MY TRIP TO AN INCREDIBLY BLUE AND CRYSTAL CLEAR ‘DANAU KACO’, KERINCI

15 November 2018. This is my fifth visit to Kerinci (a regency in Jambi’s Province) and my second trip to explore this small town. Kerinci is so popular for its Kerinci Seblat National Park (The largest national park on the island of Sumatera). Kerinci is also popular because there is a Volcano, the highest volcano in Indonesia, named Mount Kerinci.

I have two reasons why I came back here. First, because Kerinci’s nature is so attractive, heavenly and idyllic.The second, because i have a close friend from this city so I stayed in his house for most of my visit. That’s why it’s an easy way to come and explore Kerinci when he was there guided me.

Well, in the last two months of 2018, I found myself exhausted and need a little excursion into the wildlife of Sumatera. I was in Medan and Padang for last 10 days. So I decided to visit Kerinci before I went back to Bengkulu. (I live and work in Bengkulu since 2012).

This time I do not make any plan. I just go with the flow, let the universe guide me to do whatever I have to. I only plan to have 2 days in Kerinci, so I spent most of my time with my friend; hangout to the café, enjoy some original coffee while havin’ a conversation, telling again same old shit and stupid things we had when in college. Oh yeah, now he’s a father with a son. He’s a family guy now. We also had a deep conversation too about Life as a Father.

The night before I prepare to go back to Bengkulu, my friend’s younger cousin come to the house and meet me. He had met me before when I visited Kerinci for the first time to climb Mount Kerinci.

Then he say : “ Hallo bang. Wah tumben abang datang maen lagi ke Kerinci.Kayaknya dulu ada 1 destinasi yang belum abang wujudkan. Danau Kaco. Masih ingat kan bang?” .

Well, in English, he said like this : “ Hello dude. Wow how could you be here in Kerinci again? Hey do you still remember, the last time you met me, you said you wanna go to Danau Kaco? You still want to go there now?”

“absolutely YES. Let’s go tomorrow!” , i said.

Then the adventure begins…

I have heard and read the story about this magnificent lake, Danau Kaco. I have seen many photos of Danau Kaco on internet and all of them are unedited crystal clear. That’s why I want to visit Danau Kaco to witness the exquisite scenery in the middle of Sumatera.

We start from Kota Sungai Penuh at 07:45 am in the next morning. We ride a motorcycle headed to a village named Lempur. It took about 90 minutes. We also bought Nasi padang as packed lunch at Lempur. We parked our motorcycle in a small shack near the gate.

We start to hike at 09:26 am. We arrived at Danau Kaco at 11:36 am, so the jungle trekking took about 2 hours to get there. We walked through the rainforest. The trail to the lake was pretty flat so we don’t need much effort. But it was muddy because we went there in wetter season. I didn’t prepare for this wetter situation. I guess it was hot but unfortunately there’s drizzle.(I got a land leech came into my underwear-that’s the worst of my life; thank God it didn’t bite my D* )

So when we arrived in the Lake, Danau Kaco, we spend most of our time to swim, ging down into the deep blue crystal clear and super fresh water of Danau Kaco. This lake is a place of mystery, shrouded in local legend and myth. Local legend said there was a beautifull princess buried in the bottom of the lake with lot of her jewellery, gems and diamonds.Thats why it shines so bright and beautiful. (well, it’s a myth, right?)

I also taste this pristine lake’s water too. I played with the fish too. They are tame fish so its okay to interact with them. For me, that was an unforgettable moment in my life. Sure, we all need to go into the wild, reunite with nature, find ourself in a silence, enjoy the moment as the Earth untouched by civilization.

Well, after swim there for 2 hours, we choose to head back to Lempur before the Sun goes down and the darkness comes.

So that my story. Thanks Kerinci for your exquisitive natural beauty.

Here some Photos about my Trip to Danau Kaco, Kerinci :