Wonderfull View From Summit and Rim Senaru
Gunung Rinjani National Park lies within the major transition zone (Wallace) where the flora and fauna of Southeast Asia make a dramatic transition into that which is typical of Australia. The park has a rich variety of plants and animals, although they can be hard to spot due to the terrain and rainforest cover.
The rare black Ebony leaf monkey, known locally as lutung, is sometimes seen early in the morning. The long tailed gray macaque of Kera is common in Lombok and several males are seen on the crater rim. Rusa deer are forest dwellers and are occasionally seen along the Rinjani trek train.
The smaller barking deer, or kijang, has an alarm call with a distinct dog-like bark. Look for the disturbed ground where the wild pig, or babi hutan, has been foraging. Also found in the forest are the leopard cat or bodok alas, palm civet or ujat, and porcupine or landak.
A variety of colorful birds live in the forest of the park. Perhaps the best-known icon of the park is the crested cockatoo, which is not found any further west of Lombok. Many of the forest-dwelling animals, insects, birds, civets, and monkeys owe their survival to the wild fig tree, or beringin, as a provider of food and shelter.
The pine-like casuarinas species, Cemara, are a feature of the grassy higher slopes. Orchids, or anggrek, are also a feature of the grassland areas, as is edelweiss, or bunga abadi, growing above the tree line. It is a beautiful icon of the park, one of the park, and one of our best-known sub-alvine plants. The smaller barking deer, or kijang, has an alarm call with a distinct dog-like bark. Look for the disturbed ground where the wild pig or babi hutan has been foraging. Also found in the forest are the leopard cat or bodok alas, palm civet or ujat, and porcupine or landak.
The following stories are a selection taken from a booklet for village guides containing a collection of traditional stories that have been related for generations by the people of Dusun Senaru.
Andongan Tambing: The first place to rest is located where the paths from Senaru and Semokan meet. Andongan Tambing is one of the forest entry gates and the first camp on the Rinjani Trek. At this point, the trekkers are warned to be careful of the steep slopes.
Half Way Point (Pos II Campsite): At the second resting place (Camp II), there is a stone which is called Batu Penyesalan. This marks the place where the trekkers feel a conflict about whether to continue or to turn back because we still have as far to go to our destination as we have already walked. It usually takes about two hours to walk here from Bunut Ngengkang.
Caves: One of the three famous caves (Goa Susu, Goa Payung, and Goa Manik), Susu Cave is a good place for self reflection and is often used as a place to meditate. People with unclean and envious minds will have difficulty entering Susu Cave, which has a narrow entrance, but people with noble and pure minds will easily enter the cave. Inside the cave, water drips from the tip of a stone, which looks like a nipple, so people say the water in Goa Susu tastes different. Inside Goa Susu is hot and there is a lot of smoke, which looks like cooking steam, so people call this Mengukus (hot house) and sometimes people call it Rontgen (X-Ray).
Healing Hot Springs: Aiq Kalak means hot water, and it is used to cure various diseases. One of the hot springs is named Pangkereman Jembangan, which means “a place for dipping.” The water that spurts out of the spring is very hot. Weapons such as keris, swords, big knives, and lances are dipped in the spring to test their magic power. If the weapon becomes sticky, it means that the weapon is bad and has no magical power. However, if the weapon remains unchanged, it means that the weapon has supernatural power and both the power and the strength will be increased. People also use the hot spring to make medicine from coconut cream. If after dipping a bottle of coconut cream in the hot spring, the liquid becomes clear and oily, it can be used as medicinal oil. Then the medicinal oil is used for good things and is called Siu Satus Tunggal, or in the Bayan language, Siu Satunggal, which means that it can be used to cure a thousand kinds of diseases.
Segara Anak Crater Lake: Segara Anak Lake is so wide it appears like the sea with its blue water. The name Segara Anak means “child of the sea.”
Segara Anak Lake holds various mysteries and invisible powers.
People feel content to stay a long time in this place because of the large community of mysterious spirits that live around the lake. The local people believe that if the lake looks wide when seen from a distance, it is a sign they will live to an old age; or if the lake seems narrow, it is a sign of a short age. So in order not to be pessimistic, people quickly purify themselves by lifting up their spirits and calming their souls and looking at the lake contentedly. In the area around the lake, it is forbidden to have sexual intercourse, to complain or say dirty things. We must be patient when facing problems.
Local Strawberry This plant grows along the route to Mt. Rinjani. It has thorns like a rose, and the fruit is red like a strawberry. It has a sweet and slightly sour taste and is good to eat when trekkers are hungry and thirsty.
Eternal Flower or Edelweis The plant or the flowers should not be taken because they grow in the park and in the mysterious world of the spirit kingdom. In the past, someone who wanted this flower had to be brave enough to fight and gamble with their soul. That is why the flower is called Sandar Nyawa. The flower has never wilted and is as old as the mysterious spirits.
Summit Rinjani The people of Lombok believe that the peak of Mt. Rinjani is where Dewi Anjani, the queen spirit and ruler of Mt. Rinjani, lives. To the south-east of the peak, in a sea of dust called Segara Muncar, is the invisible palace of the queen Dewi Anjani and her followers. They are in good spirits. According to a story about the Queen Spirit, Dewi Anjani, she was the daughter of a King who would not allow her to marry her boyfriend. At a spring called Mandala, she disappeared and changed from the real world to the spirit world.
Gunung Baru Jari is the name of the new volcano which emerged in the center of Segara Anak Lake. People believe that Gunung Baru is the navel of Mt. Rinjani. That is why if Gunung Baru erupted, it would not harm the people of Lombok unless the eruption was from the peak of Mt. Rinjani. Some people said that the 1994 Gunung Baru eruption was caused by spirits who were building something because the stones that erupted were arranged in an orderly and attractive way at the foot of Gunung Baru.
