Little Boats, Big Komodos
When my mom told me she was coming to visit Indonesia for three weeks, I asked her what she wanted to see and do. She responded with, "give you hugs, lay on the beach, and see Komodo Dragons." Well that makes my job easy, I thought. The first two are a given, so, Komodo National Park, here we come!
Just by the view from the airplane, we knew the next four days would be epic.
We didn't make any tour reservations because we knew we could find good deals asking around in the town where we landed, Labuan Bajo. As with any tour, however, you get what you pay for. Dana and I were on a fairly tight budget and my mom is totally easy going, so after wandering through the town, asking numerous tour operators about their prices and options, contemplating, and weighing the pros and cons, we settled on the cheapest one we found.
The price was 1 million Rupiah per person for a three day/two night boat trip through the islands of Komodo National Park. This is about $85. The only thing not included were the Park entry fees, another $30 per person roughly, and the drinks and snacks we brought with us.
The boat had two cabins, one of which the three of us shared and another couple took the other one. The other four passengers slept on the roof of the boat under a canvas cover and the four crew slept wherever they found space. Cozy, yes. Overcapacity, yes.
Immediately upon boarding, Dana and I cracked a beer and probably said something like "woohoo we're on a boat!" while my mom searched the entire craft for life vests, not finding a single one. It shouldn't go without note here that Indonesian ocean vessels are known for having low to zero safety standards as well as a bad history of accidents, crashes, sinks, etc. We made sure to ask each tour operator if there would be life jackets provided and they all assured us that there would be.
Mom asked the captain where they were located and he opened a hatch in the floor, pulling out four (one was infant sized). My mom said, "no, we need ten." The captain was like "nah, it's fine" and my mom said "no, not fine. Ten passengers, ten life jackets" holding up all ten fingers. He was like "ugh, ok" and borrowed two more from neighboring boats. "Good?" he asked. My mom calmly but firmly said "we don't leave without enough life jackets for everyone." After a half hour flail of the captain getting annoyed with my mom, making phone calls, searching for lifejackets, and finally coming up with ten of them, we set off. Dana and I and the two Italians all agreed that having a safety regulator like my mom aboard was a good thing.
There were two Chinese women on the boat who didn't speak a word of English, but one of them was overly obsessed with taking pictures. I got out my camera at one point and she immediately gestured that she'd be happy to take a picture of Dana and I. She had a hay day acting like we were models. She'd position us, take a bunch of pictures, then reposition us, take a bunch more, reposition, etc, until about fifty photos later we had to tell her for the third time that we were over it.
Our first stop, about four hours after we departed, was for a sweltering hike and refreshing snorkel session on a pristine, uninhabited island.
We ended up staying longer than planned, so we dined and spent the night in the little bay. Another boat pulled in for the evening as well, so we joined them for some festivity.
This included a dance party and lighting a lantern, watching it soar off into the darkness.
Truth be told, we had to light two because the first was an epic fail that landed in the ocean right next to the boat, but it made the second, successful one that much more exciting.
Our first stop the next morning, after a light breakfast of crackers, fruit, and coffee or tea, was in the middle of nowhere, hoping to see more Manta Rays. A few of us jumped in the water for all of three minutes, saw nothing but blue, got stung by a hundred tiny jellyfish, and got out as fast as we could. No Manta sightings, but thats ok.
Onward we traveled, to the real purpose of this journey. An hour or so later, we pulled up to the dock of the National Park Service- Komodo Island.
Our guide gave us a brief, but convincing warning about how to behave around the Komodo Dragons. He told two stories of people getting eaten alive, and another of someone who had been bitten and didn't get medical attention soon enough, dying of a painful and quick infection caused by the animal's saliva.
He explained that if a Dragon approached us, he would point his stick at it and poke it in the eye if need be. If that didn't work, we were to run in a zig zag pattern as fast as we could away from them (Komodos are faster than people, but can't turn easily) and climb a tree. Duly noted.
We started down the trail, only walking for about ten minutes before we spotted an enormous Komodo Dragon, right in the middle of our path. My heart started racing. I underestimated how big they would be. It looked like a dinosaur.
We calmly stepped off the path and gave it plenty of space as we walked around to the front.
Luckily, shown by the size of it's belly, this Dragon had just eaten (probably an entire pig) and didn't seem interested in approaching us. The guide let us take turns cautiously posing for a photo a good distance behind it.
Dana, still apprehensive around the massive reptiles, didn't participate in the photo shoot. Instead, she stood next to a tree, ready to climb at any moment.
We walked softy and gave these beautiful animals the space and respect they deserved in their home.
One baby came near for a few moments before running off again (probably afraid of the big one, which would eat it in two bites, no joke).
By the time the trail looped back around to the start, we had seen about seven Dragons and Dana felt comfortable enough to get a picture with one.
Next stop, more snorkeling!
We wanted to be able to see the "flying foxes" that evening, so after snorkeling and chilling on the "pink beach" we cruised over to the next island where we would spend the night. On the way there, as the sun was setting, we saw the sky slowly change to the most beautiful color I've ever seen.
The clouds lit up into a vivid fire-red backed by an indigo hue, growing darker every minute. The reflection in the flat water doubled the beauty of the sunset and we simply stared back in awe as our boat continued forward to another surprise.
The crew talked about going to see the "flying foxes" but none of us actually knew what they were. Our best guess was flying squirrels- not correct. As it turns out, no less than a bajillion giant bats come out of their habitats at sundown and hunt for food on the neighboring island. The bats were just waking up as we drove into the bay, soaring over us for the better part of two hours.
As if our day wasn't amazing already...
After another great meal, served family style, of mie goreng (fried ramen noodles), rice, vegetables, salad, and fresh fish, we cracked a couple beers and taught the crew and other passengers how to play uno.
Then we (unsuccessfully) attempted some fishing ourselves.
I chalked that up to one of the most amazing days of my life.
Our first stop on the last day was Rinca Island, the second of four total island where Komodo Dragons are found in the wild. It turned out to be even more exciting than our first encounter.
We really had to be watchful in the early morning light, as the Komodos are extremely camouflaged, even in the middle of the trail.
Walking along the dusty trails throughout Komodo National Park is like a safari. You have to be aware of what you're doing all the time. Eyes peeled. Jurassic Park was referenced more than once.
We stopped at one point to discuss the nest and life cycle of the species when suddenly we heard a rustling from about 30 meters up the hill. We all turned to see a Komodo Dragon sauntering down toward us. Dana and I immediately jumped up on the nearest tree while the rest of the group simply side stepped from it's path.
Frankly, we don't feel you can be too cautious when it comes to avoiding a deadly bite from an animal that can out-sprint us.
After the uneventful encounter, we continued on the trail up to a viewpoint, without seeing any more Dragons.
The real excitement started when we returned to the park ranger station. We had all come down from the hill and were taking a few minutes to rest, use the bathroom, take pictures, and talk about how awesome our trip was going. My mom and Dana had stopped at the toilet about thirty paces back from the elevated rest area where the rest of us were hanging out. Very soon after we'd arrived, sat down, and relaxed, I heard my mom's voice. I know my mom and I know her voices; this one was of sheer panic. From around the corner, we heard her say "Dana, let me in! Dana! DANA! Open the door!!" She wasn't screaming, but she sounded frantic. We also heard quick rapping on the door. She wasn't pounding on it, but it became immediately apparent that she needed to get to safety. Given the fact that we were located on an island inhabited by giant flesh eating reptiles, I could only think of one reason why someone would need to get behind a door in a hurry.
Without even thinking, I dashed down the stairs, grabbed one of the sticks pictured above, and ran around to the toilet, for some reason yelling "KILL IT WITH FIRE!" When I arrived, there was no Mom, no Dana, and no Dragon to be seen, but I could hear my mom and Dana laughing inside the same toilet stall, which was relieving.
A minute later the guide who was supposed to be with them came out of the men's room feeling terrible that he had abandoned them to use the toilet himself. He knocked on the door, saying "it's ok, you can come out now..." and took the poker stick away from me. Dana and my mom unlocked the stall door and stepped out, still giggling and full of adrenaline and explained what happened.
Apparently, these two bad boys had been on either side of the bathroom, about fifteen meters away each. They were both laying in the grass minding their own business and my mom was keeping an eye on them while she waited her turn for the toilet. Suddenly one of the Dragons stood up and started running toward her. She glanced at the other one, who had also risen and was quickly making his way in her direction. In a fight or flight, instinctive decision, she turned to the stall door. Later, in her own words, she explained she could think of nothing else but to get behind that door. She never even looked back.
Luckily, she wasn't actually in danger. The two Dragons were males, just before mating season, who were going after each other to have a little tiff. The guides refer to it as "introducing themselves." They weren't even interested in my mom, thankfully.
Above is a picture of my mom with the guide that had taken a bathroom break while on duty. The rest of the guides gave him hell for a while, but we were all laughing about it by the time we boarded our boat.
We had just two more relaxing stops to make before it was time to return to the mainland.
The captain let me drive the boat for the last hour of our trip (I don't ever remember a time I didn't ask the captain of a boat if I could drive for a while- they always say yes) into the Labuan Bajo harbor, and even straight up to the dock! The mechanical aspect of the vessel was janky as hell, but we all survived without incident.
Everyone was happy to arrive in one piece, without ever needing to use the lifejackets my mom worked so hard to have aboard.
Although a bit sketchy at times, the three days we spent a sea visiting the Komodo National Park area of Indonesia is one of the coolest, most memorable trips I've ever been on. If you get the chance, don't pass it up!
