Goin' Feral One Day At A Time: Komodo Island, Komodo National Park, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia -December 2019

Ah yes, we lived in simpler times back in the ye olde days of last December. Back in those innocent days the worst we had to worry about on a cruise was getting a dose of Noro Virus or worse still getting taken out by a Zimmer Frame at the buffet....how times change....

I'm guessing that this guy is thinking 'dinner has just arrived!'

It wasn't all Komodo Dragons on Komodo Island.

Komodo Island is one of those spots that’s been floating around my head for quite a while however with the island being so far off the radar, so to speak, I’ve never got around to visiting. How far off the radar?…well I’m glad you asked. Komodo Island is in the center of the Lesser Sunda Archipelago, or to put things in perspective for my Aussie mates it’s a little over 300 kilometres further to the east than Bali. With reports the national park was going to be closed to visitors at the start of next year Sam and I decided that the time was right, booking a Princess cruise out of Fremantle meant that we were going to be doing it pretty comfortably too.

Our first look at Komodo Island this morning.

The local kids came out to greet us.

Peering out our cabin this morning the first thing I noticed was the mountains tearing at the sky, Komodo Island certainly can’t be called flat. The next thing I noticed was how parched everything was, we were up here in the wet season however it’s more Timor-Leste kind of tropical here, there are a few pockets of lush vegetation but it is predominantly open savannah kind of vegetation. After breakfast we jumped on a tender and headed ashore (only punters booked on a tour were allowed ashore here). Thankfully the humidity wasn’t crazy bad yet, although with dark clouds evident in the distance I was thinking that might change.

Heading ashore on the one of the ships tenders.

Komodo Island

Entering the Komodo National Park as we stepped of the jetty we were assigned a guide and two rangers who where carrying sticks, obviously to ward off the hungry Dragons, although they looked a little flimsy to my eyes! After a brief induction it was time to set off on our walk to find us some Komodo Dragons. The go now was one ranger stayed at the front with the guide, and one ranger stayed at the back ….with your Feral correspondent. Apparently the Dragons can smell prey for many kilometres, so much so that any of the ladies in the group who had there periods had to stand beside the rangers with their big sticks for the complete walk.

Things are fairly low key on Komodo Island... just the way I like it.

There was small market set up as is fairly standard in these spots.

There was an interesting mix of flora on the island.

There are a variety of walking tracks here but being on a tour we had to stick to the shorter loop, not to worry really as it was stinking hot so the thought of traipsing around the hills for half a day wasn’t high on my list of priorities. After a couple of stops to talk about the local flora and fauna (and keep the group together) we arrived at the small soak where the Komodo Dragons like to hang out. And sure enough there be Dragons relaxing in the shade, while at the same time keeping an eye on the tasty red faced snacks taking photos of them.

I think we did the small 'blue' loop.

Alright, buckle up for some dragon photos.

We had a guide with a big stick to keep the Komodo Dragons at bay.

Apparently these Komodo Dragons are only medium sized specimens, they can reach 2.5 metres and weigh 300 lbs. I’m guessing a little obviously, but I’d put these specimens at just under 2 metres. Komodo Dragons can sprint to about 25 kilometres an hour and dive under water to about 4 metres, they are also venomous…although the story I’d heard about the bacteria in the mouths killing you if you are bitten is apparently a myth, although I’m yet to confirm that with someone who has been bitten. Whatever the case, being stared down by one of these beasts with only a stick as protection can be fairly confronting, the closest experience that I’ve had like it is being stared down by a Saltwater Crocodile I think.

These guys were lazing around under some shady trees.

They were moving pretty slowly this morning however when motivated they can get along fairly quickly.

After annoying our lizard mates for awhile we continued on our short bush walk, somehow managing to be guided back through a market, where the real danger of the day occurred….running the gauntlet of all the local vendors. We were now meant to jump on a boat and head around to Pink Beach to go snorkelling. Remember those dark clouds that I’d mentioned in passing at the start of the post, yeah well now they delivered. Waiting for our boat for 30 minutes on the end of the jetty we got absolutely soaked, I’m talking full on tropical downpour with no shelter in sight. At least it was warm.

Meandering our way slowly back to the village I was looking for something to photograph.

The country that I saw on Komodo Island was dry open savannah type of country.

The walking infrastructure is pretty good here.

Heading back to the village.

Komodo snacks.

To get back to the jetty we were funnelled through the market.

We were advised not to swim here as the Komodo Dragons sometimes take a swim in the ocean....the local kids didn't seem too worried though.

Hmmm, time to stash the DSLR away in it's dry bag for awhile.

Pink Beach is a little further east than the National Park Headquarters and the boat trip takes around 30 minutes each way, although the time goes fairly quick as it’s quite a scenic voyage. Pink Beach is actually a white sand beach that is slightly bleached by tiny pieces of pink coral. While the swimming was good at Pink Beach it was the snorkelling that I was keen to check out as I’d heard that it was very good. Pulling on our fins and masks Sam and I swam the 10 metres or so off the pink sand to the first of the coral. It wasn’t the coral or the fish that I first noticed though, it was the current running along the beach, this isn’t an easy spot to snorkel.

Pink Beach

This is a beautiful beach.

The snorkelling here was good...but fairly hard work as three was a strong sideways current.

This was probably the best snorkelling I've experienced in Asia so far - although to be fair I haven't done a lot of diving in Asia.

The visibility was good and the coral was alive.

To get to the best of the coral requires a fair swim from the beach.

While it required a bit of effort the diving wasn’t too bad, there was the usual damaged coral from boat anchors and a bit of bleaching, however overall I’d say it was better than I’d feared. Heading out around 100 metres off the sand I was floating for a minute taking in the scene back on the beach to get my bearings. when I pulled my mask back on I had the wildlife surprise of the day, right underneath me was a large Turtle snacking on the coral. This turtle didn’t seem at all perturbed by my presence, I guess that was probably because I was in around 3 to 4 metres off water. Diving down I managed to get very close as the Turtle munched away, close enough to hear the grinding of it’s mouth. After what seemed like a long time the Turtle came up to the surface for a breath before very slowly swimming off into the blue.

I was almost ready to head back to the beach when I spied this bloke.

Swimming with these guys is always special.

Time to let him go....

That's my 'how good was that?' expression.

Heading back to the beach I checked out a little more coral.

After my Turtle encounter the small tropical fish and coral bommies weren’t holding that much interest to me so I slowly made my way back to dry land where Sam was waiting. By now it was mid afternoon and our time on Komodo Island was coming to its end. It turned out that our good fortune with wildlife hadn’t quite finished for the day though, as we were sailing away from Komodo Island tonight we were lucky enough to have a large pod of Dolphins follow us, surfing and jumping out of the water on the ships wake. Today was a good one.

There's a decent jetty at the Pink Beach.

Heading back to the main jetty.

Pink Beach is just as pretty from a distance.

Back on board we had a quick shower and then headed up on deck for the sail away.

We had a pod of dolphins come into play on the ships wake.

It was a little hard trying to pick the right time to press the shutter button and know where to point the camera here.

The scenery as we sailed away tonight was pretty special.

The Dirt.
We did a ships tour today called Komodo Dragons and Pink Beach which cost us around $180 each. Passengers weren’t allowed off the ship unless they had either a ships tour or a register private tour booked here as the whole island is a National Park with restricted entry. You need to walk to see the Komodo Dragons although the rangers tend to have a fair idea where they are so the walk wasn't too onerous-even in the heat. Pink Beach is a reasonable place to snorkel, the coral is OK without being outstanding and there are plenty of colourful tropical fish about. The main drawback with snorkelling at Pink Beach is the cross currant that runs along the beach, I’m thinking that you really need some swimming ability to really enjoy the snorkelling here. If the thought of battling the currents is to much then the swimming just off the pink sand is superb.

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Bali, Indonesia, 2019.