VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Flores is one of the islands in East Nusa Tenggara. The island is famous for its various exotic lakes. One of them is Lake Lotus in Pota Village, Sambi Rampas District, East Manggarai Regency which is very different from other lakes. The lake is named Lake Rana Tonjong which is the second largest lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) lake in the world after the same lake in India. In the East Manggarai language, 'Rana' means lake and 'Tonjong' means lotus which means Lake Lotus. The pink lotus flower, which blooms, is very beautiful. The plant only grows on water and has leaf morphology in the form of a wide round leaf with a diameter of about 5 to 10 centimeters. The uniqueness of this lotus plant is that its stems stand straight and do not spread like other lotuses with a height of approximately 3 meters. In fact, this lotus flower can bloom depending on the water that enters the lake.

Lake Lotus has an area of 2.5 hectares. The Lotus flowers always bloom from April to June every year. Even, the lotus seeds can be eaten by the local people to cure various diseases. The protein content of this lotus seed is very high. The residents around this lake, who come from Pota Village, always take the fruit to eat. It tastes like peanuts. Uniquely, this giant lotus cannot grow anywhere else. This type of lotus is only found in two places, namely in India and in Pota, Sambi Rampas, East Manggarai. To visit the place, you can enjoy the beautiful lotus flower in bloom. Don't forget to capture it with your camera.

Lake Rana Tonjong is located in lowland surrounded by hills in the west, south and north, while in the east there is a fairly large area of rice fields belonging to the local community. Lake Rana Tonjong is also a natural habitat for freshwater fish, rice field snakes and frogs, as well as some white swans, eagles and storks that also want to find prey here. If you want to come to Lake Rana Tonjong, you can travel from Ruteng, the capital of Manggarai Regency via Reo to Pota. Then, your journey continues to Rana Tonjong with a distance of about 90 kilometers and can be reached in 4 hours by motor vehicles.