One and a half century ago, Alfred Russel Wallace recorded as many as 250 species inhibited Bantimurung National Park in South Sulawesi. For that reason he named the area as butterflies kingdom. An updated research conducted by Prof Dr Sila Mappatoba, Msc, in 2005 showed that the species number of butterflies in the 43.750 ha park has declined to 125. Sadly, the latest data, in fact, mentioned that there are only 108 species left. Some of the species that can be found there are Graphium sarpedon, Idea blanchardi, Papilio memnon, Troides helena, Papilio blumei, and Caligo sp.



In Indonesian language, Bantimurung means "getting rid of sadness". Bantimurung is located on north of Makassar. The Bantimurung waterfalls are set amid lushly vegetated limestone cliffs. Bantimurung is crowded with Indonesians on weekends and holidays, and at other times it's a wonderful retreat from the congestion of Ujung Pandang (now Makassar), the capital of South Sulawesi. The best time to see living butterflies is when the sun appears after a rain shower.

But Bantimurung, it's not only about beautiful butterflies. Bantimurung is also famous with it's waterfall and caves. The waterfall is located at the valley of the steep limestone hill with its fertile tropical vegetation. Before entering the waterfall location, visitors can see a statue of a kind of monkey (lutung), about 6 cm tall. This kind of animal can only be found in Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

Bantimurung waterfall
image: Mongabay



The blue pool
image: Truly Indonesia



Bantimurung cave