Central Java Map. cilacapculture.blogspot.com
Hearing
word of Banyumas, many people may be will remembered of ‘ngapak’ accent
that always make us smile, or imagine the beautiful panorama of
Baturaden with its Pancuran tujuh hot spring. For climber, mount slamet
would not be forgotten ever. Indeed, Banyumas is rich of beautiful
natural objects and friendly people.
Nevertheless,
in this article I try to depict another hidden beauty, and many people
perhaps do not know or even hear, that is waterfalls in southern
Banyumas.
Southern
Banyumas I mean here is an east-west elongated folded mountain which is
located in the south of river Serayu, therefore geologists call it
Southern Serayu mountain. Further to the south, a wide lowland, called
as Cilacap lowland, extends parallelly with this mountain and bordered
by Indian Ocean in the south.
When my friends and I visited village Kemawi, distric
Somagede, I got information from the local residents that many
beautiful waterfalls surrounded that area, but is still rarely visited
by tourists. Without wasting time, I asked to a local resident to
accompany us went there, as well as guide.
Village
Kemawi itself is located on the centre of Southern Serayu mountain
exactly, on the anticline hinge of this folded mountain. It is about
five hundreds meters above sea level and the air is fresh enough in the
morning. Albizia, rubber tree, durian, jengkol, coconut, and crops are
dominant vegetations here.
Back
to the waterfalls, Gumawang waterfall is the first waterfall we
visited. We could reach this object by riding car until the nearest
small town. The road is well asphalted and lake Tapak Bima seen on the
left side. It called ‘tapak bima’ because of its form like human
footprint. After about two kilometers on riding, the road became narrows
and very slippery. Across the inhabitant garden, as close to the
waterfall, the road became a footpath. To reach the waterfall itself, we
had to walk down the slope as deep as approximately a hundred meter.
Along the walk down, we could see beautiful panorama of Gumawang valley.
Gumawang waterfall
After
about one hour walk down, we could see the beautiful Gumawang
waterfall. This waterfall actually has three levels and each separated
by approximately ten meters wide pools. The big debit water is clear,
except in rainy season, and falls among andesite rock that shows
imperfect pillow lava structure. In the left side, another waterfall
falls among breccias rock, much less in debit but as high as the
Gumawang’s.
Playing under the second level waterfall
Not
far from Gumawang waterlfall, in Karangaren town, there is another big
water debit waterfall, Klapa waterfall. The water runs down through
breccias wall as high as approximately 30 meters and looked like waved
curtain or white grandmother’s hair.
This
waterfall is different with Gumawang flow. The water is clearer, and
many little pools, about 2 untill 3 meters in diameter, above and under
the main waterfall, looked like natural jacuzzies. It is unfortunate if
you visit it without swimming.
the pool, want to swim?
The
third waterfall is still anonymous. It is located in the north of the
centre of village Kemawi. This waterfall has five levels and each has
approximately five until seven meters high. The water runs down the
seventy until sixty degree andesite breccias cliff, therefore we could
climb it easily enough. On the top of this waterfall, we could take a
rest by viewing to the north, enjoy the beautiful Banyumas basin scenery
which drained by meandering river Serayu. Mount Slamet could be seen
standing gallantly in the distance with its white smoke whiff.
the third waterfall
There
are still many another wonderful waterfalls you can visit, still
anonymous, still on South Serayu mountain, and you can enjoy some of its
picture below.
No comments:
Post a Comment