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The ash-topped cone of Gunung Egon, a conical stratovolcano on Flores. Earthquakes and fumes from the volcano since November 2010, put it at the highest level of alert for a significant eruption.

Steaming fumaroles on top of the Gunung Egon volcano on Flores, one of the most active volcanoes on the island and across Indonesia with frequent minor earthquakes and fumes released.

A topographic map of Flores Island. The individual volcanic peaks which make up the island are clearly picked out in purple and white against the yellow and green lowlands.

Gunung Ebulobo (also known as Amburombu or Keo Peak) towers above the village of Boa Wae. Ebulobo is a symmetrical 2,124m-high stratovolcano in central Flores Island with a flat-topped summit lava dome.

Ende airstrip on Flores Island, watched over by the symmetrical volcanic cone of Mount Meja. Volcanoes play an integral part of life in Flores with their distinctive shapes dominating the skyline.

A satellite image of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with Flores at the top in the centre. This chain of islands has formed along a complex geological boundary between four tectonic plates.

Subduction of a tectonic plate. As the plate gets "dragged" beneath the Earth's surface, it melts and can rise to the surface as magma to create new land mass through volcanoes.

Major Indonesian volcanoes, including significant eruptions since 1900. Indonesia lies on a highly active plate boundary, and volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are relatively common.

1888 - A lithograph of the 1883 Krakatoa eruption, one of the most violent volcanic events in modern history, 13,000 times stronger than the nuclear bomb which devastated Hiroshima.

A clearly defined pyramidal peak of a dormant volcano can be seen along the coast of Flores Island. The topography of the surface of this cone will have been defined by ancient eruptions.

Sulphurous deposits can be seen on the surface of Kelimutu volcano on Flores. These yellow, foul smelling deposits are produced deep underground in volcano and ejected on to the surface.

Sulphurous crystals forming at the mouth of a fumarole on Kelimutu volcano. Their bright yellow colour and strong odour make them easy to identify as sulphurous gases seeping out of the ground.

Hot fumaroles, part of Gunung Iya on Flores, gush sulphurous gas and steam on to the Earth's surface from deep within the volcano, causing these yellow surface deposits of sulphur.

The three coloured craters of the Kelimutu Lakes: Tiwu Ata Mbupu, Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai and Tiwu Ata Polo turn various shades of red, green blue and black over time.

The bright blue of one of Kelimutu's lakes, in the south of Flores island. The bright colours are caused by changes in the chemical composition of the volcanic pools.

The jagged hills of the Kelimutu and Komodo National Parks are clearly formed from the pyramidal peaks of ancient extinct volcanoes, now covered in vegetation.

A Rhododendron celebicum, one of the many species of plant which grow naturally in Kelimutu National Park but are cultivated for use in gardens and homes in Europe.

The two most easterly lakes, Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai, the "Lake of Young Men and Maidens" and Tiwu Ata Polo, the "bewitched or enchanted Lake", which share a crater wall.

A Javan Rusa Deer, one of the many endangered species found in the Kelimutu National Park, alongside a variety of endemic birds and rodents found nowhere else in the world.

Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai (Lake of Young Men and Maidens) and Tiwu Ata Polo (Enchanted Lake) when both are low in oxygen, resulting in the light blue/green colour of the water.

Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai (Lake of Young Men and Maidens) and Tiwu Ata Polo (Enchanted Lake) are separated by a shared crater wall and are typically red or black and green or light blue.

The Komodo Dragon is an ancient and endangered species, only found on Flores, the adjacent Komodo Island and a few other small islands in the Lesser Sunda Island chain.

An old style Indonesian 5,000 Rupiah note , depicting the three crater lakes of Mount Melimutu and their bright red, blue and green colouring.

The coastal stretch of the Kelimutu and Komodo National Parks is tranquil and picturesque - note the volcanic hills dominating the skyline.

The deep black-red water of the Bewitched or Enchanted Lake on the summit of Kelimutu. Its dark colour is caused by high levels of oxygen in chemical compounds in the water.

A red junglefowl, one of the endangered species found in the Kelimutu National Park. An ancestor of the domestic chicken, a strong resemblance can be seen with its modern relative.

A satellite image of Western Flores, covering the area of Liang Bua, near the city of Ruteng, where Homo floresiensis remains were first found in a rocky cave shelter in 2004.

1873 - A painting depicting an Indo woman of mixed Indonesian and European origin in a batik sarong kebaya dress, typical attire of Indo women and aristocratic indigenous locals.

Early 20th century - A portrait of an indigenous warrior in traditional tribal dress from Ende, in central Flores.

1704 - A painting of a Portuguese Mardijker (freed slave) and his indigenous wife, one of the early roots of the Indo, the Larantuqueiros and Topasses people.

The Liang Bua cave, near Ruteng in Western Flores, the only place in the world so far where the remains of the Homo floresiensis people have been found.

A largely intact skull of Homo floresiensis , one of the first finds which indicated to palaeo-anthropologists that they may have stumbled upon a new species.

A cast of the "LB1" skull of the first specimen of Homo floresiensis found in Flores. These human ancestors are known as "hobbits" due to their diminutive size - standing only one metre tall.

Local Flores inhabitants dressed in the robes of the Dominican monks, whose presence was very strongly felt across the island in the 16th and 17th centuries and remains important today.

Modern inhabitants of Flores decked out in the warrior costumes of their Manggarai ancestors, the original inhabitants of the island, during a caci tournament of whip fighting.

Local dancers in traditional tribal costumes, possibly those of the original indigenous Manggarai and Nage people, put on a display of dance and song in Flores.

A drummer looks on with trepidation during the caci whip fights stages by Manggarai descendants in Ruteng, Flores, echoing ancient warrior traditions.

1989 - A procession in Bobo celebrates the First Holy Communion of a group of villagers, showing the strong mix of traditional and Catholic traditions and symbols.

1915 - Local villagers welcome travellers to the village of Pemo, dominated by the traditional indigenous Manggarai and Nage people.