Video diary - here
I had always wanted to go and see Komodo Dragons in the wild and no better place than their home in the Komodo National Park, two main islands in a remote part of Indonesia called Komodo and Rinca. We couldn’t fly direct from Lombok where we were based so we caught a flight to Bali and then a connection on to Labuan Bajo which is a remote town on one of the main islands about 90 minutes away. It’s then a 2 hour boat ride to Rinca or 4 hours to Komodo. Landing in to Labuan Bajo was a first….we had a ‘go around’!! Basically the small propeller plane was coming in to land and as the wheels were about to touch the ground, the captain accelerated the engines and we took off again! Needless to say we were all crapping ourselves as there was no explanation as to why. We assumed it was because of some downdraft and it was unsafe to land. So, after circling he tried again and thankfully we touched down. Phew!
The weather wasn’t great when we landed, the seas were rough and it was chucking with rain throughout the night. The hotel had said it had cancelled the daily trip to Komodo as the seas were too rough. No deterred, we headed in to the town to see if any other tour operators were going. After a few calls were made, we had a confirmation that one boat was going the next day early to try and get the calmer seas.
Up at 6.00am we headed to the port and the boat. Well, it was more of a DIY job, hammer a few nails and wood together and voilà! At least it had life jackets so that was a plus! The skies were cloudy with some blue specs and the sea was calm-ish until about an hour in to the journey. It was black ahead, the wind had picked up and the waves were getting larger. I would be lying if I didn’t say I was nervous! Then the rain came and it felt like being in a storm on this rickety boat, two of us and two crew. Thankfully, after about 15 minutes it cleared, the clouds lifted and we could see the Komodo National Park islands in the distance. I was glad to get on to dry land and didn’t want to think about having to do the journey back again.
Once on land, we were met by our guide and taken to the ticket office to buy our entrance tickets to the National Park. After a quick briefing on what to expect and what not to do etc we trekked in to the park. There are two villages on this island and a few thousand dragons, not to mention buffalo, guinea fowl, vipers, spitting cobra’s and king cobra’s. Lovely! And all we had was a guide with a big stick to fend them off. You can do several different treks and due to the time, we had the short trek option.
As we started to walk around we came to a few huts, all on stilts to stay away from the Dragons. We stopped at a toilet and was told that this could well be one of the most dangerous toilets in the world….the day before, a male Komodo Dragon had been curled up inside the Men’s! We actually saw a female Komodo Dragon on that way back by the toilets! Apparently they are more aggressive too and it was nesting season. We also say several animal skulls on display, the Komodo’s generally eat all their victims but leave the head. That was nice to know seeing as the main hospital is in Bali, quite some distance away should anything go wrong!
As we walked around we spotted one, then two, then five! Four were huddled together and one was roaming around. After a few picture opportunities we carried on through the parkland, keeping my eyes very open. We saw a few of the nests and then climbed up towards the top of the hill….wow….what a view! From the top you could be somewhere in England like Dartmoor or the Yorkshire Dales. The other side of the hill there was the bay where we had docked. We headed back down and saw another Komodo dragon roaming so stopped to take some pics, realising how big they are especially their claws!
What an amazing experience to say I have been here and seen them up close and in their natural habitat. We headed back on the boat to Labuan Bajo. It was still quite rough but no rain thankfully. I just focused on the beautiful green islands we were passing and before we knew it, we were back. There was no space to park the boat so out jumped one of the crew in to the sea to help push while the other made a space between two boats out of nothing! It was quite funny to watch them. at home we would be fined or arrested probably!
It was great to be back on dry land in the wet season, oh the irony! Komodo you rocked!
