilities of the four-hundred-gram brain of Floresians differ from the capabilities of the one-kilogram brain of their closest relatives and supposed progenitors - Pithecanthropus? After all, those, in turn, are in the size of the brain at the lower limit of the normal weight of this organ in a modern person. Everyone remembers the school example with the kilogram brain of Anatole France and the two kilogram brain of Turgenev, writers equally successful in their work.

Body size is easier to figure out than brain size. Growth values ​​among representatives of modern tribes range from less than one and a half meters in the Zairian Mbuti (and, possibly, among some groups of Andamans and Filipinos) to almost two meters in Central African Watussi-Tutsi, that is, they differ by one and a half times. Within our own species, we can also find populations in which short stature combined with a small head size. Then the last reasons are removed to isolate the Floresian pygmies from other local variants of Homo erectus.

It turns out quite a similar picture for the species Homo sapiens and the species Homo erectus: double variation in the volume of the cranium and one and a half - in height. In this case, the Floresian find extends the presence of Homo erectus on the historical stage up to one and a half million years, from the beginning of the Pleistocene and almost to its end. Our own species, appearing in the geological record only in the last third of the Pleistocene, almost immediately, judging by the latest data of genetic studies, split into two long coexisting trunks: the so-called Neanderthals and all the rest. Moreover, almost all of its history, our species, Homo sapiens, coexisted with the widespread Homo erectus.

Here we move on to the field of folklore. Stories about the presence in the district of certain humanoid creatures (large, small, fierce, peaceful, avoiding contact with people or walking towards them), inhabiting mountains, forests or swamps, are common throughout the Old and New Worlds. And what is curious: their descriptions are similar to reconstructions of fossil anthropological finds, with which local residents who talked with folklorists are usually unfamiliar.

So, Bigfoot in the descriptions of eyewitnesses resembles Australopithecus or Gigantopithecus. There are also "forest people" in Indonesia. The modern inhabitants of the island of Flores tell in detail about the "ebu-gogo". The name translates as "omnivorous grandmothers". These are forest dwellers about a meter tall, long-haired, with rounded tummies, long arms and fingers. They converse among themselves in their own language in quiet voices and are able, like parrots, to repeat the words of the person addressing them. They never noticed stone or other tools or weapons in their hands. They ate everything raw - vegetables, fruits, meat (including human meat), hence the epithet "omnivorous" (you can also translate "gluttonous"). When people offered food to newcomers from the forest, they ate the treat along with bowls made of pumpkin. Ebu-gogo sometimes ravaged the fields of local residents, people endured these antics, but when the forest men stole and ate the baby, they decided to drive them away from their homes. They fled, by the way, in the direction of the Liang Bua grotto, where the present finds have been made. Residents of Flores claim that the last time the gluttonous "grandmothers" were seen a hundred years ago. Three hundred years ago, when colonists from Holland first landed on the island, voracious forest dwarfs were, they say, quite common, and now it is not possible to meet them in the forest. Perhaps these were the "hobbits" who have survived almost to the present day?

But let's go back 18 thousand years ago, at the height of the last ice age, when a significant part of the waters of the World Ocean was pulled into the polar ice sheets. The ocean level was more than a hundred meters below the present, the shelves were exposed, the Mediterranean water barrier between Africa and Eurasia became shallow, Beringia connected Eurasia with the Americas, and the southeastern edge of Eurasia almost merged with the Australian-New Guinean continent. The island of Flores, which has increased in size due to the shallowing of the ocean, almost adjoins Eurasia by its western edge, and is pushed far into the strait separating the shallow Banda Sea from the Australian-New Guinean mainland by the eastern edge. In the middle of this strait is Timor, which has increased in size, so if not on dry land, then on primitive rafts and boats it was possible to move from Eurasia to the present New Guinea and Australia, which, according to current finds, was inhabited by humans about 60 thousand years ago. It turns out that for at least 50 thousand years the Floresian pygmies lived in a "courtyard" environment, when waves of future Australian aborigines rolled through them.

With the end of the Ice Age and the rise in ocean level, the outskirts of the continents disintegrated into many islands, and the populations of Homo sapiens that had taken root here for a long time had to move to dry places. The end of the history of the newly discovered species of our genus is hidden, apparently, in the deposits of the last ten thousand years for south edge the current Malay Archipelago.

Illustration captions

Fig. 1. The outlines of the Flores Island in our time and 18 thousand years ago, when masses of water were collected in huge circumpolar ice caps, and the ocean level dropped by more than 100 meters. The dotted line shows the modern outlines of the land, the solid line - the coast during the period of low ocean level, when dry land could pass from Asia to America, and on primitive rafts to sail to Australia.

At the top of the Kelimutu volcano, in its very crater, there are three lakes, it would seem that so unusual, but it is unusual that they are all different in color. And they can even change their color at times, which is why these lakes are also considered mystical.

The Kelimutu volcano, located approximately in the middle of the Indonesian island of Flores, is considered one of the main attractions of the island. The volcano rises 1639 meters above sea level, which belongs to the Indonesian East Small Sunda Islands. Its last eruption was over forty years ago. After the eruption, kolder depressions were formed in the magma, in which water from atmospheric precipitation forms lakes, in this case as many as three.

Each of the three lakes has its own name, the local inhabitants of the Lio tribe endow them with the properties of absorbing the souls of dead people, and when the souls in the lakes become angry, they change their color. The "Lake of Older People" (Tiwu Ata Mbupu), located at the western point of the volcano and which is located separately from the others, is turquoise in color. And this is where the souls of the elderly, who led a pious lifestyle, enter. Two other lakes are located next to each other and are separated from each other by a crater wall, one of them is called "lake of boys and girls" (Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai), it is green and the souls of young people fall into it. And the third - "The Enchanted Lake" (Tiwu Ata Polo) is blood-red, and according to popular beliefs, the souls of sinners and murderers get here. The colors of the lakes change their color from black to turquoise, red or green.

But scientists have their own explanation for the color of the lakes, the variability is explained by the presence of dissolved minerals of various natures in the water. It all depends on the chemical reactions and elements found in each of the lakes, and it is strange that each of the lakes, even those that are in close proximity to each other, contain different chemical elements and are therefore painted in different colors. Sulfuric and hydrochloric acids give the lake green color, red is the result of the reaction of hydrogen sulfide with iron, although in recent years the water of the red lake has darkened, and now it has already become almost black. There is also a second explanation for the change in the color of the lakes, that the incoming volcanic gases react with the minerals contained in the lakes and change their color.

The Kelimutu volcano on the island of Flores is a miracle of nature, which, due to its remoteness, remains wild, but nevertheless, thanks to its unusual, colorful lakes, has become famous all over the world and has become a favorite place for tourists and travelers who every year become in this place. more.

In the morning, the lake is covered with fog and they are poorly visible, and therefore it is best to visit the lake in the afternoon; by this time, the fog usually dissipates or at dawn, before the fog appears. Tourists who decide to see the lakes need to be prepared for a long route, and it is best to stay overnight in the nearby small farming village of Moli, which often serves as a stopover for tourists.

In the south of the Indonesian archipelago, there is the mysterious flower island of Flores, which looks like a long-tailed fish. Until recently, it was unknown to tourists. But today they poured into him in the hundreds in search of adventure.

The island, discovered by chance in the sixteenth century, owes its beautiful name to the Portuguese colonialists, who were delighted with the lush bloom of vegetation on it.

The nature of the island of Flores today, five hundred years after its discovery, delights with its virginity. It is the main attraction of the volcanic formation.

Exotic plants cover its surface. Places untouched by civilization allow you to touch the world of fairy tales. Most of the flowers and animals inhabiting the island of Flores remember the times when dinosaurs still lived on Earth.

Fauna and flora turn it into a paradise lost on earth, where many tourists are in a hurry to visit.

Colorful Indonesian island - the only place in a country where Catholicism is preached. The foundation of the Christian mission falls on the period when the island of Flores was handed over to Holland. Local residents Catholics converted to their faith, and the new owners were not interested in the sacrament of baptism: this was the main condition when the colony was transferred.

Local aborigines are extremely hospitable, which is immediately felt by travelers who come here. They have kept their traditional way of life. There are approximately 1.8 million inhabitants here.

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Floras island on googol map

They live at a considerable distance, which provides a striking contrast that exists between nationalities. For the first time, the natives saw buses and cars only 20 years ago, when the main highway was laid.

There are many Aboriginal people on the island of Flores who live in ancient villages and look like they just stepped out of archive photos. Therefore, when referring to an untouched civilization, they mean both nature and animals, as well as the way of life of the islanders.

There are three unusual crater lakes on the island of Flores, the water of which changes color over time. The reason for the unprecedented phenomenon is still unknown to scientists. Long ago, three depressions were formed as a result of volcanic eruptions, which later turned into magical lakes.

The natives believe that the souls of the dead dwell in them, and the changing color is associated with their anger. The souls of the ancestors who lived a righteous life live in a lake, which is at a considerable distance from the rest.

In the other two, known all over the world, filled with wonderful water and located next to each other, the souls of the young dead and those who brought a lot of evil rest. The water in them turns from green to black and burgundy, and then, to blood red.

One group of scientists suggests that a unique a natural phenomenon caused by the abundance of soluble minerals in lakes and chemical reactions that occur in the water.

Another attributes this to the presence of volcanic gases in them.

The island of Flores, which not so long ago became known to the world, was created by nature and is a real miracle. Tourists love to meet the dawn, climbing to the highest point of Kelimutu, from where you can see the magic play of the sun's rays on the water surface of the lakes.

Batu Cermin cave

Another attraction is the mirror cave - underworld located on a rock massif. A unique sight is represented by the fossilized remains of unseen fish and huge turtles, together with a fantastic view of stalagmites, on which at certain moments the sun's rays are reflected by millions of mirrors, which come here through a gap in the vault.

Guests from all over the world come here to see this marvelous picture with their own eyes.

Labuan Bajo village

Small village located in the west amazing island... Diving tourists love it beautiful place beckoning clear water and magical beaches.

When a relaxing holiday is boring, you can visit a pearl farm or go for a walk along mysterious caves, of which there are many in the country. Those who are tired of the city bustle strive here to be alone with nature.

Pagan rituals of Bajawa city

The island of Flores attracts with its traditional rituals, which, despite the active work of missionaries, continue to be strictly observed here. The center of religion is Ngadha - a city with an interesting mix of ancestor cult and Catholicism. There are still preserved places where the spirit is worshiped - megaliths, and the area amazes with mysticism.

Scientific sensation

The popularity of the wonderful island of Flores began with the fact that experts published the results of the excavations carried out. Truly, the discovery of human bones in the Liang Bua cave is considered a scientific sensation.

At first, they were mistaken for the skeleton of a child, since they belonged to a small (up to a meter) person of miniature build. However, in reality they are the remains of hominoids. The ancient floresians (Homo floresiensis) had a surprisingly small brain (about 400 grams), which made them think about their intellectual capabilities. Homo sapiens aside, the last surviving human species is the "hobbits" to whom the bones belonged.

Scientists are interested in where the dwarf hominid appeared on the wonderful island, which is the result of volcanic activity, and what place it belongs to in the genealogical human tree.

The skeletons found suggested that, drifting in the sea, 950 years ago, the hobbits came to the island of Indonesia.

The small island surprised archaeologists with other anomalies. It was possible to find out that hominids coexisted with huge birds, twice their size. Flying giants hunted short hobbits 500 years ago.

These birds from the stork family differed from their relatives:

• weighing (up to 15 kilograms);
• growth (up to two meters).

Scientists came to this conclusion after examining the skeleton of a giant bird found on the island.

The mystery of the disappearance of dwarfs and giant birds

There are several versions that make it possible to understand this: they died due to volcanic activity, since the remains were covered with ash (main). If not for this, they could exist today, as on neighboring island Komodo, where you can find huge specimens.

There are others, but one thing is indisputable - relics with the most ancient genealogy, five hundred centuries ago lived here, as if in Noah's ark.

What makes a vacation in Flores so attractive?

The recently opened island of Flores will provide a wonderful pastime for those who love leisure, and who wishes to retire. Its picturesque landscapes, where there is no large influx of travelers, make your vacation unforgettable.

/ Population

The population of the island is about 1.5 million people.

These are peoples belonging to the transitional East Indonesian racial type: many inhabitants have curly hair and are darker-skinned than most Indonesians.

The most significant ethnic groups are: Ende - 850 thousand people (eastern regions of Flores), Manggarai, about 500 thousand people (west of Flores Island), and Sikka - 175 thousand people (on the isthmus of the central part of the island).

Small ethnic groups live in the interior regions - Ngade, Nage, Lio, Keo, Riung, Ndao, Rokka and others.

In the Middle Ages, the island was in the zone of political influence of the Javanese Hindu empire of Majapahit.

By the 17th century, the early state formations of Flores fell into dependence on the Macassar principality of Gova. From that moment on, the Islamization of the local population began, interrupted by the Portuguese and Dutch colonization.

Currently, 91% of the population due to the missionary activities of the Portuguese are Roman Catholic Christians. The islands were visited by Francisco Xaver himself.

And even after the transfer of the Flores Island (with the surrounding archipelagos) to Holland in 1859, the missionary activity of Catholics did not stop here. The Dutch administration, seeing the growing threat of Islamization of the island, in every possible way contributed to the strengthening of Catholicism here (at the same time, planting Protestantism on other islands).

Some of the islanders living in the interior of the island continue to adhere to traditional beliefs (cult of ancestors, belief in spirits). In the center of the villages, an area with stone megalithic sculptures associated with the cult of ancestors is required.

The clothing of the highlanders consists of a loincloth or a skirt. In cities and on the coast, kain, shirts or jackets are worn.

Mass festivities among the Manggarai (ritual dances of the battle of men in military attire), funeral rites of Sikko (burial in boats sent "overseas") are interesting.

A small part of the islanders (western Manggarai) adhere to Sunni Islam.

Among Muslims and noble adherents of traditional cults, polygyny is allowed. Cross-cousin marriages are preferred. Often, before the payment of the marriage ransom, the wife and children live in the family of her parents.

A number of peoples are still divided into caste-class groups. There are large-family communities in the mountains.

In addition to rice, Flores also grows corn, coffee and sugar cane.

Livestock raising is developed: breeding buffaloes, horses, pigs, poultry.