Lake Limboto and Otanaha Fort

A Hilltop Fort With The Egg White Mortar Legend, Looking Down On A Lake That Has Shrunk Dramatically Within Living Memory And Is One Of Indonesia'S Best Known Cases Of A Dying Lake · Gorontalo, Gorontalo

OTANAHA FORT stands on a hill above Gorontalo, reached by a STAIRWAY OF SEVERAL HUNDRED STEPS, and the local account is that its mortar was mixed with EGG WHITE - the same story told of the mosque on Penyengat and of other old structures across the archipelago, which makes it a motif rather than a fact. THE VIEW FROM THE TOP IS THE REAL SUBJECT, AND IT IS A SAD ONE. LAKE LIMBOTO BELOW HAS BEEN SHRINKING FOR DECADES - sedimentation from cleared catchments, encroachment on the margins and water hyacinth have taken it from a substantial deep lake to a fraction of that, and older people in Gorontalo can describe where the shoreline used to be. It is one of Indonesia's best-known dying lakes and the restoration effort has been running for years. Fishing communities still work it, and the birdlife is still good, and the restoration effort has been running for years against a problem that keeps getting worse - which is the honest summary of what you are looking down at.

Lake Limboto and Otanaha, Gorontalo, Gorontalo, Gorontalo, Indonesia

OTANAHA IS OPEN IN DAYLIGHT with a small entry and parking charge; THE ONLY WAY UP IS THE STAIRWAY, which is several hundred steps and is hard work in the heat - go early. GORONTALO CITY IS MINUTES AWAY and has FLIGHTS from Makassar, Manado and Jakarta. THE LAKE ITSELF IS OPEN WATER with fishing villages around it; BOATS CAN BE ARRANGED at the lakeside villages on the day, though there is no organised operation. THE BIRDLIFE IS BEST AT DAWN. GORONTALO IS STRONGLY MUSLIM AND CONSERVATIVE: dress modestly, expect Friday closures, and note that Ramadan changes opening hours considerably. It is hot and humid year-round and the fort has almost no shade. Combine it with Olele on the south coast.

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