Old Fokker & Komodo Dragons

So after couple of resting days at rainy Bali we have arrived to Flores. It’s a small island about 1,5h flight east Bali. Flight , hmmm almost handmade tickets named Ewa & Pawel, old Fokker 50, no hand luggage restriction and a good advice : take all your valuables on board , we enjoyed it ! It’s a part of our trip which is organized by local guide Adrian ( Ewa found him in the net ) so I am fully relaxed. So far so good – he met us at the airport ( almost at the runway ). One of the key reasons why we are here is to see Komodo Dragons. It’s the only place worldwide where you can see lizards which are almost 3m long. The population is about 2000 and they live on two islands: Komodo and Rinca close to Flores. Why they exist only on and around Komodo is a mystery as is why males outnumber females by 3.4 to 1. We started our journey from the local harbor early in the morning today. I think that our boat was even older than Fokker 50 but captain and crew (1) were very friendly and it looked like they know what they are doing . Two hours of tuk-tuk and pyr-pyr, one fast propeller repair and we arrived to Rinca. As it’s a national park I received 10 different tickets, confirmations ( all in the local language ) , paid – the most important part and we could go to the bush with the local guide. Surprise, surprise we saw around 10 of them walking , hunting and relaxing in the water. They are really big and can eat even buffalo or deer living at the same island. They bite it and wait for the potent bacteria their mounts contain to take effect – it can take up to 2 weeks before a buffalo die , but then they have really a lot of food ! Two more hours of tuk-tuk and pyr-pyr , good on board lunch, short snorkeling and we are back in Labuanbajo. Actually we are in our cottage waiting for electricity, they said that it should be in the evening but I forgot to ask if today.

Photos, Zdjęcia