Some meters before the Kalimati camping ground I was bewildered by the flora around the Semeru volcano. The ground was covered by fine grey sand. The vegetation was not that dense and somehow dry. Brown colors were dominating in the grass and bushes around me. It looks like that there is not too much water like in the rain forests. Maybe the sandy ground cannot store too much of it. Maybe it is because of the dry season (the equivalent to our four seasons). This kind of vegetation was quit different to the one I saw in the villages we passed when we headed for Ranopani. There the earth was deep black. The fields looked fertile and the farmers used nearly every piece of land, even if it was very steep. The fact that nearly all the farming work was done by hand there made this possible.
Very important to mention is the dense forest in the lower part of Semeru. The good condition of the trees indicate that the last major eruption affecting this part of land happened long ago. The Bromo caldera looks different. The grass vegetation is dense but all the trees are burned.