Boat Cruise Day 2 Komodo

A Komodo Dragon patrolling the beach before we got to...

The park entrance.

Dragons!

Walking down the path straight at us.

Pink Beach, where we snorkelled.

Attracted by the smells of cooking.

The view from a hill on Rinca Island.

A macaque monkey. 

A beautiful boat.

The islands are mostly dry and pretty barren.

The Ciao Hostel up the hill to the right of the tower.

Thursday, June 7^th.

I woke up at 4:30 and went to the bathroom and then decided to stay up and watch the sunrise over Komodo Island, which was pretty. Turns out that they didn’t have enough space on the top deck for all thirteen people, so two slept on mattresses on the bow. They were still there and cold in the morning.

As soon as the sun rose, the captain fired up the engine which woke everyone else up. They served us a very simple fried bread and banana with Nutella breakfast and we headed off to the island.

The crew on this boat spoke little English and didn’t really give us much in the way of directions or information, just ‘two hours here’, or ‘go there’. A few of us wandered up the long pier to the Komodo National Park. I saw there was a large dragon walking on the beach. We had heard that they might be hard to see or find and since it was not a zoo there were no guarantees, but we saw our first before we even paid our entrance fees. A sign of things to come.

Admission was 25 000 rupiahs, or $23 Canadian. We waited for the rest and then had a two-hour hike through the park with two guides, one at the front and one at the back. The dragons are ambush predators. They wait for an animal to come very close to them and then they attack. They bite with a mouthful of sharp serrated teeth and bacteria. There is still some debate whether their teeth carry a weak venom. Little animals they can over power, but not bigger prey like deer and water buffalo. They wait for the venom and bacteria to sicken the animal and devour it when it dies. There is a video on David Attenborough’s shows that demonstrates this. They have been known to attack people, but usually because they don’t see them lying there and get too close. With antibiotics most people survive.

On our hike we saw seven dragons, including a large one that was walking straight at us down the path we were on. Dragons are often found lying around either digesting or waiting for prey, but we saw four individuals walking around, which was excellent. We also saw a small golden coloured cobra that was displaying the hood, but unfortunately before I could focus on it it took off in the bush.

After that we sailed for a couple of hours to ‘Pink’ Beach where we snorkelled for a couple of hours. The reef here was the best I have seen since Danny and I went to the Dominican years ago. There were many different types of coral, including soft corals and fan corals, plus lots of beautiful fish.

Then back on the boat for lunch and another long voyage to Rinca Island. This is one of the three large islands in Komodo National Park, the other two are Komodo and Padar. This time we had three guides and took another one and a half hour walk around part of the island. There is a kitchen by the entrance where they cook for the people who work in the park. Because of the smells of the cooking meat there were three large dragons lying just outside the building. They are not fed but are attracted by the smell. We also saw several deer, a few water buffalo and a troop of macaque monkeys, all of which are potential prey. We watched as one large dragon approached a smaller one which decided to move on. Dragons will eat each other as well and may even eat there own offspring because they don’t hang around to rear them. A female dragon lays between 15 and 30 eggs in a hole which she covers with dirt. She stays near the nest for three months until the rains come and further disguises it, then she leaves. When the young hatch they have to fight their way to the surface and then climb a tree. They live in the trees eating insects, smaller lizards and bird’s eggs until they are big enough to survive on the ground. Sea eagles will sometime pick them off the trees.

Then back to the boat again for the long journey back to Labuan Bajo. As we sailed in we could see the hostel up on the hill. We arrived just at sunset and those of us staying at the Ciao Hostel were met by a van that took us back up there.

When I went to my room, I found that someone else was in it and all my stuff from my locker had been removed. (I had taken all my valuables with me in my little backpack and left the large bag in a storage locker in the lobby). I was really mad and gave the reception people a hard time. They were scrambling around trying to figure out what the day shift people had done. Finally, they found the stuff which had been put in a plastic bag and gave me a new bed. Actually, it is in a better corner position in the room. It turns out this is what happened: When the guy at reception had heard me book the overnight boat trip from the travel agent at the desk beside him, he asked if I wanted to cancel my night there, so I wasn’t paying for two places. I said yes, if that was possible, but then he saw that I had booked the six nights with Booking.com and said that it couldn’t be done. I wasn’t too worried because the hostel is only $15 a night. So, I told him I would keep the bed and leave some stuff in the locker. But while I was away they figured out how to refund my money, sold my bed to someone else and moved my stuff, none of which I knew about. Anyway, it all worked out.

I had a pasta dinner, showered and then worked on the computer before falling asleep about nine.

When I met the guy I booked it through he asked how it was and I told him: The trip was good, the scenery was beautiful, the dragons were amazing, and the snorkelling was great, but the boat was nothing special. It was crowded without enough space for all to sleep and the washroom was dreadful with one seat-less toilet for all of us that had to be flushed by putting buckets of water in it. He told me that trip was for budget conscious backpackers and that there were other more expensive options. He neglected to tell me that when I booked. Oh well, I still enjoyed the trip and got to see lots of dragons.

Being the den dad gave me an insight into travelling with GAdventure Yolo trips, the ones where you have to be 39 or less. All of these young people were nice, but they preferred their own company and talked about different things like university and their tattoos. However, I give them all credit for the travelling they have done and their interest in the world at large. There were people from Germany, the Netherlands, Hawaii, Brazil, Chile and two from Dawson Creek in British Columbia. All good, time well spent.