While we were sad to leave our island paradise on Gili Air, we were really excited for the Komodo tour we had booked. When we first did our research on Indonesia from the comfort of our old apartment in Minneapolis, a trip to Komodo National Park was high on our list of things we wanted to do (well, it was high on Carson's list; Mel thought the scenery looked incredible, but the idea of being around a bunch of killer lizards is kind of her nightmare). By the time we got to Indonesia, we thought we might have to skip a trip to Komodo on this trip since it can be hard to get to and all the tours we could find online were fancy and expensive. However, we kept meeting people in hostels who had done it, and they all told us the same thing - do the tour with Wanua Adventures, it's cheap, safe, and incredible! So, after hearing about 20 backpackers tell us it was the highlight of their time in Indonesia, we knew we had to make it work. We booked the four day/three night boat tour that starts on Lombok and slowly makes its way to the island of Flores, with lots of stops at islands along the way, and of course, a visit to Komodo National Park. Even better, because we weren't traveling in luxury (we'll get into that more later), we were only paying $200 each for the whole trip (food included!).
The day our tour was set to start, we took the first local longboat of the morning from Gili Air to Bangel Harbor on Lombok. The boat was small and cramped, but luckily the boat ride was only about 30 minutes and it wasn’t too rocky in the waves. When we arrived on Lombok, we met up with someone from Wanua, who directed us and a French couple to pack our bags and ourselves onto a small horse-drawn carriage that would take us the the Wanua offices. We'd taken a lot of forms of transport by this point, but horse-drawn buggy along the side of a road that also had vehicle traffic was a first for us. We were happy to get out of the cramped buggy and check in to the tour when we made it to the office. We arrived a bit early, so we had breakfast and played cards until everyone else arrived and was checked in.
After a brief overview of the tour route and a safety talk, we all piled into vans and were off to the harbor on the east side of the island. Unfortunately, we were in a really old van with shoddy A/C and had to sit in the back, so about two hours into the three hour drive, Carson started to feel car sick from the hot car and bumpy roads. We finally made it, and felt much better once we were back in the fresh air. We boarded the boat that was to be our home for the next four days and grabbed our "beds." We knew what we had signed up for after talking to everyone who had done this tour, but it was still pretty funny to be faced with the reality. For the next four days, we would be sleeping on the covered, but open air deck of the boat with 30 of our new friends. Our "beds" were just sleeping mats on the floors right next to others, and we were given a small pillow and a single sheet. The room was cramped, so everyone put what they thought they would need for the next few days into smaller bags, and larger bags were stowed in storage under the boat. Our larger bags were actually stored in the captain’s quarters since we had electronics in them which made us feel better than having them stored where they could potentially get wet. We acquainted ourselves with the rest of the boat- three outside deck levels where we could hang out (no chairs or anything to sit on), a lower inside cabin with some bench seating around the perimeter where food would be served, two bathrooms (flushing mechanism involved scooping water from a bucket into the toilet until the waste went down), and a single "shower" on the outside deck (intended only for rinsing since there was no privacy). There were of course captain and crew quarters and a kitchen, but we did not go to these areas. There were also four "private cabins" that some couples had reserved for more money. We opted not to go for these when we booked because we had heard how cramped they were and how they were right next to the engine room so they could get very loud and hot. In retrospect, they were small and cramped, but didn't seem that bad. We didn't regret our decision to sleep on the deck level, though.
As we all got settled in, we set sail on what was already a beautiful sunny afternoon. Soon after we set sail, we were fed our first lunch; it was served buffet style, as all of our lunches and dinners would be, and it was surprisingly good and filling. We had rice (that was jam packed into a water cooler), chicken, noodles, and veggies, and there was plenty to go around. We spent the first few hours relaxing and meeting some of the other travelers. There were people from all over, including Britain, France, the Netherlands, Australia, Slovenia, and more (though we were the only Americans). The boat stopped after a few hours on the small island of Pulau Kenawa. The island is uninhabited and mostly consists of grassland and one large hill. Most of us immediately got in the water and soaked up the salt and sun and got to know each other more. We hit it off early with two sisters from Slovenia, Laura and Lea, and we ended up hanging out with them a lot over the next few days. After a while, we all climbed up the hill to watch the sunset over the ocean and surrounding islands, which was windy but beautiful! After sunset, we made our way back to the small boat that took us to/from the bigger boat to shore. We had another good meal, and headed off to bed while the boat sailed through the night to Saleh Bay, where we hoped to be greeted by whale sharks in the morning. All things considered, we slept fine on the deck (even though it was pretty warm), but the seas were calm, so nobody was feeling sick. Both of us woke up at various points in the night to use the bathroom, and on the way to the lower deck we both stopped to appreciate the clear sky and all of the stars that were out. Melissa even made a side trip up to the top deck for about 15 minutes to stare at the sky, and she saw some shooting stars.
At 5:30am the next morning, one of the Australian girls woke everyone up by yelling that there were whale sharks outside the boat. Most of us jumped off our sleeping mats, and made out way to the deck to see the sunrise and watch two massive whale sharks swimming around our boat. Our boat was docked near another company's tour boat and a fishing boat. The whale sharks are known to hang around in this bay because they are attracted to the fishing boats that are here, so the tour companies know that. Because of this, it didn't feel like the most authentic experience of seeing one in the wild, but they were so incredible we let it go. After admiring the sharks from above for a while, the crew told us all to get in the water and swim with them, which most of us did. We quickly changed, grabbed snorkels, and hopped in. From the water, we got a better look at the two whale sharks, and could see that one was way larger than the other. It was crazy to be in the water with such large mammals swimming. They were even larger than we expected, and it was like swimming near a bus. While whale sharks are harmless to humans, we all freaked out a little when one would turn and you would see it's face and it's massive mouth, so everyone kept a respectful distance. The whole thing was so surreal!
After snorkeling, we all got back on the boat and set off toward Komodo Island. Today was the most "boring" of the tour, as we spent most of the day just sailing. Everyone spent the day mostly hanging out on the decks, sleeping, reading, playing cards, and chatting. We did see a few pods of black dolphins near the boat as we sailed which was cool. We also stopped sailing for a brief while and were allowed to jump off the boat and hang out in the water for a little while which was a nice break. We sailed through the night again in order to be one of the first boats at Komodo Island the next day. We knew from Juliette who had done the tour a few days before us that this night could get rough since we were sailing through more open ocean rather than secluded bays. Our crew confirmed this and were handing out sea sickness tablets in advance which Carson and some others gladly accepted. During the night, the boat definitely got rocky but was not as bad as we anticipated, and Carson didn't feel sick. We again had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night which was a little more challenging navigating the bodies sleeping on the floor with the boat careening back and forth, but it was still well worth it for the stars (though Mel skipped the top deck this time so she wouldn't go overboard!).
We awoke the next morning to the slow humming of the engine shutting of. The sea was calm, and we had docked at Komodo Island for sunrise. Since we had arrived in the night, it was only our boat and one mini cruise ship that were docked. After our typical breakfast of banana pancakes, we all got off the boat and walked along the pier to start our trekking tour. On the way, we saw a wild boar along the beach, and took this as a good sign that we might get lucky with wildlife spotting. Our group met up with our three local tour guides who were natives of the island. This was interesting in itself, since we didn't know people also inhabited this island. The island was surprisingly desert-like and barren, and it wasn't very green. Our group had three local guides who spaced themselves out one in front, middle, and back of the group as we walked around. They each carried long sticks and were on the lookout for the Komodo dragons. Apparently the sticks can subdue an aggressive dragon if you know where in its head to hit it (we really hoped it wouldn't come to that). We started our hike, and Mel was pretty on edge so she hung close to one of the guides. Up front, they told us that there was no guarantee we would see the dragons, but we saw a small adolescent Komodo dragon right away and a nearby Timor Deer. We continued to walk, and pretty quickly we saw another dragon. This one was MASSIVE and pretty terrifying. It was the largest we would see that day and was about 7-8 feet long. Luckily the lizard was just laying around relaxing and unbothered by our presence, though we all definitely kept our distance anyway. Eventually this lizard eventually got up and slowly walked along the trail away from our group (ask us in person to see the video of it walking, you won't believe it). We were all awestruck by this one and couldn't believe how big it was. Our guides told us this was not even the biggest the lizards could get, and this one was probably just a little larger than average which was hard to believe (turns out they can get up to 10 feet long and weigh over 300 pounds after a meal). We learned a lot of other interesting/scary facts about the dragons, including that they can live up to 30 years and are only the size of geckos when they are born; after they hatch, they have to almost immediately climb up trees where they spend most of their first few years to avoid predators, which include other mature dragons that will eat them. They can also sprint fast when they want to, which was hard to believe after seeing how clumsily and slowly the large dragon walked away. We also learned some interesting things about how they attack and kill their prey, fight with each other, and mate, which let's just say is aggressive and not pretty. Luckily, we didn't see any of this, but we did see a few smaller dragons get a little territorial with each other near the beach. As the tour went on, we saw five more dragons which was more than normal (typically it's more common to see 1-3) so we were happy and in shock at the same time. A couple of the final dragons we saw weren't even on the wooded trail, but just down by the beach near the dock and the souvenir stands that the local villagers have set up. In fact, there were a few really young local kids playing in the sand and splashing around in the water, and a smaller dragon started coming up to them. The kids seemed to know to stay away from the lizards and started yelling, and one of the local adults went up to the lizard and scared it away. It was incredible to see how unfazed he was, and it was like he was shooing away a pesky squirrel or something. Aside from seeing the dragons, Carson was also able to identify some new birds, including an Green Imperial Dove which is the size of a small hawk with green wings. While we wished we could have explored more of the island with our guides, we had to get back to the boat to head to Pink Beach. By the time we left, there were more boats and even a massive cruise ship docked at the port, so we were really glad we were able to explore the island in relative solitude before more groups arrived.
After a short 40 minute boat ride we made it to the Pink Beach on Padar Island. We took the small boat to the shore, set our things down at a shaded bar, and walked the beach. The beach was beautiful and isolated with vibrant pink sand that was from broken red coral. We had seen pictures of it, and assumed it wouldn't really be that pink in person, but it actually was which was so cool. We relaxed, snorkeled, and swam on the beach. The beach waters had a lot of mini jellyfish that didn't sting but made the water a little less visible. We saw some new fish snorkeling among the reef and then headed back to the boat for lunch (or as the crew liked to call it- "yum yum time").
Our next destination that afternoon was a viewpoint on the other side of Padar Island. Here we took the small boat to a high dock, climbed up the dock to the beach and then hiked up a steep path to a beautiful sunset view of Padar Island and other surrounding islands. We hiked back down to the boat for dinner and then cruised three hours to a nice spot to anchor until morning. As we cruised the waters in the evening we could see large thunderstorms in the distance but luckily the storms stayed away from us and the boat stayed calm.
The next morning after breakfast we got ready to snorkel and hopefully see sea turtles and more reef fish. The smaller boat took us out in small groups into the bay where we would snorkel. Melissa was eager to get in the water, so she went in one of the first groups and Carson was going to go in one of the later groups. This snorkeling adventure was definitely more of a misadventure. To start, Mel slipped getting down the ladder into the small boat and really knocked her shin bone (it was fine, but she had a gnarly bruise for weeks). Then, Mel and her group were were dropped off in the water, and began snorkeling, and pretty quickly saw a green sea turtle! Unfortunately, they realized quickly that there were also a ton of little jellies in the water with them that were starting to sting. They were small, so they weren't very painful, but it was uncomfortable and annoying. Since the small boat had gone back to the big boat to get another group, their only choice was to either wait for the boat to come back, or just swim themselves back to the big boat. Sitting still and getting stung didn't appeal to anyone, so they all opted to swim ~15 minutes back to the big boat and embrace the stings. While swimming, Mel saw another green turtle through the haze of the jellyfish cloud which was pretty cool and at least made it a little bit worth it. They all made it back to the boat and warned everyone about the jellyfish, and luckily the rest of the people on the boat didn't go out in the water. Mel didn't have any lingering spots or reactions to the stings, but a couple of people had some small welts where they were stung.
Based on the jellyfish conditions, we all elected to move on to the next stop on Kelor Island. Here we relaxed, snorkeled, and swam with baby black tip reef sharks. The sharks were about a foot long so they were harmless, but they were really neat. We saw some beautiful reef fish, and Mel saw some clownfish and Carson saw a small gray stingray which was exciting. The snorkeling conditions eventually got worse as more clouds of jellyfish moved in so we stopped and just enjoyed hanging out on the beach.
We finally made our way back to the boat for a final lunch and cruised to our final destination of Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores. We docked alongside two other boats and said our goodbyes to our new friends. We had to climb up and through two boats to get to the pier and then found a "taxi" (old van with a missing door) to take us to our guesthouse. We took long and much needed showers, relaxed, and headed to dinner where we had barbeque pork and rice. It was a delicious last Indonesian dinner. On the walk back to our guesthouse, we heard lots of cheering coming from a building so we walked over to check it out and saw a large indoor gym with people of all ages playing badminton. It was fun to watch, and Carson was hoping someone would ask him to play for a bit but sadly that didn't happen. We were planning to go to a bar that night and get drinks with our boat mates, but our guesthouse was farther out from town, and we had some issues with getting a ride there so we opted to just stayed in since we had an early flight out to Thailand.
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