Climbing and Trekking Inielika volcano and Wawomudha crater in Flores

Inielika is a volcano of Flores (Bajawa region) which rises to more than 1700m. The Wawomudha crater is part of the same volcanic complex and is known because of its sudden eruption in 2001, it rises to 1549m. But how to climb and trek? Where to start? How to get there? Where to find the Guides? How is the climb going?

We will try to answer all the questions that we can answer about this volcano and its ascent and the different possibilities of trek in the region of Bajawa.

Then for those who do not want to have the least hassle and who want to delegate the organization and logistics of the trek to Go-Volcano, you will find the program and all the corresponding prices here.

8 Things to Know Before Ascending the Inielika Volcano and Wawomudha Crater

How to go to Inielika Volcano and Wawomudha Crater?

To get there, the easiest way is to start from the small town of Bajawa. The best is to get there by motorbike or scooter (to rent in Bajawa about IDR 100000/day) or find an ojek (motorcycle taxi at about IDR 15000). The starting point of the trek is about 10 minutes from Bajawa but you can also ride a motorbike (paths taken by farmers to access their coffee plantations).

How to go to Bajawa?

Bajawa is accessible by road via the transflores route. It is located about 4 hours from the city of Ende, and between 4 and 5h from the town of Ruteng.

From Labuan Bajo it takes about 10 hours to reach Bajawa.

There are collective taxis making the connection Ruteng-Bajawa and Bajawa-Ende for about IDR 100000/person. There are also Travel sort of minibuses that shuttles.

Bajawa also has a rather distant airport (1 hour drive) which is located in Soa on the road to Riung. Soa is known for its hot springs.

When to go to Inielika volcano and Wawomudha crater?

The best time for the Inielika volcano and Wawomudha crater is in the dry season between April and November.

How much does the entrance fee to Inielika and Wawomudha cost?

According to where you come a fee of IDR 10000 or 20000 is payable in the village of Ngora Nale.

Where to sleep and where to eat?

In Bajawa, there is no real hotel, rather basic homestay. But as Bajawa is located at almost 1200m altitude the climate is very pleasant.

To eat the choice of restaurants is quite limited but sufficient.

Do Inielika and wawomudha ascent, with or without a guide?

It is possible to do the Wawomudha crater alone, but with the number of small trails, it can be difficult to find. For Inielika, this volcano / crater is almost never climbed, so here the guide is more than necessary.

Where to find the guides?

At Bajawa

What to do in Bajawa and around Inielika?

• Hiking on the crater chain of Wolobobo located southeast of Bajawa (Wolobobo is on the same crater chain as Inielika and Wawomudha).
• Hiking activity of the Inerie volcano
• Hiking activity of the Ebulobo volcano
• Visit the traditional village of Bena
• Visit of the eroded hills of Watu Nariwoto
• Visit the various hot springs of the region (around the Inerie and the village of Bena, in Soa)
• The deserted beaches at the south of Inerie

Ascension of Inielika Volcano and visit of Wawomudha Crater

Wawomudha Crater Tour and Trekking

As said above we can access the crater of Wawomudha by motorbike or scooter if the track is dry. It should be known that before the surprise eruption of 2001 the Wawomudha crater was cultivated with coffee and maize like the other craters and surrounding grounds.

But it is still better to do it on foot. You will see the other craters grown high (you will walk on the edge of the craters) and you will have the calm of the countryside around Bajawa, the surrounding villagers on their agricultural fields, the view of Bajawa below and volcanoes close to the sea. Inerie and Ebulobo.

Wawomudha is a crater that came into the world in 2001 as we know it today, when a big explosion transformed the top of the mountain. You can go around the crater and even go down to see it all (about 1 hour more). When going downhill you have to be careful the ground is rather unstable.

The crater contains orange-colored temporary lakes during the rainy season and soon after the lakes disappear (before there were 2 green lakes and a blood-red lake, the colors change with time).

The visit to Wawomudha Crater is a short visit that should give you time to visit other places around Bajawa such as traditional villages (Bena), hot springs, or the Wolobobo crater which offers a view and a magnificent panorama of the region and the volcanoes Inerie and Ebulobo, or even the eroded hills of Watu Nariwoto (where it is said that in the olden times the executions was done by throwing the convicts in the precipices)

Ascension of Inielika

The climb of the Inielika is

Gunung or Mount Inielika

Eruptions and Activities of Inielika (Wawomudha Crater)

Only two eruptions are known on Inielika. The first is that of November 1905 which was manifested as a phreatic explosion of volcanic explosivity index of 2. It gave birth to a new crater inside that of Wolo Inielika.

The second eruption occurred from January 11 to March 2001. Explosions, again phreatic and volcanic explosivity index of 2, were born from the opening of a crack in the ground. The first of these, of small magnitude, occurs on the evening of January 11 at 19:15 and deposited a layer of volcanic ash half a millimeter thick in Bajawa, eight kilometers to the south. Two days later, at 7 am, three explosions formed a volcanic plume 300 to 1,000 meters high above the crater. They are accompanied by rumblings and a tremor (volcanic earthquake), which motivates the authorities to raise the alert level of Inielika. Until January 16, new explosions give rise to other volcanic plumes of a height similar to the first and deposits of ash and lapilli occur around the place of explosions. It was not until January 21 that Indonesian volcanologists discovered the birth of three new craters on the flanks of the volcano: one 50 meters in diameter and 10 meters deep, the other 20 meters diameter, 1.1 meters deep and open towards the northwest and the last located at the end of a crack 300 meters long and 20 meters wide. With the decrease in the number of explosions and the epicentres of earthquakes that are getting deeper and deeper, the alert level of the volcano is lowered in early February by the authorities who declare the eruption ended in March. Since then, the rains periodically fill some of these small craters, forming lakes with red colored waters.