Color-changing lakes

Mount Kelimutu, a 1639 m high volcano crater is home to three lakes. Kelimutu translates to boiling lake. After learning about its name I understood why people aren't allowed to get close to the lakes or swim in them.

The three lakes have different colors. When we visited the mountain, one was blue to turquoise, one was turquoise to green and one was black. But those lakes don't want to be boring little bodies of water. They change color nearly once every year. A few years ago, they even changed their color six times over a period of 12 months. The black lake for example used to be white and the turquoise lake was red.

To the local Lio people, Kelimutu is a sacred mountain and the final resting place for the soul when people die. Based on your age and character, your soul will enter one of the three lakes. The black lake is reserved for the elders, the blue lake is the lake of the youth and the greenish lake is where the bad people go (lake of the villain).

The last two pictures show a comparison of how the lakes look now and how they looked a few years back.Read more