Komodos and the indian sea
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Komodo National Park,
West Nusa Tenggara,
Indonesia
Friday, June 6, 2008
6/6/2008
So...I left Senggigi on Monday after having an amazing feast the night before of fresh fish with the french girl that I met (less than $3), and met up with my group who I was to be on the boat with to Komodo Island. There were 16 of us! 4 polish, 2 americans, 2 italian, 2 french, 2 swiss, 3 sweedish, and me. Note...I was the only one traveling alone and not as a couple or in a group. We took off from Lombok on our boat; an old rather tiny boat for 16 people, and 5 crew members. It was beautiful being on the ocean, I began to relax into the feeling of being on a boat for four days, and I fell asleep to the sound of the waves. That is, until 3am, when the helicopter engine was turned on and we began our early morning start. It was still pitch balck out, all of us sleeping on mats in a little loft area on the top of the boat, when the real fun began. Our boat began to rock and sway, but not in a calming manner. My mat slid accross the floor so that I lay smooshed up againt the swiss couple, then back again to the side, where I began my very intimate relationship with the one piece of wood that I could grip onto so as not to flop around the loft. The boat felt like it was going to tip over, and I thought we were all going to drown in the Indian ocean with no life jackets or radios. Needless to say, I was not going to fall back asleep, and found comfort after a couple of hours, with the one of the sweedish girls, who was sitting up and holding on tightly to a pole near the ladder to our sleeping area. I have never been so happy to see the sun come up as I was that morning, and with the sun, the sea became completely calm once again. I shakily climbed down to the deck, the young guys looked and me and laughed, asked me if I wanted a cigarette. The difference between our days and nights, were, excuse the pun; day and night. In the days we stopped at some of the most amazing beaches, found little paradise snorkeling areas and ate fresh fish and fruit, then night would come, and my fear of getting swallowed by the Indian Ocean herself, terrified me. The second night, the sweedish girls and I decided to sleep down on the deck, thinking that we wouldn't be tossed around so much, and also, we had a theory that if the boat tipped, you'd be trapped in the sleeping area upstairs. We found some life jackets near the engine room, and yes-I slept all night in my life jacket, wedged in an area less than one meter long, so that I wouldn't be moved around. Now, I realize..looking back, that perhaps I wasn't thinking very rationally. I know that boats don't just tip over..usually, but in the dark, waves pulling our boat in every direction, my fears most definitely got the best of me. The third day, we reached Komodo Island, went hiking for an hour or so, and saw one exceedingly large Komodo, at least 3 meters long. The next morning, we went to Rinca Isalnd, also part of the Komodo National Park, and we saw at least ten or more dragons. We hiked for about 2 hours, and came accross a water buffalo near death, and the Komodo that had injured it, watched carefully from about ten meters away. Apparently, a dragon will bite and injure a buffalo or pig or deer, and the bacteria in its saliva will poison the animal slowly, they often wait for up to one week until their prey dies, then feast. It was quite amazing, I could have stayed for days just watching them-and when they walk, or more like lumber along, you see just how powerful they really are. From Rinca island we ended in Labuanbajo, and spent one last night on the boat, ANCHORED. Yesterday I woke up at 5am and left the boat, walked out and caught the one and only daily bus to Bajawa-an eleven hour busride. An older lady sat next to me for a couple of hours and struck up a "conversation", that is, she would look at my lonley planet prase book, and ask me questions. She was really sweet, asking me all sorts of different things, my love life being the main focal point. Was I single? Did I have a husband? Was I alone? No man? Not even a prospective boyfriend??!! I answerd every question as best as I could, and she would be silent for a few minutes, looking in the book for a better way to ask me the same question. I saw her looking up phrases under the section for relationship problems, such as, "I don't think this is working," and finally she looked up at me very seriously and said, "Are you seeing someone else?" It was a long bus ride, but at least I had some laughs, and a good picture of her and I on my camera. So today I am going to stay here in Bajawa and go to the hot springs which are very close. When I got here last night it was raining, it's high up in the mountains, so it is quite chilly as well-and I had the most fridgid shower I have ever taken, and the electricity went out in the middle of it. I am really looking forward to a hot shower! Tomorrow I am off to Moni, the base of 3 lakes that apparently change colors and are supposed to be spectacularly beautiful, then I'm thinking I may go to the island of Sumba-so long as I don't have to sleep on the boat, but we shall see. :)
Love to all!
xo Daphne
