Okabawes Adventure Tour

01/06/2014

Leave all the conveniences of the modern world behind, cross the strait between concrete structures and extraordinary woods, venture into a world of natural splendor, and gaze upon some of the most mystifying sceneries on the face of the earth : those are what the secluded Sempu Island has to offer.

Situated on the south coast of Malang Regency in East Java and administratively located in the Tambak Rejo Village, Sumbermanjing Wetan Sub-District, this small island lies just off the coast of Sendang Biru Beach, approximately 80 Km from Malang city or about 180 Km from the capital of East Java, Surabaya. The 877 hectares forested island is a Nature Reserve under the management of the Natural Resources Conservation Office of East Java (BBKSDA) and the Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia, and was actually designated a Nature Reserve since 1928 in the Dutch Colonial period.

Among the island’s most fascinating features is the Segara Anakan lagoon located about 2.5Km further south into the island. Hidden deep beyond the thick tropical forest, the approximately 4 hectares lagoon is truly a secluded paradise where a white sandy beach meets calm blue waters separated from the raging tides of the open ocean by a picturesque rocky wall surrounding the area. The incoming tides pe*****te only through several caves above and below the surface, thus the water inside the lagoon remains calm, and makes a perfect place for swimming. Its secluded location also radiates a sense of intimacy, where the beach becomes a private getaway, not unlike the setting for the 2000 Leonardo Di Caprio’s Movie “The Beach”.

Adventure awaits those who wish to explore Sempu Island and reach the Segara Anakan Lagoon. Cross the straits from Sendang Biru Beach on the mainland to the Teluk Semut (Ant Bay) at Sempu Island. From here, the journey continues over a trekking path for about two hours through quite thick forest with several ascending and descending tracks, before one reaches the secluded lagoon. While the trip may not be an easy walk, the grand price that awaits at the finish line is more than just worth it. Boats and guide services are available at the Sendang Biru Beach area.

Sempu Island also has other fascinating spots which offer equal splendors including the Waru-waru beach, Telaga Lele (Catfish Lake, a fresh water lake named after the many catfish found within), Tiger Cave, Pasir Panjang Beach (Long sand Beach), Pasir Kembar Beach (Twin sands beach), Fresh Water Beach (named after a fresh water spring on the rocks near the beach), and Telaga Sat (Dry Lake).

As a Nature Reserve, Sempu Island has various types of ecosystems ranging from coastal forest, mangroves, and lowland tropical forest which dominates the whole island. Among the vegetation found on Sempu Island are bendo (Artocarpus elasticus), triwulan (Terminalia), wadang (Pterocarpus javanicus), ketapang (Terminalia catappa), waru laut (Hibiscus tiliaceus), pandan (Pandanus tectorius), Mangroves (Rhizophora mucronata and Rhizophora apiculata), and many more. Interestingly, the name Sempu is said to have been taken from a particular type of tree that is found in the island, however, the tree can hardly be found these days.

The Nature Reserve is also home to several wildlife inhabitants such as: the Javanese Monkey (Tracypithecus auratus), Black Monkeys (Presbitis cristata pyrrha) , Grey Macaques (Macaca fascicularis), wild boar (Sus sp), deer (Muntiacus muntjak), kancil/small deer (Tragulus javanicus), Prawn (Alcedo athis), belodok fish (Periopthalmus sp), crab (Ocypoda stimsoni), and many more. There are also several types of reptiles including giant lizards and snakes and also several types of birds that find shelter on the island.

11/05/2014

Mt. Bromo has crater with the diameter +/- 800 meters from North to South, while it has +/- 600 meters from East to West. The dangerous area is a circle with 4km trellis from the center point of Bromo crater .

A masker will be needed when you reached the top of Mt. Bromo as the smell of sulfur is always coming out from this crater.

08/05/2014

There is ONLY Jeep !

These Jeep are organized by local Tengger poeple located at Ngadisari village. It is common, that local villagers have this Jeep and they join in Bromo Jeep Association to provide transportation for overseas and domestic tourists

08/05/2014

View of Mt. Bromo and Mt. Batok from Lava View Lodge.
Mt. Bromo is 2.392 meters above the sea level [ASL] while Mt.Batok is 2.440 meters ASL

08/05/2014

12/03/2014

PURA LUHUR POTEN BROMO
[A glorious temple named Poten and located at Mt. Bromo]

Like a loyal guard, Tengger tribe that live at Bromo-Tengger area, has important role which is keeping and conserving the glorious custom and the the purity of Bromo-Tengger-Semeru. Tengger tribe is term of the original tribe that populate Tengger as known as tanah hila-hila / suci or the sacred land since Majapahit Kingdom era, who has the expertise in religion. They live in simplicity, which rely on agriculture and plantage.

Commonly, their language is slightly different with the Javanese people, in which they use Bahasa Jawa Kuno or ancient Javanese language as their daily language. Majority of Tengger tribe are Javanese Hindu followers who also conserve the ancient customs. As conserving their ancient customs, Tengger tribe perform ceremonies as part of their social life,birth, death, and nature symptoms such as Hari Raya Karo, Yadnya Kasada, and Unan-unan.

One of the biggest ceremony and well-known is Yadnya Kasada. Yadnya Kasada is annual ritual that is held on 14th night of Kasada month. Kasada ceremony get started with firming ceremony Tengger’s elders and performing theatrical dance Rara Anteng Jaka Seger at the open stage Pendopo Agung Desa Ngadisari.

Then right at dawn 24.00, the inauguration of new Mangku Dukun is being held and blessing for Tengger people at Poten Temple, sea of land - Mount Bromo.

Tengger people believe that Mangku Dukun is a leader in religious aspect, in which before being sworn Mangku must have passed the examination, this event is commonly called the Mulunen. Mulunen is held when the previous Mangku Dukun passed away or could no longer perform his duties as a Mangku. This testing is held at Pura Luhur Poten Bromo at 2.00 am , which is the most severe stage for the participants as a thick fog covered the temple.

The candidates must read two chapters of Mantra Kasada without a break, in the presence of senior Mangku and Javanese Hindu Tengger tribe who are attending the event Kasada. The pronounced Mantra may take one hour to complete the whole of this step; truly, it is not an easy test.

Mantra is pronouncing in ancient Javanese language, this cannot be interrupted or forgotten.Besides crater, Pura Luhur Poten Bromo and Widodaren Cave is one of the important places in the Tengger ritual. Apart of being a place for meditation, precisely on the side of the cave there are sources of water that never dries.

Tengger tribe believe that the water is holy water that is absolutely necessary for their worship. Medhak Tirta as the ceremony in taking holy water from Cave Widodaren and praying in the temple Poten Bromo is part Kasada ritual ceremony.

Then, Tengger people walk to the top of Mount Bromo, by bringing Ongkek containing offerings of various crops, livestock and so on. They threw the offerings into the crater, as a symbol of the sacrifices made by their ancestors, Roro Anteng and Joko Seger. The residents who throw various offerings of fruits and livestock believe that they regard it as a vow or their grateful to Hyang Kuasa or God of livestock and agricultural abundance.

# Tengger derives from the acronym of Roro Anteng and Joko Tengger, who ruled at the mountain area and further named that area as Tengger. Roro Anteng is the daughter of Brawijaya- the last king of Majapahit and one of the his wives. Later, this young princess married Joko Seger, who came from Brahman caste. Because of unfortunate situation, the couple was forced to leave the kingdom and settled down in the mountain area.

11/03/2014

When you are jammed, feeling life is a routine, and can't find out how to heal those feelings; there are many answers you can get from Okabawes Adventure Tour. Find out your adventure and feel the experience! Contact Us for further detail and follow us on twitter .

10/03/2014

View of Mt.Batok with Bromo Crater behind it