Komodo island, part of the Lesser Sunda chain of Indonesian islands, is the
rugged habitat of the 3m-long Komodo dragon monitor lizard. Komodo National
Park covers the entire region and is home to ~3,000 dragons, and is made up
of rusty-red volcanic hills, savannah and forests. Its surrounding waters of
seagrass beds, mangrove shrublands and coral reefs are famous for diving.
In 1991, the Komodo National Park and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage
Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve. The park includes the
three larger islands, those are Komodo, Padar and Rinca, as well as the
other 26 smaller ones where you can go trekking and enjoying the most
magical sundown moment. It is considered one of the world's 25
biodiversity hotspots. It has also been selected as one of the
New 7
Wonders of Nature.
Getting there ...
We continued our trip from Bali on
7/2. We left the hotel in Ubud at 4AM to catch our flight at 7:50AM
and arrived at LBJ airport at about 9:30AM. Since Woanyu is an extreme
reptile lover, this would be a dream trip for her.
Day 4 (7/2) ...
- Kelana 2
Kelana,
translated as explore, is a private boat to liveaboard and explore the
most gorgeous island destinations, including Komodo National Park.
Specially designed for an exclusive liveaboard experience, Kelana has 3
beautiful cabins which fit perfectly for maximum of 6 passengers.
There were total 6 people (5 crew members + 1 tour guide) to serve 2 of
us for this 3-day/2-night liveaboard cruise. Because it was a
private cruise, we could customize the itinerary to fit what we want,
for example, we wanted to see Komodo dragons at both Komodo Island and
Rinca Island, we did not want any time for diving or snorkeling since we
don't swim, and I do not eat seafood :-)
- Private Beach Lunch
Our first stop was an isolated beach for a
private lunch. The chef and guide set up the tables and umbrellas
on the beach for us to enjoy the lunch with the most incredible views.
Since it is outside of the national park, we could use the drone to get
this video.
- Pink Beach
There are a few pink beaches on various islands around
Komodo National Park. The iconic rosy hue is completely natural.
It is created when microscopic marine animals called Foraminifera
produce a red pigment on the coral reefs. When these creatures die,
their tiny red shells fragment and mix with the fine, white sand.
We came to a small island east of the Komodo Island, and we were the
only one enjoying the beach.
- Lava Darat Gili
I originally asked the guide to take us to the
famous Padar Island for the iconic sunset view. But our guide
suggested us to go to Lava Darat Gili, another small island close to the
Komodo Island, for similar sunset views with much less crowds. I
was glad we took the advice and had a nice sunset hike and plenty of
sunset photos.
Day 5 (7/3) ...
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- Komodo Island
The main objective of this trip was to find some
Komodo dragons. The Komodo dragon is the largest living species of
lizard on Earth. These prehistoric apex predators are native exclusively
to a handful of volcanic islands in southeastern Indonesia, primarily
within Komodo National Park. Males regularly reach lengths of 10
feet (3 meters) and weigh up to 150–300 pounds (70–135 kg). For
decades, people believed that Komodo dragon saliva was a cocktail of
uniquely deadly, toxic bacteria. Modern microbiological testing of
wild dragons shows their oral hygiene is quite standard for a carnivore.
Instead they inject a hemorrhagic venom that prevents blood clotting,
causing their victims to rapidly go into shock and bleed out.
We got
to the national park at 7AM as one of the first visitors (the park
opened at 7AM). The guide (you must hire a park guide to enter the
park) took us to the intermediate loop (there are short, intermediate,
and long loops in the park). The first 30 minutes were quite
uneventful, just deer and birds. Suddenly we saw a huge male
Komodo dragon on the trail in front of us. It kept walking toward
us. After taking a few pictures, the guide took Woanyu's iPhone
and set it on the ground and started
video recording before we
stepped aside to let the dragon pass. We then followed the dragon
on the trail and sometimes we moved ahead to let the dragon follow us
:-) The encounter last for about 20 minutes when the dragon
suddenly stopped to sense something in the air, and then stepped off the
trail into the jungle. We were so lucky to be with such a giant
dragon, and we had a great guide who
took the risk to
take some
video for us.
- Pink Beach on Komodo Island
It's time to hit another pink beach.
- Rinca Island
After lunch onboard, we sailed to Rinca Island for
another Komodo Dragon visit. Rinca Island is the
second-largest island in Komodo National Park. Despite being smaller
than Komodo Island, Rinca actually has a higher density of Komodo dragons,
making it one of the absolute best spots for wildlife viewing.
However, when we arrived there at about 1:15PM, the mid-day heat had made
these dragons lazy and lying in the shade without much movement.
- Rinca Village
We had a quick visit to a small village to see how
local people live in the real life.
- Flying Foxes at Kalong Island
We sailed for about an hour to
Kalong Island, a small, uninhabited mangrove island located within
Indonesia's Komodo National Park. It is world-renowned for its dense
population of flying foxes (giant fruit bats), which stage a massive,
synchronized migration every single evening after sunset. These
are among the largest bats in the world, with wingspans stretching up to
1 to 1.5 meters.
Day 6 (7/4) ...
- Kelor Island
We had a morning hike to the top of the Kelor Island
for a fantastic view.
- Angel Island Beach
It's our last time to enjoy another private
beach experience.
Going Back to Bali ...
After an early lunch onboard, we headed back to the harbor to catch our
flight (1:40PM) back to
Bali. The Komodo dragon is indeed a formidable creature (but
Woanyu kept saying they were so cute...). The close encounter of a
fully-grown male dragon was definitely a highlight for any of our wildlife
tours (even though I am afraid of any reptiles). The private cruise
was a nice combination of adventure, freedom, and luxury in this trip.
It was a unique trip experience in many ways.
[Komodo
Gallery]
[Back to Photo Page]
