Explore to Indonesia: Maros

Bantimurung National Park is a 480 km2 large nature reserve just 45 km north of Makassar / Ujung Pandang. The name Bantimurang is a combination of the words 'membanting kemurungan' which means 'getting rid of sadness'. The park is famous for its many butterflies. When Sir Alfred Wallace visited this area in 1856 he termed it the 'Kingdom of butterflies'. A name still used till today.

Unfortunately the number of species and amount of butterflies has dropped significantly in the last decades. In the first count there were 270 species, a count in 1997 stopped at 147 species. The last count in 2010 could only found 90 species. Also, besides a decline in species, the total amount of butterflies has dropped significantly: before there were so many butterflies they would gather in groups and drift by in a cloud.

Increased human activity in the area is seen as the cause of this decline. In a response the government has started a butterflies breeding program. But in spite of the decline you can still enjoy the thousands of multi-colored butterflies here especially in or near one of the caves.

Besides the butterflies this National Park is famous for the 15 meter high waterfall. This is the place where most visitors go to. Behind the waterfall are a few caves which you can explore. The waterfall and caves are set in a lush tropical forest with limestone cliffs.

Bantimurang National Park is especially popular in the weekends when local visitors from Makassar head out to the waterfall and adjacent picnic area. Park entrance is Rp 5,000 per adult. Accommodation to spend the night is available inside the park perimeter for as low as Rp 50,000.

Located only 20 KM from Hasanuddin Airport, the national park can be reached from the airport by local public transportation called pete-pete for about 30 minutes. If you travel from Makassar, you can catch a public bus or DAMRI, from the Makassar Mall in the direction of Maros for about one hour. From Maros, take the same pete-pete that also goes to the airport.

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Twenty-six red-and-white hand prints are plastered across the roof of the Leang Petta Kere cave in the Bantimurung subdistrict of Maros, South Sulawesi. At its center is a painting of a red boar, spanning half a meter in length. Apparently the cave’s previous inhabitants expected a pretty big meal to keep everyone fed.

“This is a relic of the middle Stone Age people, hunter gatherers who lived here around 5,000 BCE,” says Lahab, an official from the Makassar Center for Cultural and Heritage Preservation, at the Leang-Leang Prehistoric Park.

In the native dialect, “leang” means “cave,” “petta” means “nobility,” and “kere” is “sacred”: so Noble, Sacred Cave.

Leang Petta Kere is one of about a hundred caves that have been identified by the Makassar Center for Cultural and Heritage Preservation as once being home to hunter gatherers.

Visiting this ancient site, 45 meters above sea level and a 30-meter climb up a ladder, feels surreal, almost like looking through a window into the life of prehistoric men.

At the entrance to the cave forms a sort of antechamber, and it is here where the palm prints are found. “The palm was believed to repel, so that evil forces and wild animals wouldn’t enter,” Lahab says.

The prints themselves are a dirty white, like the rest of the cave walls, and are outlined by a red halo. It’s believed that the people who created the prints put their hands up against the wall and spit chewed-up foliage to create the outlines.

Some of the prints are red, supposedly created by dipping the hand in water tinted with the chewed-up leaves and stamping them on the wall.

“Researchers still don’t know what kind of leaves were used. In another cave, not in this region, black handprints have been found. Those are thought to have come from a later period than these ones,” Lahab says.

Some handprints have only four fingers and no thumb — “a sign that the person was mourning. They cut off one finger every time an elder of the group died,” Lahab says.

The cave holds many surprises. At the end of a narrow entrance lies a fairly spacious living space. A niche about 1.2 meters in diameter is believed to have been the center of ceremonies for the cave’s inhabitants.

There are dozens of other smaller niches, all connected to one another and forming a network of resting places. Inside, the cave protected the prehistoric humans from the scorching sun. The temperature inside remains a pleasant 27 degrees Celsius throughout the day.

“This cave was occupied by several different groups. One group consisted of 30 to 35 people,” Lahab says.

Archaeologist have found artifacts such as flint blades and stone arrowheads. As hunter gatherers, the cave people had a mountain of kitchen waste, a dump for the bones and shells of the animals they are. These fossilized remains are scattered at the mouth of a second cave, called Leang Pettae.

The latter was the first cave to be studied from among the hundred or so in the Maros Karst-Pangkep region. Here, five handprints were found along with a smaller image of a boar impaled with an spear. One of the five palms is though to belong to a woman, Lahab says.

The exploration of the cave began in 1950 by Dutch archaeologists, who stumbled upon the caves that locals had been using to house their livestock.

Finding the caves today is easy. The region boasts the world’s longest limestone mountain range, or karst landscape, and has caves scattered everywhere.

The local residents have for years used these caves.

“When I was little the caves were a place to keep our cattle. Leang-Leang Prehistoric Park was once a rice field that also belonged to the locals. I’ve worked here as a caretaker since 1985, after it was designated a cultural heritage park,” says the 51-year-old Lahab.

A resident of Tompok Balang village in Bantimurung subdistrict, Lahab says the tradition of making handprints is still carried out by local residents, notably when the first beam of a new house is erected.

A priest dips his hand in rice flour and stamps his print on the beam, with the owner of the house following suit.

“This tradition is called ambedak, or applying face powder. The hand print fades away quickly because they only use rice flour,” Lahab says.

Large chunks of limestone and andesite, a volcanic rock, are scattered irregularly around Leang-Leang Prehistoric Park. But a closer look reveals that they are laid out almost like the rocks of Stonehenge in England.

“Many foreign tourist from Britain and Australia are interested in the andesite stones. Since I was little, the stones have been laid out like this; no one dared move them,” Lahab says.

The Leang-Leang cave is easily reachable from Makassar, the South Sulawesi capital about 30 kilometers to the south.

Visiting Leang-Leang offers a new sensation for those bored of the daily traffic jams of Makassar’s busy streets. The road out of town is lined with beautiful irrigation canals and rows of tamarind trees, which bear fruit in April and June.

After passing through the main gate to Leang-Leang, the scenery becomes very different. The tamarind groves give way to rice fields and limestone foothills. The water seeping through the limestone filters down to the rice paddies.

Entry into the park costs Rp 10,000 (84 cents), and there you can find Lahab and six other guides all ready to show you around and regale you with tales of what it must have been like 7,000 years ago.

And unlike the cave inhabitants who needed a whole hog, the guides will gladly settle for a bowl of meatball soup as a tip at the end of the tour.

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In the language of Makassar, Rammang-Rammang means a collection of "clouds" or "fog" that ultimately inspire the naming of tourist attractions in Maros, Pangkep Makassar because according to local people's story, the area around Rammang-Rammang is often shrouded in clouds or fog during morning or when it rains. Well that then makes the location of Rammang-Rammang is becoming very famous is the cluster of karst mountains (limestone mountains) that surround this region, both on the land and the river which makes the surrounding scenery is very beautiful and exotic. Wikipedia sources even mention that this karst Rammang-Rammang mountain region is the 3rd largest in the world after Tsingy in Madagascar and Shilin in China, wew ... Indonesia KEREN!

rammang rammang maros 0 — Cave in Pute River, Rammang-Rammang Maros Makassar

There are several ways to enjoy the beauty of cluster of karst mountains in Rammang-Rammang this, the first by way down the Pute River in this area, then by way of roaming a village that is in the middle of this area after going through the flow of Pute River, which is Kampung Berua and the last one is to directly visit the spot of rocks and karst karst from the land side, on the edge of the fields and the surrounding hills. Well in this part 1 article I will share a story about the beauty of Rammang-Rammang along the Pute River that will take us to the center of Kampung Berua for the next trekking around this cluster of karst mountains.

rammang rammang maros 1 — Unique Rocks on the River Pute, Rammang-Rammang Maros Makassar

To down the Pute River there are 2 (two) docks that can be our starting point, namely dock 1 which is located in the axle road of Cement Plant Bosowa and dock 2 which is located not too far from dock 1. In general it is actually quite difficult also to be able to to the location of this pier, because almost no guidance signs leading to this place. So, input ya for local tourism managers to be able to complete the guidance signs not only when approaching the dermaganya but also since the journey from around the city of Maros that leads to the Rammang-Rammang tourist area is very minimal instructions. Thanks to my bro Kak Roy who had survey a few days earlier, so our group can be successful to get to the location on time without getting lost. Try it if the first time and have to find the location first, waaaa can not chase my aircraft schedule back to Jakarta ... wkwkwk.

rammang rammang maros 6 — Rammang-Rammang, Maros Makassar

Well this time we took the starting point from Pier 1 by hiring a boat with a capacity of 7 people. Oiya rental rates vary hamper ya gaes, depending on the size of the ship and the number of people. The tariff is already officially plastered on the dock, so make sure we pay according to the official rate. For ships with a capacity of 1 to 4 people, the tariff is Rp 200 thousand pp, capacity 5 to 7 people the rate is Rp 250 thousand pp and the capacity of 8 up to 10 people to the tariff of Rp 300 thousand pp. The location of Pier-1 which is located in the axis road of Cement Plant Bosowa is located approximately 40 km from the city of Makassar precisely on the border town of Maros and Pangkep, which can be reached within about 1 to 1.5 hours drive from Makassar.

rammang rammang maros 5 — Chalk Hills along the Pute River, Rammang-Rammang Maros Makassar

The interesting thing about starting our journey is the limestone rocks in the middle of the river close to the location of the pier. Hmmm seemed to be in Belitung aja nih, just the difference if in Belitung most of the stones on the beach, if here the rocks in the river. But it is only in this spot wrote a lot of river stones, while the next journey no longer visible rocks in the middle of the river, although there are also some stones on the riverbank, but only a little, the rest is a stretch of river with greenish water color that sometimes widen the river or narrowed in certain spots. Well this section taste-it feels similar to Mangrove Forest tour in Nusa Dua Island Bali, only difference if in Bali the river is more narrow and almost closed with trees Mangroves, as if we walk in the river roofed Mangrove trees. While in the Pute River is more open nature, but also surrounded by shady trees, but the scenery of the hills and karst mountains around it is very clear, even it will feel very sunburn if your journey is proper in the day hole ... hehe. So do not forget to bring a hat and sun block, bro sis, guaranteed to burn deh kalo over time!

rammang rammang maros 4 — Sights along the Pout Rammang-Rammang River, Maros Makassar

Oiya, at some point in this river we too will pass the caves decorated with unique carvings on the walls ... hmm .. beautiful hell, like carved aja nih, but natural loh. In addition, Pute River is also surrounded by karst mountains that clearly visible because of its contiguous location. Some historic caves we can see from a distance on the mountains. If interested, can be discussed with the driver of the ship to stop by climbing trekking up to the cave on the hill, so prepare the mountain sandals and stamina ok ya gaes, guaranteed tired of course. Because we all pengennya tourist casual-just wrote besides me also just use the sandals flops, how the story want trekking manjat-manjat ya? ok mang ship, go on the way, trekking to the cave next time aja deh, let me have a reason to come back here next time, hahaha!

rammang rammang maros 3 — Pute River, Rammang-Rammang Maros Makassar

After about 45 minutes of our journey down this Pute River and having met some lizards, ducks, geese, birds and other animals that roam along this river bank, we arrived at the final stop to go to Kampung Berua Rammang- Rammang which means, trekking trip in the mainland along the fields, ponds and hills, we will start from now.

rammang rammang maros 2 — Pute River, Rammang-Rammang Maros Makassar - SELFIE time

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