Flores – In Search of Dragon’s

Day 1 – Flores – Labuanbajo

Today was to be another travel day to get us over Flores, the jumping off point to pick up trips to Komodo Island! There were a couple of travel options for us to consider, a 5D/4N  boat journey where you slept on the top deck under the stars with your fellow passengers or to fly.   We umm’d and ahh’d about the boat has we had mixed reviews from the people we had spoken to and finally ended up taking the flight option as we had hit the rainy season and didn’t much want to risk 5 rainy days on boat!. However, I’d recommend looking into this if you come as the 5 days takes in some great beaches and snorkelling!.

So after another great breakfast we honestly paid our honesty Bingtang beer tab and made our way to the airport. We arrived early knowing that we would need to pay excess for our luggage. Despite Glenn trying to book it in advance when we ordered our tickets on-line . The system is basically this: you turn up at the airport and knowingly check in with your overweight luggage to be told its overweight, you are then handed a chit and sent to another part of the airport to pay your fee. You then join a queue to pay your fee, get handed another chit and sent back to the original queue. Arriving back at the original queue we found it to be around 3 times the size when we had left. Glenn just started to get grumpy and moaning about better efficiencies, time and motion (you get the idea) when the agent spotted us and called us to the front, bingo!

The flight across passed some stunning islands just off shore from Flores and soon we were landing and then boarding our free airport transfer to our lodgings. Once there, we had agreed to meet a tour operator we had contacted and negotiated a price (Glenn not Shell) for the Komodo Island trip as the one our guest house was offering sounded far too expensive.

Maxi (the tour agent) arrived on time and we exchanged details, a deposit and agreed a time for pick up. Happy with that we headed off into town to find some food.

The town itself is set around a small fishing harbour with lots of local food stalls selling todays catch. We opted for one which looked like it had a few locals eating at it and took up our seats. Looking around there didn’t appear to be a menu and a couple next to us advised us that we needed to go up and select.

After a bit of poking and prodding and pretending we knew what we were doing we each selected a fish. Glenn selected his because he had a vague idea what it was, and I selected mine coz it looked pretty!

Being Muslim, the stalls don’t sell beers but you can BYOB from the local supermarkets opposite which Glenn went off to do whilst I got chatting to the couple who turned out to be a Malaysian girl studying her Dive Master and her Indonesian Dive Master instructor, Glenn joined us and we continued to chat until our food arrived.

 

Our prodding and selection paid off, the fish was stunning!, BBQ’d with a sauce and served with sticky rice, washed down with a couple of cold Bingtang we headed home for and early night. Dragons tomorrow!

Day 2 – Rinca Island & Pink Beach

We had our breakfast delivered to our room nice and early, egg noodles and Flores Coffee (we have learnt that every island is very patriotic about their coffee) and soon after we were met by our pick-up to take us to the dock.

Once at the dock we were met by Maxi and introduced to the crew we would be with for the next two days.  We paid the balance of the trip and then we were soon on our way on a wooden boat out of the harbour.

For the next two to three hours we slowly cruised past loads of beautiful islands, all ringed by aqua blue water, on a calm clear blue sea with fish jumping in and out of the water (possibly flying fish?).

 

Eventually we were pulling up to Rinca Island (pronounced Rincha), one of the only four islands in Indonesia (and the world, only two that you can visit) where there are Komodo dragons running free.  The skipper and the crew did a good job crow barring us into the jetty where there were a handful of other tourist boats and soon we were disembarking.

I’m not sure if Shell  felt the same but it felt slightly surreal and unnerving that we were now just about to walk around an island where there were massive lizzards that were carnivorous and if they bit you it would be curtains as there is no antidote to the toxin’s they carry in their saliva.

So it wasn’t all that reassuring when we were passed over to a guide who looked about 16 years old, only armed with a forked wooden pole for protection.  We were taken to the administration/ conservation centre where we paid our fees for visiting the national park and then back with the guide and given the option of three treks that we could do, short, medium or long. 

 

As it was boiling hot we opted for the medium 2km trek that was more under cover of the trees rather than the long 7km mostly in the open.  After about 30 metres we were face to face with a group of Komodo dragons that we resting underneath the camps kitchen, which we recon are there purely so the tourists see a Komodo (although they claim they do not feed them, but according to the guide book they are always there!!).  Never the less we were very wary of them even though they may be well fed (apparently they only eat on average once a month), so we kept a respectful and runnable distance from them whilst we took photos.

 

We then started out trek proper and walking along we spotted a juvenile Komodo dragon that wasn’t so scary and we continued on to a nesting site.  We were told the females laid their eggs in these burrows and stayed there looking after them for about a month, then they buggered off and returned to the nests around two month later to check on their offspring which were just emerging and if the mother was hungry it was quite likely that she would eat them – nice!!  Also the baby Komodo’s go straight up into the trees and stay there for the first couple of years as the adults are cannibalistic and would see them as a tasty morsel!!

We carried on for a while becoming a bit despondent that we may just see the ‘tourist’ Komodo’s when we suddenly turned a corner and started walking down the path, we spotted two large specimens, one in the long grass to our right and one walking up the path towards us, both a metre or two in length.  Shell and I start giving each other worried looks.

 

The guide led us slowly past the dragons, Shell and I nervously taking photo’s whilst checking around us so make sure there were no others hiding in the grasses behind.  When we had turned around again the guide was a few paces in front of us and suddenly shell was sprinting to get behind the man with the stick (quickly followed by me) only to be told to watch out for snakes in the grass where she was standing.

 

After this close encounter with the dragons we were off again keeping our eyes very peeled now, then a short while later we were back at the Jetty and back on the boat, we had survived our first encounter with Komodo Dragons (Although we have to do it again tomorrow).

 Back on board and the crewman in charge of the galley gave us some nice avocado smoothies to drink, which were very nice.  Followed quickly after by a celebratory Bintang (Yes, we had bought a small supply on-board!!) for surviving our first Komodo encounter.

 

We then motored on for another couple of hour and then moored up at a place called pink beach, named for all of the pink coral (not sand). We were served up a nice lunch of chicken, tofu, noodles, rice & veg.  After lunch we were then given time to snorkel around the area.

 

The coral here was fantastic and there were some more diverse fish varieties and so Shell and I spent about an hour doing so before having a break and then we jumped back in the water for another ½ an hour before returning to the boat.

The next stop after about ½ hour was Komodo Island itself and we were given the opportunity to leave the boat and take a walk around the village, accompanied by our captain.  It was quite a ramshackle affair and all the houses were built on stilts, I think this was originally a design to keep them above ground and safe from the Komodo Dragons but from what we could gather from our guide the area is now fenced off.

After looking around for a while we returned to the boat where we were a source of interest for the local kids, the only upsetting thing was one little girl was an albino who had sight problems and seemed to be getting ignored or picked on by the other kids – heart-breaking!

Again we set off across the bay and along the way we could see large flying foxes passing overhead in the dusk.  We then moored up for the night by the side of a pier and then I was invited to take part in a game of domino’s with the crew,  the loser of each game had to attach a peg to their face.  I must be better at domino’s than I thought as I ended up peg free (Or it could have been beginners luck).

During the game we were then served our evening meal, which was pretty similar to lunch but there was fish instead of chicken. 

Dinner done and it was only around 8.00pm but it was dark and there was little else to do so Shell and I decided to retire to our tiny cabin (we had the option of this or the top deck to sleep on, I not Shell, thought the cabin felt cooler and there was a fan in there) to read for a bit before having a very early night.

 

Day 3 – More Dragon’s & Snorkelling

In the middle of the night it became sweltering inside our little cabin/cell so I decided I would go and sleep outside the cabin on the floor.  The captain of the boat discovered me there and suggested we moved to sleep on the top deck, so in the middle of the night and half asleep Shell and I found ourselves scaling the side of the boat trying not to fall in the water to reach the top deck. Once there we slept on mattresses under the stars together with one of the crew members. Shell was right it was the better option!!

 

Waking up at the crack of dawn we clambered downstairs and were soon presented with a breakfast of Coffee and Jam Jaffles (toasties).  Whilst we were waking up and having breakfast we were entertained by the crew line fishing from the side of the boat using banana for bait??  It appears that Indonesian fish actually do like banana’s and they proceeded to land at least three fish, I guess it may be fish for our lunch?

We then got off the boat onto the pier and walked to the tourist/conservation centre where once again we paid our park fees and was introduced to a guide who was going to take us on the medium trek through Komodo Island.

 

Again there appeared to be one or two ‘tourist’ Komodo’s knocking around close to the centre (but they are no fed???),  none the less they are very impressive and make for good photographs.

We then started our trek and after a few hundred yards we then came to another Dragon, this one had been injured in battle and only had one eye. Again I think he was a bit of a regular fixture on the trek and the guide demonstrated his skills with his pole by forcing it off the path into a position where we could take photo’s in relative safety. Poor Komodo!

 

The rest of the trek was pretty uneventful apart from spotting a couple of dragons running away from us in the distance along the path and Shell falling over.  An hour or so later we were back at the main centre where one of the rangers showed us how the dragons attack by waving a sack near one to which it became very animated.  Before returning to the boat we had a chance to take a few more photo’s of the residents before setting sail again.

 

Although some of the Komodo Dragon sightings seemed a bit staged we were very happy that we had seen a couple whilst out trekking on Rinca. It was an incredible experience to see these prehistoric creatures that we had only ever seen on TV wildlife documentaries and that only existed in these islands!

Our next destination was a coral reef called Manta Point where we were told that we had a good opportunity of snorkelling with Manta Rays that gathered there and this was something we were both looking forward to.

Sailing for another couple of hours we reached Manta Point and then spent about ½ hour trawling around whilst the crew tried to spot Manta Rays from the deck of the boat.  Unfortunately for us we were informed by the crew that because the current was not that strong today the Manta did not appear to be there, but they said we could go for a snorkel anyway.

 

Slightly disappointed Shell and I put on our Masks, Snorkels and fins and jumped overboard, but to be honest the coral reef was really beautiful and we spent a long time snorkelling round, hoping that the elusive Manta’s may make an appearance.  We were starting to give up when shell suddenly started to signal to me and when I looked she had spotted a spectacular hawksbill turtle amongst the coral.  Having fins on this time we were able to swim along with it for quite a distance and it was even better than our first turtle spotting, it was swimming so gracefully against a lovely coral backdrop – just like you see on TV.

After about an hour of snorkelling we were called back on board and were setting off again.  The next and final destination was another island (sorry don’t remember the name) with a coral reef running off it.

Mooring up around 100 metres of the island we were then pointed in the direction of the coral reef and told we had about an hour to go for another snorkel.

 

I must admit I bricked it when swimming in deep open waters (I think I’ve mentioned they have proper sharks here!) and was very happy when we reached the coral reef.  Again the reef was amazing with lots more diverse fish including a Lion/Scorpion fish?  It was one of the best spots we had snorkelled in.

On our way back to the boat I was again nervous swimming back through the deep water and to make matters worse I then saw a load of white debris which to mind could be the result of a shark attack.  What made me panic more was when Shell went ploughing past me at top speed, it was only when we got on the boat that Shell told me it was the waste coming out of one of the boat toilets that she was trying to avoid – doh!!!

It was the last stop on our trip and we were soon heading back to the mainland of Flores and once there we disembarked, said goodbye to the crew and were driven back to our hotel.

After showering we went back to the fish stalls in the evening and enjoyed a nice big Red Snapper with rice between us before returning home for an early night as once again we were moving on the next day.