Labuan Bajo, Indonesia– As the boat pulled closer to the island things seemed to look a little eerie or maybe it was just the combination of Dramamine and malaria pills that I was doped up on. All that was missing was Sir Richard Attenborough coming out to greet us with,”Welcome to Komodo Park!”
Perhaps it was from watching those National Geographic specials when I was a kid, but as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to see a komodo dragon in the wild. Komodos only exist on Rinca and Komodo Islands in Indonesia. No trips to the zoo. No Jurassic Park themed ride at Universal Studios for me either. I wanted my dinosaurs to be real. In January of 2013 I finally got my chance. “Why would anyone ever want to go there?” a friend asks. “It’s on my bucket list. It’s something I just have to do.” I argue.
Getting to Komodo is not easy. Thirty hours by air, including two transfers. Los Angeles to Tokyo. Tokyo to Singapore. Singapore to Bali. Then a commuter flight to the tiny island of Labuan Bajo and another two days by boat. My five star accommodations–I get to sleep in the hull of that rickety old boat.
Rinca is our first stop on this two day journey. As I hop off the boat my ranger guide Rumba, a tall, lanky, twenty something year old Indonesian man greets me. He explains the rules of the park and shows me the statistics. In 2012 two tourists were attacked by komodos, I wasn’t going to be the first of 2013. “In my opinion, the green vipers and cobras are more dangerous. At least you can see the komodos coming,” Rumba warns.
I am given a choice of a short and easy, medium or long trek. Since I may never get here again in my lifetime, I decide to take the long trek. Along the trail we spot many monkeys. Komodos feast on monkeys, deer, wild boar, water buffalo and even each other. Their bite is so toxic, that even if the victim escapes it will die a short time later. “And their sense of smell is so keen, they can smell a woman having her period up to five kilometers away, ” Rumba claims.
The trek on Rinca takes just over two and a half hours. We see around a dozen or so, small to medium sized komodos. Most of them just being lazy and taking in the sun. It’s still a pretty cool site. I hope I get a chance to see some big dragons when we get to Komodo Island tomorrow. “They have more food sources there, so they grow bigger, ” Rumba explains. As we complete our trek, Rumba confesses to me that he’s only been doing this for about a year. “I apologize if I had any weaknesses in my presentation,” he says. “No you were outstanding and this place is amazing,” I reply.
I don’t think I could be a good sailor, because sleeping on a boat is uncomfortable. At 7:00 am, the next day we arrive at Komodo Island. On the dock I am greeted by another Indonesian ranger guide. This one calls himself “Jack.” He talks fast and walks fast too. Again I have chosen to go on the longer and more challenging trek. I have trouble keeping up with Jack’s quick pace though on the rough terrain. “You move like my father,” Jack jokes.
On the trek we stop by an old stand that up until the 1990’s was used to entertain tourists by feeding the komodos a live goat. The practice was stopped because it was cruel and made the dragons lazy. “They would just eat the goats instead of hunting for their own food,” Jack explained.
A few minutes into our trek, we see a group of deer running, and then he appears, a large male komodo. He must be at least nine or ten feet long. Jack begins to bang his trekking stick on the ground in order to get the dragon’s attention. It begins to move toward us. “Give me your camera,” Jack yells. I hand the camera over to him. “Now start to walk behind him and I’ll get a picture of you,” he instructs me. I’m scared shitless. I can barely move. That dragon is only about 15-20 meters from me and if he wants, he could have me for breakfast, I slowly move a little closer, but instead he just sort of ignores me and goes on about his business. Rejected by a komodo dragon? Can you believe it?
Up a hill we spot another komodo dragon. This one smaller than the other but it is a large female. “They are faster and more aggressive than males because they have to protect their nests, ” Jack says. Later we spot three more on the beach. This journey has been everything I had hoped for and more. Komodo dragons are wild animals. If you go, there is no guarantee that you will ever see one. Many tourist don’t. I got to see at least 17 or 18 in the two days I was there. I am a lucky person indeed.
If You’re Going: Bring a strong mosquito repellent with DEET. If the komodos don’t eat you, the mosquitoes will. Also Calamine lotion or Neosporin is good, because you’ll get cuts and scrapes. Have lots of cash on hand, I’d forgotten in these small towns how hard it is to find ATMs or anyone who takes VISA. I did all the arrangements on my own. I booked the flight from Bali, got the chartered boat. I’m sure I saved at least a few hundred dollars by cutting out the middle man, but it takes a lot of persistence and luck. It might a lot easier to do through an agent beforehand. The boat won’t go if the weather and seas are bad and again these are wild animals, so there is no guarantee you will ever see a komodo dragon.