Island hopping and dragon spotting

Following a good few days relaxing on the island of Gili Trawangan we then set sail early one morning on a rickety old boat into the Indonesian Sea bound for (among other places) the island of Komodo. Komodo is home to the Komodo dragon – a huge prehistoric-looking monitor lizard that prowls the islands and is known to bring down and eat buffalo, deer and fellow dragons. The island has been in the running for the title of one of the “new seven wonders of the world”. Before we left Gili we had regularly been given the same two warnings about boat trips to Komodo: 1) The boats are very basic 2) Make sure boat operator’s safety standards are high as the seas can be treacherous. We would soon have 1) confirmed and as for 2) – the less said the better...

We left Gili for the larger island of Lombok and from there we were driven to the other side of the island to the port that our boat was leaving from, en route our tour guides loaded up the bus with food for our four day voyage: 50 pineapples, three giant bags of rice, plenty of noodles and three large sacks containing chickens (alive and flapping profusely inside the bags) - at least the food would be fresh!

Fresh food...

Elizabeth and I couldn’t help but laugh at the comparison of sailing in Indonesia with sailing in Australia. When we went on a one day boat trip in Oz the crew spent 40 mins explaining in precise detail where everything was, where we could and couldn’t stand, procedures for each type of emergency etc etc (in ridiculous detail to be honest). Contrast that to our arrival on the boat in Indonesia. The guide stood up and said: “Hello, my name Lim. Only I speak English – please no speak anyone else on boat for information. Please no fleep-flops on boat.....ok let’s go”. If there were any lifejackets on board we certainly didn’t see them.

Our rather basic home for four days

Sunset on the water

It was of course all funny rather than concerning but one memorable moment came the first evening. I went to the toilet and as I stood crouched over in a tiny cabin trying to use the loo the boat came suddenly to a halt (as though it had hit something). I went flying, the light in the toilet went out and the chickens in the kitchen went crazy. I emerged from the toilet to find that our captain had ran us aground a mile or so offshore onto a sand bank – two of the crew had to get out and literally push the boat back into deeper water!

Some views of the Indonesian Sea

After all the initial excitement we sailed along the northern coast of a group of Indonesian islands for three days, heading east towards Komodo. We stopped regularly to go snorkelling, climb a waterfall, watch as bats (Flying Foxes) came to life at sunset, go fishing and all sorts of other things. Since we were on the backpacker boat things were quite basic and we all had to sleep on deck for the three nights which was a bit uncomfortable but also added to the whole experience - Elizabeth woke up one night soaked in water due to torrential rain and huge waves pounding the boat.

The last part of the trip involved exploring the islands of Komodo and Rinca (Komodo dragons live on both). We didn’t get up close to any dragons in Komodo (we saw one in the distance, patrolling the beach close to where a wild pig mysteriously disappeared moments later...) We saw lots of Komodo dragons in Rinca (as prehistoric looking in the flesh as we imagined), as well as water buffalos, monkeys, cockatoos, jungle fowl (chickens) and other animals. The islands could both be mistaken for Jurassic Park sets - the scenery was very cool.

Feeling the heat on Komodo

Feeling refreshed in a salt-water lake, the result of an infamous Indonesian tsunami flooding 

a volcano crater over 100 years ago

Our last night saw the demise of the chickens – I turned the corner to see one of our crew pinning down a chicken and another guy with a giant meat cleaver. Being in a Muslim country they were killed using the Halal method – not pretty. That said, since it was the first meat any of us had had in four days no one was too emotionally attached to the chickens.

The main attraction...

Saying farewell to our group

After Komodo and Rinca we spent some time on an idyllic beach and then sailed to our final destination, a port town called called Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores where we are now. Yesterday Elizabeth and I decided to catch a boat to another, more remote island off the north Flores coast where we spent the day and night relaxing before we head back to Bali tomorrow (on a mammoth 36 hour bus-ferry combo). It’s been a nice way to end our Indonesian stint - the island had only a few bungalows along the beach front and the sea was crystal clear.

The views on arrival, perfect for R&R!

We really enjoyed the Komodo boat tour, the only downside was that out of the 18 backpackers that were onboard about 14 came down with a nasty eye infection, and I happen to be one of them. First time I’ve been ill since we started travelling though so I can’t complain too much.

Anyway, back to Bali tomorrow then onward to Singapore. The question is where next....?

Transport en route to refuel - McDonalds!