Merabu village was inhabited by only 55 families, mostly from the Dayak Lebo tribe. As any other Dayak tribe do, people of Merabu gather the non-timber resources from woods.
The village head was Franly Apriliano Oley, a 24-year-old man who came from North Sulawesi. Since there were no guesthouses available, I took a rest in one of the resident's houses.
I then joined a group consisting of two reporters, local residents, and officers of The Nature Conservancy, to continue the journey to Ketepu Karts Cave. Franly accompanied us on ketinting (a small traditional boat with engine) along the Kelay River.
About an half hour later, the ketinting stopped at a steep riverbank that lead to a hut where locals are having rest after gathering the bird’s nest and awaiting the boat to head home.
The real adventure was started from the hut. After passing by a cacao forest, we walked through the conservation forest of Nyapa where giant trees greeted us. We also passed by Nyadeng Lake which had a clear and fresh water.
Unfortunately, we were racing with time so that we couldn't enjoy the lake quite long enough. About 50 meters from the lake laid a karst slopes or karst mountain. "The Ketepu Cave is on the top," said the village head Franly, pointing towards the mountain.
The climb to reach the cave was unexpectedly steep that I started to gasp for air on the 23rd step and we had to have a rest. The slippery path and zigzags stair steps only gave more challenge to the climb. We had to travel on such road up to the 300-meter height. At least four times did I have a break until I reached the top.
We rested our backs on the stones near the cave entrance after expressing our excitement. After that, we continue to go to the base of the cave which was 5X5 meter wide.
I decided to go to the top via one of the caves entrance. It took me about 10 minutes of steeping climb before finally arrived at the top. From this position, I saw the carpet of forest below and the 'towers' of karst mountain were sticking out in the middle of the jungle.
Taufik Hidayat, the Communication Manager of The Nature Conservancy, an American non-profit organization, said that Ketepu Cave is only one of 90 caves existing on the Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat karst mountain.
Up to then, only 30 caves have been explored. Taufik said that TNC records the other caves with the ecosystems inside them.
The history of the mountain is still in an ongoing study. But once the status of the forest is changed into people's forest, Merabu residents will be allowed to explore the forest as long as they do not cut trees. That day, there will be possibility to open an ecotourism spot in the Ketepu Cave.
"The karst mountain has yet to be reached by tourists. In the future, when the status is changed into people's forest, [the tourism] will surely be opened," Taufik said.
The sun went further down and Franly reminded us that the sloping down path could be dangerous.
Franly decided for us to stay overnight inside the cave. Since there was no water source in the cave, two members of the group departed to the eastern part of the mountain in search of water and they got back after one hour.
It was a very pleasant dinner that night: rice with instant noodle with shredded beef that was brought by TNC staff Jaka Setia. Not long afterwards, the food had filled up our stomachs.
A cup of coffee was sipped together while we were chatting lightly, waiting to fall into deep sleep. Rana gathered palm leaves from the wood and stacked them on the cave floor to use it as bed.
When the morning arrived, we went down the same sloping track with quick pace as we wanted to dove into Nyandeng Lake fresh water. Our tired bodies were washed off by the lake water, warding off all the weariness. The better news was that we would soon head home.
Source : Tempo
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