It’s 4:30 AM in Labuan Bajo, a little port town on the west coast of Flores island, Indonesia, when the silence of the pre-dawn darkness is broken by a single, plaintive voice. The mussein from the nearby mosque is calling the faithful to prayer. His voice is high, almost feminine, and amplified by a loudspeaker to ensure that nobody in town is going to remain abed. Soon another, much lower voice from a more distant mosque, joins him. Before long there are half a dozen voices filling the air with a cacophony of prayer.
It’s time to go see the dragons.
The call to prayer - at 4:30 AM! It was lovely, loud, and lasted half an hour.
The view of Labuan Bajo harbor from the deck of our funky hotel
At the dock in Labuan Bajo we climb aboard a small wooden boat with our friends Sarah, Kim, and Tom, and head off into the Komodo archipelago. As the sun rises, the water turns an otherworldly blue, and countless little islands reveal themselves. The day before we were in Bali, a tropical paradise of rainforest and rice paddies. Today we are winding our way past rugged, grass clad volcanic islands, where the only trees are found in stream valleys and the upland interiors. Somewhere out there, among these many reef-fringed islets, are Komodo and Rinca – the home islands of the legendary Komodo dragon.
Our campsite on Sebayur island
Unfortunately for us, July is mating season, so most of the dragons have left the coastal areas and have ventured deep into the forested upland ravines, leaving us little hope of spotting them. On Komodo, our guide carries a long, forked stick, just in case a lizard encounter goes bad. It is unusual for visitors to be attacked, but when it does happen, it doesn’t end well. Komodo dragons have a mouth full of bacteria and venom, and they tend to eat their prey bones and all. As we walk the trails, out guide points out dragon poop. It looks like ashes on the ground – everything digested except for a few minerals. Each time we near the top of a rise, the guide slows down and cautiously peers over the top. I assume that people who don’t do this end up as ash-like spots on the ground.
Check out Jen's dragon stick.
Despite the fact that it is mating season, we still manage to spot a few dragons. As you would expect, they are huge. They bask in the sun, motionless. If you think it would be boring to look at a giant lizard lying on the ground, you are wrong. These things are capable or sprinting at over 35 mph, and the slightest movement – a turn of the head, an uncurling of the tail – causes our hearts to race. These are vicious predators that eat everything (including their own young, which spend the first two years of their lives cowering in the trees until they are big enough to defend themselves), so they have to be treated with respect. Fortunately our guides have an intuitive understanding of when it is okay to get close to the dragons, and when it’s not. Heading back to the boat we pass through a village and notice that the houses are built on stilts to keep the dragons from eating the inhabitants as a midnight snack. This would be a strange place to grow up.
As much as Komodo dragons are the reason that tourists venture to this remote corner of Indonesia, it’s the vibrant reefs that really make this place so spectacular. We snorkeled many times during the three days we spent in the archipelago, and saw lots of wonderful underwater wildlife (manta rays, eagle rays, sting rays, sea turtles, lion fish, clown fish, and countless other species of reef fish), but what sets this place apart from other dive spots is the rich diversity of its healthy coral. Everywhere you look you are treated to beautiful, colorful corals, fuzzy with active polyps that sway with the currents.
The trip we booked that involved camping on a small island. It was great to be able to go ashore at the end of the day, and watch the sunset from beach chairs with no one else around. Most of the world’s active volcanoes are found in Indonesia, and from our little cove we could see plumes of steam rising from the crater of Mt. Sangeang. One evening we were even fortunate enough to see the red lava while looking through binoculars. Jen and I are fans of volcanoes, and there are several more in future for us on this trip.
Steam rising from Mt Sangeang
We spent three days in these magical islands with our son Jake, and our friends Sarah, Kim, and Tom. But as good as it was, other parts of Indonesia beckoned. As a final treat, as we headed back to the airport in Labuan Bajo, we stopped to watch thousands of giant flying fox fruit bats leaving the mangroves at sunset on their way to the interior of Flores island.
Bats departing Kalong island at sunset
Bali is on many people’s travel wish list. If it is on yours – go! And if you do, consider a side trip to see islands of Komodo National Park.
