Flores Island Trek, Indonesia

Bajawa · Indonesia

Moderate8 daysAsia~£700 est.

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Overview

Most travellers treat Flores as the springboard for Komodo; stay and walk it instead. From the highland town of Bajawa, trails thread between perfect volcanic cones through Ngada villages such as Bena, where megalithic altars and high-gabled ancestor houses stand as they have for centuries and hot springs steam in the river below. Eastwards, the dawn ritual at Kelimutu repays every alarm-clock complaint: three crater lakes in one summit caldera, each a different colour - turquoise, rust, ink - and each liable to change shade from one year to the next as the volcano's chemistry shifts. Descend through rice terraces to the coast, then finish west at Labuan Bajo for Komodo dragons on Rinca and manta rays over the reefs. The Trans-Flores Highway is slow, winding and spectacular, so budget full days for what look like short hops or hire a car and driver between trekking stages. April to September is the dry season and the time to come; the rains wash out village paths and drown Kelimutu's dawn in cloud. Eight days with local guides, homestays and a Komodo boat day runs about £700 excluding flights into Ende or Labuan Bajo. Carry small notes for village donations and dress modestly in Ngada country.