Maumere is actually the eastern gateway to the Island of Flores. From there, tourists begin their journey to explore the beauty of this hidden paradise, heading west to Labuanbajo and Komodo National Park. Your long journey will be filled with a series of admiration for the topography and landscape, the friendliness of the local people, the unique and diverse culture. Maumere itself is one that arouses great admiration.
Maumere, the smallest city in the world that had been visited by Pope John Paul the Second and the Pope had been stayed one night in here on October 1989. However Maumere is the largest city in Flores which hides unlimited natural wealth both on land and in its seabed. In addition to its nature, Maumere has spiritual and cultural wealth. It has traces of a strong history of Christianity which is enriched by the culture of the Sikka tribe and the Krowe tribe with strong Portuguese influence.
The Sikka and Krowe tribal communities really protect their cultural heritage in their daily lives. Ikat weaving with natural dyes and unique motifs has received great attention in Watublapi and Lepolorun in Nita. There is a unique Hegong welcome dance with the excitement beats of Gong Wani and the Tua Reta Lou a dance that depicts enemy reconnaissance in war. It’s hardly find the traditional community on the area nowadays, some people are beginning to become aware of the nobility of local cultural symbols and values that have been eroded by global modernism. Alfonsa Horeng, a young local woman in Nita has been organizing the woman to rediscover the treasure and values of Sikka tribe in a complex of Lepo Lorun. Alfonsa and the women developed a community of weaver women in traditional settings. Like Alfonsa in Nita village, there is Kletus in Watublapi with the “Doka TawaTana” Community who has begun to restore local wisdom and artistic values expressed in traditional dancing and weaving with natural coloring by both women and men in the village.
Lepo Lorun (House of Textile) Nita Maumere
Maumere is also famous as a center for Catholic philosophical and theological education and various religious congregations. Ledalero has been producing thousands of Catholic Missionary and layman who work around the globe. The Blikon Blewut Ethnographic Museum in Ledalero is one of the excavation works of archaeologists, sociologists and philosophers who succeeded in tracing and identifying the fragments of Flores human life long before the historical era.
Beyond the island to the north there are the Bajo tribe who inhabit the islands of Babi and Pulau Besar as well as the tiny, exotic island of Kojadoi with a stone bridge connecting it to Pulau Besar. Apart from it, there is Palue Island in the northwest of Maumere which is inhabited by a tribe different from those in Maumere and other island beyond. It’s Adha Lu’a. The people those who inhabit the Palue island ‘Adha Lu’a’ have unique culture and lifestyle.
One thing not to be missed is the marine life of the Maumere Bay around Pulau Babi, Pulau Besar and Pulau Palue is one of the world class diving site. Long after Maumere was rocked by cruel Earthquake and Tsunami in 1992, human life and nature have returned to normal as well as the destroyed underwater life has grown back. In 2016 and 2017 the Maumere Bay Underwater Photography Contest has shown very significant improvements.
The results of the camera recordings of the Maumere Bay Underwater Photography Contest participants show surprising realities. Gorgeous underwater caves, canyons, drop offs and valleys are filled with coral reefs and inhabited by various marine biota. Pulsating Xenid Corrals, Longspin Lionfish, Razorfish, giant seafan, purple sea fans, sea stars, Hammer polyps, White-eyed moray, Hingebeak Schrimp, Damselfish Thuridila Nudibranch, Hermit Crabs, Signal Goby, Lion Fish, Clark’s anemoneshfish and many more. Maumere Bay has truly become a world-class underwater paradise. (Adm)
