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Tourists see blackened Bromo savannah after fire
They expected to enjoy the green vista of Teletubbies Hill but instead saw blackened savannah.
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A car passes blackened areas on Mount Bromo in Malang, East Java, on Sept. 3 after a fire on Saturday and Sunday ravaged the savannah. (JP/Aman Rochman)
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number of tourists visited the Pentongan Block of Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park (TNBTS) in East Java after wildfires burned 65 hectares of savannah in the area on Saturday.
Indah Kusmawardani, a local tourist from Yogyakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Monday that she and her five friends were actually eager to explore the savannah area, which is popularly known as Bromo’s Teletubbies Hill because its small green hills look like the ones in children's TV series the Teletubbies.
"We are forced to see the blackened savannah instead of the green one. But what else can we do?" she said, adding that her group had rented a jeep for Rp 650,000 (US$43.80) to explore three locations, including Teletubbies Hill.
Indah’s group had arrived at the Bromo national park vicinity on Sunday night, but they just found out about the incident after reading online news on Monday morning.
In spite of the unexpected scenery, Indah said their group decided to go ahead with their plan.
The fire, which burned through the Pentongan Block of the Laut Pasir (Sand Sea) Tengger Resort, reportedly broke out around 9:45 a.m. local time on Saturday.
Initially, the park deployed 15 personnel to put out the fire. However, around 320 people comprising the national park’s management team, local authorities and volunteers later joined the firefighting effort.
The park management’s head, John Kennedie, said the park was continuing with its investigation. (sau)
