Boat Cruise - past the Komodo Dragons

Day 28 - 31 26th -29th May 14

Our ticket for the cruise to Flores, with Kencana Tours, includes transport from Gilli T. The tour is disorganised – we wait a while for the passenger boat and we wait a while for the bus and eventually we reach the cruise boat mid afternoon. The boat is bare but clean, the wooden boards painted white. There is an upper and lower deck on which we will sleep and live for the next 4 days, and 2 clean Western toilets. We are relieved that we will not be living in the squalor we

had been anticipating. As we leave Lombok, a large 'Hollywood-esque' advertisement sign for a cigarette brand rears its ugly head on an uninhabited green hillside.

There are 35 of us on the boat. Half are Indonesian tourists. They are travelling in small groups with their work colleagues. They are all from Jakarta. They mainly work in advertising, engineering or IT. Two entrepreneurial girls I speak to have set up tour agencies, which they run at the weekends. We meet a girl whose father helps to run the festival in West Papua, so we take her details for more information.

There are a few interesting characters in the Western tourist contingency:
Cedric is from Luxembourg. He speaks an impressive array of languages fluently. He's studying engineering. He has a naturally competitive nature, but he's still fairly young and he covers his boyish enthusiasm with an air of slight arrogance, but he’s very friendly.
Rinoy and Sebastian are from Germany. They are completing a Masters in economics, and they have somehow managed to wangle a 3 month study period in Bali as part of an exchange program. Rinoy is very friendly and funny, and he’s happy to be the brunt of the joke. He’s well groomed and dresses like he’s in a boy band. His parents are originally from Kerala. Sebastian is also a really nice guy who we get on well with.
Ellen is a student from the Netherlands. She has a gorgeous Barbie figure, is tanned and very blonde with a pretty face and bright blue eyes, one of which is lazy and doesn't focus properly. She seems sweet and quietly confident, choosing to spend time on her own or with different groups independently. She doesn't make much effort to speak to me so I'm unsure of her personality.
Meg is Australian. She’s only 19 and is holidaying alone. She met Ellen in Lombok and they are now travelling together. She has already set up a small business as a fitness instructor with a large group of loyal clients that she has now sold on as she's choosing to study to become a teacher instead. She's incredibly bubbly, energetic and excitable. I can't help but find her Australian accent irritating at first, but I soon warm to her. She's never done anything like this before, so she's incredibly enthusiastic since every experience is so new.
There is a couple and female friend travelling together from Poland. They are nice but keep themselves to themselves. They surprise us on the 3rd evening when everyone is quietly enjoying a beer and playing cards by jumping up, when a Nicky Minaj song comes on, to dance energetically. They normally seem pretty serious, so it's a hilarious moment. Han and I join them with the boat staff for a boogie.
Babs is from the Netherlands. She quit her job to travel but is now near the end of her 6 month stint. She wants to return home to find a job and save more money so she can continue travelling. She's incredibly witty and often sarcastic. She has a high energy, upbeat personality.
Eddie is also from the Netherlands. He is very tall with giant features - he has a grin as large as the Cheshire Cat. We'll often look over to see him smiling at us. He tells me that he's never experienced a moment’s stress in his life, even after divorcing his wife with whom he has a son. He says it's because he believes everything happens for a reason. I find it very hard to believe that anyone can live a totally stress free existence but am very impressed all the same.
There are two other older ladies who are from Romania but live in Italy, but I forget their names - Rinoy calls one of them sporty mama after she practically sprinted down an incredibly steep slippery path past us. She's always laughing and seemingly flirting with the Indonesians (both the staff and tourists) as well as Eddy. Her English isn't great, so when she joins us for a card game, she is totally confused by the rules and happily puts down any card in her hand. She also likes to dance when there's music on the boat, shaking her boobs in a would-be provocative manner.
Tracy is an American guy who I don't speak to much but other people tell me he's about to study medicine despite being in his late 30's but he's currently a bungee jumping instructor.

The food on the boat is simple but tasty – there are a lot of people to cater for in a very small kitchen. The first evening we eat fish and cabbage stew with rice. It's pleasantly breezy on the boat, and we watch the islands approach and fade into the distance. We share a beer and chat to some of our boat companions. Due to our late start, we don't reach the island in time to see the promised spectacle of the flying foxes at dusk. At bedtime, we're provided with mattresses, pillows and thin blankets and find a space on the floor. It's relatively comfortable and I'm able to get a good night's sleep.

The boat is anchored near an island. In the morning, those of us that can, swim to the white shore, as there's only one small white canoe on the boat and a lot of people to transport back and forth. We walk to the waterfall for our fresh water 'shower'. Clambering up the side of the waterfall to the pools above is very steep, but there are thin tree trunks we can use to help us. There's a small but deep pool higher up - a few of the guys climb a towering tree to jump in from a terrifying height. The tour guide who has encouraged this dangerous activity is laughing. The afternoon is spent snorkelling off a small white beach on Satonda Island and visiting the saltwater lake, surrounded by green tree-covered mountains. The sulphur in the water supposedly cures bad skin conditions. The lake looks almost black. Furry clumps of moss cover the rocks where we clamber in. The water is buoyant with the amount of salt - we float lazily on our backs.

That evening the boat voyages through the night. The water is choppy - a lot of people are seasick. I stand outside on the sloping deck before bed, clinging on to the rope so as not to fall, as the boat is travelling swiftly through the water. The stars are stunning. Everyone goes to bed early. It's difficult to sleep as I am close to the door and the wind fills my sleeping sheet, like a blow up Michelin man. I wrap it under my shoulder to attempt to prevent the billowing.

The next day we climb a steep hill on Gili Lawa Island to take photos of the stunning surrounding scenery of turquoise clear sea, white sands and green hilly islands. We snorkel before returning to the boat for lunch. I see a family of clownfish venturing out from the waving fringes of seaweed, before popping back to hide in the safety of their home. The famous pink beach is disappointingly no longer pink but

still marketed as such. We find a piece of pink coral on the beach - thin tubes attached together in a clump - it looks plastic.

We reach the Komodo National Park by 3 in the afternoon, just as it starts to rain heavily. There is a long jetty to moor alongside. We wait for the rain to subside. When we reach the park, we discover that we are too late to walk the medium or long trek as the rangers are due to finish their day soon, so we have to walk the short trek where there is much less likelihood of us seeing a Komodo dragon. We are frustrated that we did not arrive earlier.

We reach the man made water hole that has been set up to entice buffalos and deer and therefore the dragons to this area, but there are no animals here. The rangers offer to show us the honeybees instead - hardly an exciting substitute. We walk the trail, see a couple of deer and return to the camp in disappointment.

At the camp a Komodo dragon is lounging in the shade. We all take pictures excitedly but must stay together, close to the rangers, in case it decides to attack. It strolls leisurely across the ground around the huts. Its long body and tail are dinosaur-esque, its tongue split like a snake, its feet like gigantic hands and its armoured brown skin is wrinkled and folded where its legs meet its body. A ranger shows us a picture on his phone of his friend's leg, a ranger in the other park, who was bitten by a dragon 2 weeks ago - his ankle is completely mangled and looks like it will require amputation. He is currently in hospital in Bali. A Komodo dragon was hiding beneath the stairs of the hut he was staying in and caught him unawares.

That evening we enjoy a chicken and potato curry, courtesy of the 5 live chickens that were brought onto the boat with us and have now been slaughtered for our supper. We drink beer and play cards. All the Indonesian tourists are hanging out on the deck laughing. Although their English is good enough to integrate with the rest of us, when they form a large group, they all joke together in Indonesian.

On the last day of the boat trip, we visit Rinca Island, inhabited by about 2,000 Komodo dragons. On arrival there are already 5 dragons, near the rangers' huts, that are apparently attracted by the smells emanating from the kitchen. Eddie tells me about a BBC documentary he saw a few years back. Apparently the makers discovered that the dragons were being fed to entice the creatures into the open. I can understand why the rangers might choose to do this. For tourists coming all this way, not seeing a Komodo dragon would cause upset and disappointment and I can imagine some angry customers would demand their money back. The rangers themselves refute this charge. It is strictly prohibited to feed these creatures, as the dragons would become lazy with a lack of urgency to hunt their prey. The natural order would become broken. The Komodo dragon can in fact survive a whole month without eating. The National Park was founded by the Indonesian government specifically, to protect the dragon. They dominate the ecosystem of this environment.

We walk around the island, through the long dry grasses over the hill - Jurassic countryside. We are on the look out for dragons. We have been warned that they are able to run up to 20 km per hour for about 100-150 metres. Apparently the best tactic is to run away from them diagonally as they have difficulty changing direction. Their main hunting technique is to remain still within a camouflaged environment and to await a deer or buffalo to approach them. The buffalos are too big to kill straightaway, but once bitten, the wound will become infected and they will be dead within a 3 week period. It is speculative whether the dragon’s bite is poisonous. Komodo dragons can smell blood from a long distance, so we have already

been warned against entering the park if we are menstruating. However, we do not see any Komodo dragons on our walk. It is mating season so the females will mainly be in hiding and the males searching for them.

Before reaching the main land we stop off at the tiny idyllic Kelor Island - a green hill in the shape of a cone surrounded by pristine white sands. This is our last stop to snorkel and laze on the beach.

At Labuan Bajo port we say goodbye to the Indonesians, who have all booked hotels in town. The rest of us choose to stay on the boat to save one night's accommodation. We shower in town - it's a wonderful feeling to be able to free my hair and skin from the salt. We have dinner in the Italian restaurant that overlooks the harbour. It's a lovely setting with trendy tables and chairs made from reclaimed, colourfully painted wood.

When we return to the boat in the evening, all the beers have been finished, although a few of us should have one or two remaining. I question our tour guide, who tells me it is not his problem, as clearly another passenger must have drunk it. We are highly suspicious after one beer miraculously appears in the crate, which certainly wasn't there before. It adds a slightly sour taste to the end of the trip. We haven't warmed to the tour guide - he hasn't been particularly helpful

or informative on the cruise.

Day 32 - 30 May 14

In the morning we leave a tip for the crew with the captain. They're a nice bunch and have kept the boat very clean. They all have a lot of fun together. It must be a sought after job. They're retuning to Lombok the next day, which will take them 22 hours with no stops. We ask the captain if it's possible to join them, although it would clearly not be above board. However, we feel the price they offer is too high so we choose to stay in Flores a little longer. The cruise has definitely been a success. We’re glad we embarked on this adventure despite the risks – the boat is not equipped with safety boats necessary in the event of an accident, so we had heard a few horror stories regarding this trip. But we have made it safely back onto land!