July 19 - Komodo dragons - drugged or not?

July 19 Day 155

                The boat was stopped when we got up and indeed, the remaining days were calm and no more seasickness was to be had.  Our guide suggested to us after breakfast that we could go to Komodo Island first, while the other boats were at the Pink Beach and beat the crowds.  This sounded like a good idea to us, so off we chugged.

                The island had a proper dock and we went to the receiving area, which had some rules, a big dragon statue, washrooms and other cabins and a large map of the area.  We had three guides with our group and had to decide whether to take the long, short or medium path.  We opted for the long, figuring that would maximize our chances of spotting the dragon.

                We walked along the path with guides at the front, rear and middle of our group.  The island was hot and arid with lots of brown grass and dust.  We were shown a komodo nest, which was a big mound of dirt.  We were told that upon hatching the dragons live in the trees for two years to keep from being eaten by their parents.

                The guide at the back kept going off the trail to look for dragons and we left the long path to go to a likely area but what we got was an hour long hike that was very hot but dragonless.  We saw some wild pigs running away from us and were told that they had been brought to the island as dragon food, lucky them.

                As we came back to the park area we walked by two deer who just looked at us even though we were only a few metres away from them, making us wonder if there was something wrong with them.  Beside the main cafe were two dragons and speculation was that they were drugged and kept close to services do that tourists could be sure of at least seeing something and then spend their money on overpriced food.  They were pretty sluggish but the guides stayed between the tourists and the beasts.  Not having seen them in the wild, it was hard to tell how sluggish they were compared to normal but their location was awfully suspect.

                We walked back through the gauntlet of souvenir vendors and made it back to our boat, disappointed but safe.  We headed back to the pink beach which our sister ships had left but others were exploring.  Our guide pointed us in the direction of he best snorkeling and said that we could walk along the beach if we wanted to.  The snorkeling was good, with the highlight being a cluster of rainbow parrot fish and the beach was nice but unspectacular.  The pink colour was subtle, nowhere near as impressive as PEI beaches.

                After docking in the area for a bit we headed out in late afternoon to XX Island, which was famous for its sunset views.  Our transfer to the beach was slow as our boat could only do 4 people at a time but other boats helped once they landed their own passengers.  We saw deer walking along this beach as well and they also let us come close to us as they munched on discarded coconuts and other organic waste.

                The path up the hill started off very well set with clear steps and the occasional platform to view the surroundings.  We stopped off just before the path got rougher on a high platform with and almost 360 degree view of the area.  people coming down from the higher perch told us that it was slightly obstructed and we had the better view anyway, which consoled us.

                The view was quite spectacular.  The strangely shaped island allowed you to see three bays of varying hues of white and blue with the cloudy setting sun behind.  The air was clear and cool and it was a spectacular place with lots of space for everyone from the various ships to stake a decent place.  We hung out and chatted with the two British guys and took some nice pictures.  The only drawback was that the German-New Zealand contingent from our boat with the visible buttocks sat next to us with their Bluetooth and chainsmoked, but we didn't let it ruin the moment.

                We went back down before it got too dark and met the woman I had spoken to on the boat in rough seas the day before.  She and Meg hit it off immediately and Meg gave her extensive career advice that she seemed to appreciate.

                We walked by the docile deer and waited our turn to be shuttled back to the boat.  After such a busy day the dinner feeding frenzy was more voracious than normal and little was left.  This might also have been due to the fact that no one was seasick and everyone was eating.  We compared notes for the day and it turned out our boat had made the wrong decision as the others had seen several dragons on their hikes after we had left the island.  Oh well.

                We went to bed at a decent time, as fatigue not sickness guided the decision.  There was no motor to drown out the people on the open deck but our earbuds worked wonders and we slept well once again.

Meg greets the symbolic dragon.

I bravely crouch in the vicinity of a real one.

The three bays, count 'em!