Crew, stowaway, freeloader or extra passenger?
We pushed off from Labuanbajo harbour around 7:30am on our lovely comfy boat with what I thought were 4 crew members. As it turned out, one of them was an Indonesian passenger … I think the crew had smuggled him on even though we had paid for the entire boat … only because we couldn’t find anyone else to join us.
Instead of getting upset, I didn’t mind as he was rather interesting … I learnt that the guy “Lucky” had been travelling around his home country (plus Timor Leste and parts of Malaysia) by motorbike for the last four years and has another year to go. What an adventure! He’s writing a book as well.
The boatride to our first stop, Rinca Island took two hours. We saw a few dolphins along the way. Once at Rinca, Lucky would leave us … he would join another boat to return to Labuanbajo so he can start riding on the Trans-Flores highway in the evening.
Dragon-spotting on Rinca Island
Once on Rinca Island we walked to the National Park office to make our payment. We didn’t have to go far beyond that to reach the ranger’s kitchen where a whole group of Komodo dragons were resting.
They have a keen sense of smell that can reach 5km. So they’ve come to the kitchen but it is all in vain. Being a National Park, nature takes its course here:
- there’s a dragon with a broken arm that cannot move well; it cannot hunt and is skinny … it is starving to death.
- there’s another one that’s old and it is starving to death too.
- gone are the good old days when visitors would be entertained with the sight of a dragon slowly swallowing a whole goat that’s been tied up.
Our walk continued into the scrub, the green jungle and also the savannah area. We also saw a few dragons in the wild. One can easily see the trail they leave behind as they drag their tail in the dusty track.
Komodo dragons aren’t nice creatures:
- They eat their young.
- They are cannibals.
- They don’t bother creating their own nest; they take over a megapode bird’s nest … hopefully after the bird has finished with it.
- They still kill and eat villagers every now and then.
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- Welcome aboard! This is our boat for two days.
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- Unfortunately we could not afford this one.
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- Unfortunately we could not afford this one.
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- Scenery en route.
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- Arriving at Loh Buaya on Rinca Island for the first Komodo dragon site.
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- Komodo dragons on Rinca Island like being under the rangers’ kitchen because of the smell of food.
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- With the dragons on Rinca Island.
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- With the dragons on Rinca Island.
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- Komodo dragons resting on Rinca Island.
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- Komodo dragon on Rinca Island.
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- Komodo dragons take over the nests of the megapode birds and use them as their own nests.
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- Young dragon in the wild.
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- Skulls near a watering hole; dragons hide and await their prey here.
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- While goats are swallowed whole, buffaloes are often bitten and allowed to die after several days (infection) before they are consumed.
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- These palms are quite common on Rinca Island.
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- Komodo dragon on Rinca Island.
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- Komodo dragon on Rinca Island.
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- Komodo dragon on Rinca Island.
Snorkelling
Our first snorkel was at Pulau Kambing, less than 2 hours away from Rinca Island. Visibility was good and marine life adequate.
However our second spot at Pantai Merah (Pink Beach) was pretty amazing. The coral was colourful and the fish very plentiful … in both quantity and variety. Unfortunately it clouded over a little and the light conditions meant that we could not admire the beauty of this area at its best.
Pink Beach wasn’t really pink … but there were nearby beaches that had a bright pink tinge to it from afar, depending on the light condition. It was rather strange … it would look pink, then it wouldn’t!
Flying Fox Nightstop
We parked up next to Pulau Kalong (Flying Fox Island) which is just off Komodo Island. This is where large bats (about 0.5m across) hang out during the day. Strangely, they are described as Flying Foxes by the locals.
They take off during sunset to hunt for fruit and return in the morning. While it is a nice little sight, it certainly isn’t “Wow!” The Captain advised that on Rinca, the sky goes black with bats flying off. We were also entertained by some eagles swooping to catch fish.
Our presence also attracted a couple of rowboats laden with a souvenir-seller each. We bought a carved wooden komodo dragon simply to support the local economy. I don’t think the local villagers get very much out of visitors here.
The humidity went up after sundown and while it was cooler than the day, it felt less comfortable. Lights went out after 8pm and we fell asleep soon after.
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- There were more boats parked on Rinca Island by the time we were ready to leave.
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- There were more boats parked on Rinca Island by the time we were ready to leave.
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- At Rinca, while we were preparing to leave.
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- Our deck-hand, cook, assistant boat driver … coming up after a snorkel with us.
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- Captain on the phone.
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- We parked for the night next to Komodo Island (pictured) and Kalong Island.
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- We parked for the night next to Komodo Island (pictured) and Kalong Island.
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- Sunset on the boat.
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- Crow on our boat.
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- The Captain’s duties are over for the day.
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- A boat similar to ours.
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- White eagle hunting for fish.
Do all Christians love dogs?
Having done my share of travel across Indonesia, it has become my observation that Christians in the Archipelago “love” dogs. In the highlands of Medan the delicacy is known as “B1”, while in Sulawesi it is “RW” and in Java “Guk Guk”. I’ve been told these euphemisms exist so as not to affend Muslims who cannot eat dog as it is prohibited by their religion … I find that strange when pork is traded openly without causing offence.
I simply couldn’t resist asking our Catholic Captain about this. Sure enough, Flores Christians love their dogs too and refer to them as “RW” as in Sulawesi! I can’t wait to go to Maluku and Papua so that my theory can be validated across the entire Archipelago.