Komodo, Indonesia

February 23, 2018

Today is Friday, February 23rd. We arrived at about 9 a.m. this morning at Komodo Island, one of 26 islands that make up Komodo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Komodo Island itself covers 150 square miles and is home to a menagerie of wildlife including the legendary Komodo dragon which is the largest lizard and reptile in the world measuring up to 10 feet long and weighing as much s 275 pounds. They number 1,370+ on this particular island and a total of 5,700 on the five islands on which they live. Relatives of the dinosauer, they exist nowhere else in the world.

We anchored in Slawi Bay, just a 15 minute tender ride from the pier. It was already full light by the time we got up, but the views all around were stunning. (Remember, you can click on any individual photo to enlarge it.)

Our excursion was scheduled for an 11:30 departure so, since we had time, we headed to the gym and then breakfast. But before doing that I did catch some of the early morning activity outside as tenders were lowered into the water and excursion staff were tendered ashore to set up there for the day's events.

I also saw this local boat with three men in it just sitting along side the ship. Don't know what they were doing there.

Because all of the park creatures live in the wild, we were given extensive warnings over a 2-day period about how to dress (don't wear red), the importance of speaking in a low voice and not to get too close, etc. (If bitten by a dragon, you've effectively had the course because their mouths are inhabited by such deadly bacteria that there is no available antibiotic or other treatment that works. The most recent visitor death occurred in 2017 when the gentleman in question was repeatedly warned not to wander from his group and guide, but did so anyway and was bitten. A park ranger also died after he was bitten while sitting at his desk in a building on stilts.) After yet one more warning was piped through the ship's P.A. system while we were at breakfast, Janis decided not to go ashore and instead stay back and paint.

I persevered, however (along with 300 or so others). Once we got ashore we were divided into tour groups of no more than 25 people, given more warnings and hit the trail. The entire walk, through forest-like terrain, was just over 3 kilometers. I noticed that each group was accompanied by one or two men, in addition to the guide, carrying poles that they would use to keep dragons at bay if necessary. Nobody was carrying a weapon.

The dragons are coldblooded carnivors. They sleep in caves at night to keep warm and then usually put themselves in the sun during the day. But, according to our guide, the prevailing temperatures here are now too warm even for them, so they tend to find shade. As the guide said, "global warming." The dragons eat wild boar, wild chickens, deer and even their young. We were told that at birth newborns instinctually climb a tree and stay there for two or three years (subsisting on insects they find in the trees) in order to avoid the fate of being eaten by adult dragons. During mating season, male adults, who greatly outnumber females, often fight other males to the death in their competition for available females.

A few minutes into our walk we saw our first dragon.

As I indicated earlier, most of the walk was through forest-like terrain, but at one point we stepped out into a clearing. The landscape all around was beautiful and lush.

As we continued our walk, I began to think we probably were't going to see any more dragons since there seemed to be none around. Then, all of a sudden, we encountered several. Most were lying down and not moving. Some, as you can see below, were up and about.