Komodo Island

We met a 6am at the travel agency in Labuan Bajo. I left my baggage there for the following 2 days, but I highly not recommend this to you!!! My baggage was closed with two lockers and both of them were open when I picked up my stuff. Nothing was stolen, but there were a lot of suspicous guys around the agency and I am not sure if they really take care about the stored luggage.
Though, the agency and espacially the french lady were very kindly, well informed and also very endavoured to fullfill each desire. I will highly recommend the agency, please don`t missunderstood me!
After the payment we took the snorkeling gear with us and walked a shortcut to the harbor where the crew of the small boat already waited for us.
It was a very warm welcome on board an so we started in our adventure, exploring the Komodo National Park.
While we were off to the sea, they served us a good coffee and tea and some cookies for breakfast.
My desire was to change the schedule of the trip into the following:
I wanted to visit Komodo Island first, because it is the furthest from Labuan Bajo and I would visit Rinca Island very early in the morning on the second day . So, first Komodo, expect arrival time around noon, spending there 1,5-2h for a walk with a ranger around the area. Then having a stop at the already passed Red Beach near the pier of Komodo Island. Then we have the Calong Island with the Flying Foxes on the schedule and staying close to this small island overnight onboard . The second day should start with a visit of Rinca Island, because around 6-7am the dragons should be most active. After a long walk we would make another stop on the way back to Labuan Bajo for snorkeling.
The passage takes a long time, not only because of some strong drifts in the sea, the long way and at least the slow speed of the boat too. We were all happy about our choice of this boat. On the other checked boat we were not able to stand upright. Our boat offers a big covered area and the crew was very friendly and served us good local food and did also fishing for our meals. They offered delicious pineapples and other fruits as well.
We could see the fishermans village along the bay of Komodo Island and it wasn`t a very pleasant impression. It looked very dirty with a lot of waste and later a tourist from the UK confirmed this. He was doing a trip with his mistress from Bali. He also told me about his successful business with renting apartments in Nusa Dua, the peninsula of Bali.
I was very surprised when we arrived in Komodo Island, because it wasn`t crowdy there. It should be not the high season, they told us, but anyway.......such a good weather and no business at the National Park????
We payed our entrance fee for the National Park and also a fee for each camera. The officials asked us if we want to do snorkeling at the Red Beach. If, he told us, it should be better to pay the fee of 60000Rp, because the police would very often check this beach.
Honestly, I don`t believe it, because it is so far away and we all agreed that it wasn`t so interessting to snorkel there.
Anyway we got a ranger and we went on a two hour trip around the NP. He was very engaged to tell us everything about the dragons and their behaviour and environment here on this Island.
Just a few hundred meters later, I didn`t recognize them first, he showed us a few dragons lying under a tree.
They looked very lazy and so I tried to get very close pictures. Later the ranger tried to get them a little bit in action by making some noise with a branch of a tree. And.......look, it worked. The lazy dragons moved and suddenly they appear totally different.
This island seems to be a ideal habitat for deers. Here are so many, I guess too much to get eaten by the dragons. And we saw also boars.
When we got back to the beach zone there is also an accommodation and also the kitchen. The buildings are on small poles, so the cool breeze can get under the building and cool them down. But not only the building is participating of that, also the dragons.
They love to hang around the kitchen area and sometimes you will find them on the stairs too. But in fact, they love the cool places under the buildings. I don`t wanna walk around the buildings at nighttime......
At least I would say Komdo Island is not a visit worth. It is a very dry island, not lush and it was so hot during the walk around and everything looked same. Nothing special to see when we visit the NP.
Komodo Island