We leave Yogyakarta, its confusing spelling (should those be “y’s” or “j’s” or some combination?) and its magnificent thousand year old Buddhist and Hindu temples behind us and fly 1500km east to Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores. Labuan Bajo, once little more than a sleepy fishing village is the gateway to Komodo National Park, a collection of islands in the Flores Sea, centered around the island of Komodo itself. No longer a sleepy fishing village, Labuan Bojo is now inundated with tourists year round (outside the rainy season at least). Resorts, hotels, backpacker hostels, restaurants, souvenir shops and yes even a Starbucks are springing up around and between the locals’ homes, many of them as far as I could see, little more than shacks. The small harbour was crowded with boats when we arrived - from “day trip” boats to luxurious “stayaboard” vessels and everything in between. And these are the ones which had no work that day. Most of the local fleet were out ferrying tourists around the park. In place of fishing, the tourism industry is now the area’s economic driver and largest employer!

For Everything.....A First Time

Of course our motivation for visiting Komodo National Park was to get a glimpse of the eponymous dragons, the largest of which are the closest we will ever get, outside of a Spielberg movie, to seeing a “dinosaur”! I assumed that this would be the main motivation for all visitors. Wrong!! It might be the motivation for the thousands of cruise ship passengers that pour off their mega vessels for a couple of hours (fortunately none around during our visit). Most park visitors though are here for the “world class” diving and snorkeling, the dragons are just a side benefit

As those of our readers who know us well will agree, we are not diving and snorkeling people. Gazing at the sea is one thing, being in it is something else all together! However our three nights in Komodo National Park is spent aboard the “Mantra”, a purpose built “stayaboard” based on a traditional design but somewhat more luxurious, with just three cabins and more than enough room for the four of us. The Mantra comes complete with a crew of seven locals plus a dive master, Batiste who hails from France by way of Bali who also doubles as our organizer/guide

It’s the dive master who coaxes Sandra and me into wet suits (hardly necessary when the water temperature is a balmy 28 degrees C) and masks. We’d brought full-face snorkel masks with us - thanks to Kimberly & Bennett for that tip! For water enthusiasts amongst you this may all seem nothing out of the ordinary. But for both Sandra and me this was a first, proving again that you’re never too old to try something new!

And then there was the bail out! Our guide wished us to experience one of the park’s famous pink sand beaches - one with few or no other visitors. The Mantra anchors out in the bay and the four of us clamber down a ladder thrown over the side of the boat and into a small motorized dinghy that would take us the few hundred metres to the beach for of course, a “wet landing”. The dinghy bobs up and down a bit in the swell but nothing too dramatic. The crew run the dinghy up almost onto the beach and we’re directed to clamber out. Megan makes it on to the beach. Sandra’s next ashore but as she starts to climb over the dinghy’s bow, three large waves come crashing in, in quick succession. Sandra is tossed back into the dinghy, a bit undignified, but otherwise none the worse for wear. The dinghy however now has a foot or so of water sloshing about in it. With that amount of water on board, we can’t make it back onto the beach and the dinghy driver, alarmed now that we’re about to capsize heads back to the Mantra with me furiously bailing with the aid of half a plastic container! We do make it safely back and transfer to the Mantra’s other dinghy returning to the beautiful pink beach without further incident. Proving again that you’re never too old to try something new!

“Monitor Lizards on Steroids”

But of course we don’t miss out on the dragons themselves. For reasons nobody has been able to determine, these massive lizards are only found in this part of the world and just about only on Komodo and Rinca Islands, the two largest in the national park. Most visitors make for the larger Komodo Island, but Batiste strongly advises us that we’d be much more likely to see more dragons and fewer humans on Rinca Island. So that’s where we head. 

On arriving at the landing stage, we’re met by our local guide. All visitors to the island must be accompanied by a guide who understands the behaviour of the dragons and stands ready to beat any off who get any too aggressive. We didn’t get off to the best of starts as the guide greeted us with “welcome to Jurassic Park”! 

The dragons are most active at dawn and dusk but we arrive a little later in the morning and ahead of the crowds to be rewarded by the sighting of solitary males, groups of females and most unusually according to our guide, a youngster probably just a few months old

Komodo dragons are pretty unpleasant creatures! Despite their pre-historic appearance, they are neither dragons nor dinosaurs, just very large lizards (thanks to Lonely Planet for the “....on steroids” description). Males grow to 3m in length (so around 10 feet) and weigh up to 150kg (250lbs).

They are omnivorous and will eat absolutely anything including their own young. Attacks on humans are not unknown hence the need for a knowledgeable local guide; solitary wondering is vigorously discouraged. Aside from their powerful tails, a Komodo dragon’s bite is toxic and their prey (including deer, pigs and buffalo) die a slow, draw out death. Female dragons lay 30 or more eggs at a go in carefully camouflaged nests. Only a small percentage of baby dragons successfully make it out of the nest 8 or 9 months after the female has laid (most of the rest are devoured by their stronger siblings). Any that do make it out, head straight for the nearest tree to avoid being eaten by older dragons, including their own mother and remain up in the branches until they’re old enough to stave off an attack!

So all in all, a great visit. We’d snorkeled (and seen manta rays gliding gracefully through a coral reef), seen more Komodo dragons than most visitors, enjoyed the diverse scenery the park has to offer and not been too disturbed by the large number of tourist-carrying boats that ply the waters of the national park. All while floating around in our very own floating hotel!

The local governor has announced his intention to close the national park to visitors for all of 2020. He would like to relocate the villagers who live on Komodo Island itself and start to restore the environment for the dragons whose habitat is being damaged by human habitation and the ever increasing number of visitors. A great idea in principal but given the impact that his plan would have on the people who live in Labuan Bajo whose livelihood is so dependent now on the tourist trade, carrying it out is a whole other matter

Whatever happens, we’re really glad we made it to “Jurassic Park” when we did....