JP/13/Park

JP/13/Park

Bantimurung: A cool respite from city life

A nice-day trip for travelers and a great escape for Makassar
City residents, Bantimurung National Recreational Park in South
Sulawesi is a beautiful spot to enjoy nature and chill out.

Set in tall, jutting limestone hills, deep hollows, springs
and caves, the park boasts pretty views under a cool forest
canopy, the sounds of chirping birds and the relaxing splash of
waterfalls cascading into swimming holes.

The reserve, located in Maros Regency, some 45 k.m. to the
north of South Sulawesi's provincial capital of Makassar, is a
short one-hour drive from Makassar and only 30 minutes from
Makassar's Hasanuddin International Airport. Buses are also
available to take you there from Makassar.

Then there are the butterflies. The park's main attraction, a
visitor can easily find these winged critters of all colors,
sizes and shapes fluttering in the air, gliding around the
waterfalls or in and out of the leafy branches of trees. Once in
a while, they alight on flowers near the park's streams.

Many visitors take time to soak in the swimming hole under the
main waterfall, enjoying the movement of the water flowing
through small spaces between stones as they talk with family
members or friends, or taking a refreshing shower under the
deluge.

The more adventurous in spirit are likely to be keen to visit
two caves locally famous for their unusual stalactites and
stalagmites. The Cave of Dreams is located on the path to the
left of the park's main waterfall, while to the right one can
find the Stone Cave.

The road to the caves is not easy. One must climb a steep,
stony track between two lines of trees before getting to the
entrance of the Cave of Dreams, which is located about 15 meters
above the waterfall. The Stone Cave, meanwhile, starts with a
more simple climb up stone-cut stairs to the right of the
waterfall and then a walk along a narrow path around the side of
the stream. At the end of this path, the entrance to the Stone
Cave is plain.

Of these two caves, the Cave of Dreams is the most popular
because of its unusual interior, shapes which take strange but
identifiable forms. On both sides of the cave you can find
various stalactites in the forms of people and animals as well as
a splitting image of garlic and a "crystal lamp".

To go further inside the Cave of Dreams, one needs a guide.
Just pay one of them Rp 5,000 and he will take you through the
one-kilometer-long cave. At the other end is the entrance of the
park.

The area also has a nature conservation site where many
species of plants and animals are conserved. Some of these
animals are protected because they are rare, such as the Sulawesi
black monkeys (macaca maura), rangkong birds (rhyticeros
cassidix) and boars. The flora include some unique wild orchids.

Around Bantimurung, one can easily see the steep karst
topography -- rolling limestone hills and valleys that stretch
along the road leading to the Camba and Pangkajene islands in
Pangkep regency. In between these hills there are many more caves
that have yet to be explored.

One frequently visited by tourists and students for research
purposes is Leang-leang Cave, where ancient humans, the ancestors
of the South Sulawesi people used to dwell. There you can find
drawings of a palm frond and a boar. Also popular are the
Pattunuang and Asu Caves.

Andi Hajramurni