Komodo, the land of the dragons
Casamara
John & Susan Simpson
Sat 7 Sep 2024 12:07
For the last 6 weeks or so we’ve seen Indonesia off the beaten track - remote jungle-covered islands, dusty towns and villages clustered around glittering mosques, young boys in canoes paddling out to say hello and see what freebies they might be able to collect. Balls, books, pencils, t-shirts, hats and sweets all went down very well. Eastern Indonesia feels very remote but the mobile phone is very much in evidence and even very young children seem to have them. The young adults we have spoken to don’t appear to travel far, some have made pilgrimages to Mecca but most have never left their own island. Even the few we met who had been to university in Jakarta had returned to their home islands to live and work. We wondered how access to the wider world via the phones they constantly clutch in their hands will change the way of life here in the future. From Sulawesi we hopped south west to the island of Flores and the town of Labuan Bajo. What a contrast! Labuan Bajo is on the edge of the Komodo National Park, a World Heritage Site and tourist magnet due to the presence of Komodo dragons (the world’s largest lizard) on the nearby islands of Komodo and Rinca. The park also has spectacular diving areas and marine-based tourism is its mainstay. Consequently, as we approached, trip boats and ferries criss-crossed in front us and the harbour anchorage was packed with live aboard dive boats. Ashore we found tourists in the streets, hotels, restaurants, a French bakery and even a Starbucks! It was sensory overload at first but we were soon stuffing our faces with freshly baked pizza, almond croissants and sourdough bread! This was also the first place where we blended in with the other tourists; gone were the ‘meesterr, meesterr, photo, photo’ selfie requests, to be replaced with ‘wanna buy tour for tomorrow meesterr?’ We missed the happy paparazzi.  Labuan Bajo town and anchorage We spent 10 days in Labuan Bajo and had a wonderful time dining out with friends, touring Flores island on hired scooters and taking a tour boat to see some of the local attractions: the dragons on Komodo, a pink sand beach, and snorkelling with manta rays and turtles. When we experienced the crowds also doing the same thing we realised how spoiled we have been to explore away from the tourist hotspots. It was quite a chaotic day! It wasn’t all holiday mind you, we also managed to find a dentist (still haven’t managed to sort the tooth problem), restocked the boat with provisions, and used the local laundry services.  Torsten (SV Seaside) and John take a rest from scootering. Google maps had taken us on an ‘interesting’ route to see a waterfall and we had just turned back on a stony track. Even the main roads were tricky, with steep switchback turns and overladen trucks creaking and groaning their way up the hills.  Komodo dragon trying to have a midday snooze and not looking entirely sure about having to pose for photos instead!  Farewell drinks with SV Escapade of London and SV Tamlin who will leave from Lombok soon to cross the Indian Ocean to be in South Africa by Christmas After Labuan Bajo we anchored off Rinca Island, another Komodo dragon spot, and arranged for an early morning (6.30 am!) walk with one of the rangers. The dragons are much more mobile before the sun gets hot so we were able to see some walking around the nature reserve, as well as the monkeys, buffalo and deer that live here too. Komodo dragons are carnivores and will eat any of their neighbours, including other dragons. Our ranger was equipped with a forked stick to fight off any that fancied a human for breakfast. I couldn’t help thinking that a stick might not be enough! The ranger explained that a fully grown dragon can swallow an adult deer whole and its digestive system can cope with bones, fur and all. They can run at speed over short distances and if their bite doesn’t kill you outright, the venom and bacteria they carry will do the job soon after. Happily, the dragons we saw looked as though they’d had a good meal recently and we didn’t have to put the stick to the test.  Casamara anchored in the distance off Rinca Island with Aliena and Mary Doll As is the way with sailing, you never know when a problem is going to arise and when it does it’s up to us (usually aka John!) to fix it. We had a problem lifting our anchor as we left Rinca and the windlass failed again whilst we were trying to anchor for an overnight stop at Banta island. Luckily, fellow sailors and mechanical engineers Sonja and Martin were on hand to help out, Sonja in person as she was on another boat in the same anchorage and Martin by the wonders of WhatsApp video from his boat. After a full day working at it (not all of it in the front locker!) the windlass was restored to working order, much to everyone’s relief. Whilst hard at work in the heat all day we had been looking longingly at the water around us in the anchorage It was the clearest turquoise blue you could imagine and patches of coral were visible from the boat, just waiting to be explored. So the reward for a hard day’s work was a lovely cool swim and snorkel around the boat, followed by sundowners on the beach. The coral was beautiful and looked very healthy, and there was even a Ray under the boat, lying very still and trying to camouflage itself against the sand. A perfect end to a tricky day.  John and Sonja in the front locker mending the windlass  Coral and sand, Banta Island  Sundowner crew on the beach at Banta island |