February 11, 2021, the city of Ruteng was hit by heavy rain from early morning until the next morning. The sun was invisible, covered in dark clouds which made the atmosphere even more difficult. News about Corona has become commonplace but this time it felt very tense when this outbreak resulted in the closure of several tourist attractions in Flores. Places like Wae Rebo traditional village, Todo traditional village, Bena village, even Kelimutu National Park was also closed.

sunset at Mausui (courtesy: Pak Andri)

Ruteng became a stopover on the third day of the 5-day tour in Flores. Some tourism objects around Ruteng were still open to tourists, such as; Cancar spider web rice field, Liang Bua cave and Wulang Pari Kopi, but the rain that did not stop made the comfort of traveling to feel different.

Pak Andri, our guest who has been from far away from Jakarta had been surrender to the situation, from the start of planning a trip, he already knew what facts to face when visiting Flores in February. For him, getting out of Jakarta for a while was something to celebrate.

At that time, he could have made the decision not to continue the trip for the remaining 2 days of his tour and return to Labuan Bajo to relax at a luxury hotels there.

This great pressure made me have to think a lot, find a way so that later at the end of the story, I at least came home like a player who had won the game.

It was Mausui Savana, the thing that came to my mind. Even though I never took tourists to this place, I tried to convince Pak Andri to come to this place immediately. Armed with old photos that I took when I did camping here added with photos from Goolge, I managed to convince Pak Andri, even though my heart was haunted by anxiety. “Okay, instead of doing nothing here, it’s better if we just try it”, Pak Andri said.

In Leko Lembo, our last village before heading to Mausui Savana, we have been awaited by Mrs. Jeanette, an Indo-Dutch who manages the Leko Lembo guest house with 2 rooms which directly leads to the beach of Leko Lembo.

Cloudy colored the sky of Leko Lembo and the peak of Mount Inerie was still covered by clouds. For me, apart from the weather, whether the place we visited would get a good impression from guests is something that is very much thought about.

At 4 pm we were headed to Mausui savana which took us 20 minutes by car from where we were staying. Good things began to come out to me and Toni. After less than 5 minutes, Pak Andri looked as if he could not bear to express his admiration when he saw green grass filling the field. When he arrived at a place where he saw the green field directly facing the sea and across the sea which was not far away, the mountain range controlled by Mount Inerie made Pak Andri immediately rushed out of the car.

“Ca ce’e”, Pak Toni muttered to himself behind the steering wheel to express his happiness, he who from the beginning felt what I was worried about finally got a little relief.

Almost half an hour we spent just enjoying the natural scenery, green grass, palm trees, rocks in the grass, the sea with fishermen who sailed the ocean in small boats, plus Mount Inerie standing firmly across the ocean.

We continued our journey and this time, almost anxiety no longer arose in our hearts, especially since we were treated to a very beautiful and captivating view along the way.

After climbing the incline, we arrived at Mausui Savana. This time Pak Andri was very excited to explore this place, after from a distance the herds of buffaloes, cows and horses were enjoying the grass.

Mausui Savana, which is located in Watunggene Village, Komba City District, East Manggarai Regency, turns out to have a million beauties that cannot be ruled out. How could it not be, here buffalo, cows and horses are left free. They seem to have no ownership, but actually the residents here are good at riding horses to herd cows and buffaloes because walking is quite difficult, the Mausui field is very wide.

What a gamble! We came out as winners. We managed to win over our anxiety, we, who had risked our reputation, now rejoice with Pak Andri’s big smile, who did not believe his eyes seeing the beauty of the sunset that for him it is lucky to see it in the rainy season.

The beauty of Mausui made us sedated, it turned out that it was 7 o’clock in the evening, we waited until the sunlight had completely disappeared. We went home with enthusiasm, jokes and laughter decorated our return journey.

I thank you Mausui. Thank you for the beauty, thank you for being a savior. I will definitely reward you by keeping you clean and taking nothing from you apart these unforgettable memories and stories.