Komodo Island, Indonesia Sunday March 17
Shipboard Meanderings......March 15-16
We have 2 days at sea before we anchor in Slawi Bay and have to take a tender from the ship to land on Komodo Island. Sailing slowly west through the Timor Sea with Australia to our south and the islands of Indonesia to our north it was a very calm relaxing 2 days. It's still hot, but it doesn't seem as bad, maybe I am finally getting used to it. But as we get closer to the equator the sun seems to get more intense. We have 3 ports in Indonesia, so we decided to exchange some US dollars to Indonesian Rupiah. $1.00 US=14,000 Rupiah. So, exchanging $300.00 US we had about 4,200,000 Rupiah. For about 3 days we were Indonesian millionaires, but it's all in perspective. It was rather fun having all those bills. Indonesia readily takes US currency, but sometimes it's easier to have a little of the local money.
More than half of the ship staff call Indonesia home, and you could feel the excitement among them as we were getting closer to Bali and Java. Many of them are getting off the ship to see loved ones and many families are coming aboard for a visit and lunch. We told our room stewards not to make up our room on those 2 port days so they could have more time with their families. They work so hard taking care of us that I am sure we can manage for 2 days without them.
Komodo Island, Indonesia Sunday March 17 7:00 am-4:00 pm
Komodo National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to the Komodo dragons, which are actually lizards....giant lizards....deadly lizards. There are currently about 5700 of them living on three islands. The bacteria in their saliva is deadly if you don't get the anti venom serum within 24 hrs. If you happen to get bit or chomped on the nearest hospital is 12 hrs away...by boat. They feast on the native Timor deer and water buffalo. First they attack them, then they wait until the venom does it work. When the animal is down, it's time for dinner, bones and all. So....nobody, and I mean nobody, is allowed off the ship unless you have an arranged excursion either through the ship or privately with a park ranger.
We had a 2 hr trek though the park arranged through the ship. At 10 am our group got on the tender for the 10 minute ride to the concrete pier and entrance to the park. It was overcast with a chance of rain and even though it was hot and muggy I wore long jeans and sturdy shoes. You are basically walking through the primitive steamy jungle to find these dragons and I didnt want to have any flesh exposed at their eye level. Every group had a guide at the front explaining things and a guide at the back of the group to keep everyone from wandering or falling behind. The rangers had forked sticks to keep these dragons at bay.....Really! Sticks! Well, alrighty then....off we go. About 1/2 way along the trail the ranger stopped us and told us to keep very quiet. There were 4 of them up ahead and he didn't want to get them excited. I was amazed at how unusually quiet our fellow passengers were in the group. We slowly walked around the lizards while they posed for an awesome photo shoot. Actually they just sat there drooling, and flicking their tongues. I knew they were checking us out. About 5 rangers were surrounding the dragons....armed with their sticks of course, and keeping the stupid people from getting closer. I swear, some people must have thought we were at the zoo. I'm sure a time or two the rangers wanted to use the stick on them instead of the dragons. One of the dragons did get a little frisky and the ranger armed with his stick had to poke him to stop it from getting any closer. Ok, the stick really did work. Actually, I think the dragons know by now who is boss, but they are not in captivity and do have the run of the island. Plus, I don't think they were that hungry. We continued our walk back to the beach listening to the birds and everything that I know was out there crawling around. We even saw a wild boar. We ended the walk back on the beach and the very persistent locals selling very beautiful carved dragons. The bargaining was intense, and we went back to the ship with a few "wooden" specimens.
We have 2 days at sea before we anchor in Slawi Bay and have to take a tender from the ship to land on Komodo Island. Sailing slowly west through the Timor Sea with Australia to our south and the islands of Indonesia to our north it was a very calm relaxing 2 days. It's still hot, but it doesn't seem as bad, maybe I am finally getting used to it. But as we get closer to the equator the sun seems to get more intense. We have 3 ports in Indonesia, so we decided to exchange some US dollars to Indonesian Rupiah. $1.00 US=14,000 Rupiah. So, exchanging $300.00 US we had about 4,200,000 Rupiah. For about 3 days we were Indonesian millionaires, but it's all in perspective. It was rather fun having all those bills. Indonesia readily takes US currency, but sometimes it's easier to have a little of the local money.
More than half of the ship staff call Indonesia home, and you could feel the excitement among them as we were getting closer to Bali and Java. Many of them are getting off the ship to see loved ones and many families are coming aboard for a visit and lunch. We told our room stewards not to make up our room on those 2 port days so they could have more time with their families. They work so hard taking care of us that I am sure we can manage for 2 days without them.
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| Over 4 million Rupiah. |
Komodo Island, Indonesia Sunday March 17 7:00 am-4:00 pm
Komodo National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to the Komodo dragons, which are actually lizards....giant lizards....deadly lizards. There are currently about 5700 of them living on three islands. The bacteria in their saliva is deadly if you don't get the anti venom serum within 24 hrs. If you happen to get bit or chomped on the nearest hospital is 12 hrs away...by boat. They feast on the native Timor deer and water buffalo. First they attack them, then they wait until the venom does it work. When the animal is down, it's time for dinner, bones and all. So....nobody, and I mean nobody, is allowed off the ship unless you have an arranged excursion either through the ship or privately with a park ranger.
We had a 2 hr trek though the park arranged through the ship. At 10 am our group got on the tender for the 10 minute ride to the concrete pier and entrance to the park. It was overcast with a chance of rain and even though it was hot and muggy I wore long jeans and sturdy shoes. You are basically walking through the primitive steamy jungle to find these dragons and I didnt want to have any flesh exposed at their eye level. Every group had a guide at the front explaining things and a guide at the back of the group to keep everyone from wandering or falling behind. The rangers had forked sticks to keep these dragons at bay.....Really! Sticks! Well, alrighty then....off we go. About 1/2 way along the trail the ranger stopped us and told us to keep very quiet. There were 4 of them up ahead and he didn't want to get them excited. I was amazed at how unusually quiet our fellow passengers were in the group. We slowly walked around the lizards while they posed for an awesome photo shoot. Actually they just sat there drooling, and flicking their tongues. I knew they were checking us out. About 5 rangers were surrounding the dragons....armed with their sticks of course, and keeping the stupid people from getting closer. I swear, some people must have thought we were at the zoo. I'm sure a time or two the rangers wanted to use the stick on them instead of the dragons. One of the dragons did get a little frisky and the ranger armed with his stick had to poke him to stop it from getting any closer. Ok, the stick really did work. Actually, I think the dragons know by now who is boss, but they are not in captivity and do have the run of the island. Plus, I don't think they were that hungry. We continued our walk back to the beach listening to the birds and everything that I know was out there crawling around. We even saw a wild boar. We ended the walk back on the beach and the very persistent locals selling very beautiful carved dragons. The bargaining was intense, and we went back to the ship with a few "wooden" specimens.
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| Park Entrance |
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| On the pier with some local kids selling dragons |
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| The beaches are beautiful |
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| Komodos held at bay by the rangers with sticks |
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| I know he was looking at me |
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| The locals really are talented |
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| Dinner....Timor deer with one antler. I think he had a run-in with a dragon and won |
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