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Published: October 18th 2011
Awaking in Lombok for the last time, we avoided the damage caused by the Bali earthquake, and felt a mild but nevertheless disconcerting tremor. There was a small aftershock, moments after we, and the Senggigi locals, ran out onto the relative safety of the street.
We then spent a very interesting and exciting four days and three nights aboard a small boat, with a crew of five Lombok locals and a motley menagerie mainly from some of Europe’s smaller nations and South America.
This included an amusingly unhinged Swiss, Ephraim, whose mission it seemed to be to keep everyone entertained, with animal impressions, particularly that of the cockerel, and with general tomfoolery. On the last day he even persuaded the captain to let him pilot the boat. Every day, he wore a different makeshift earring in his right ear, e.g. a piece of coral, a flower, and an actual earring.
There were two tattooed Danes, who were remarkable for their lack of remarkableness, and complete lack of involvement. Their days were passed by smoking and sleeping.
A home-grown talent, Fainque (inevitably spelled incorrectly), from Jakarta, joined us, and insisted on photographing everything and everyone, often with him
in the picture. No mundane sight or site was left undocumented by his lens.
From Belgium, via Zanzibar, we had tanned Y., who quietly gave off the impression of having seen the turbulent side of life. He was probably in his late forties, and worked as a project manager in construction on the "Spice Island". Like an army officer returning from a long tour of journey, he seemed reluctant to speak in detail about many of his experiences.
We were hypnotised by the scenery and seascape. We watched the nights turn into day, through the sweltering peak of noon, and back again. We spoke about the stars, constellations and planets, noting Venus’ appearance in the western sky as the "Evening Star", Jupiter rising majestically in the east sometime later, Scorpio appearing vividly before disappearing below the horizon, to be replaced in our field of vision by Sagittarius and the sprawl of the Milky Way, before the late rising waning moon out-shone them all.
Arguably the principle reason for this boat trip, however, was to see real Earth-bound animals, notably the famed Komodo dragon. We were not disappointed.
The islands of Komodo and Rinca are home to
around 90% of these huge lizards, the world’s largest, at three metres long. They eat the local deer, wild boar, huge water buffalo, and even their own young.
We had long, hot, dusty walks around the two islands, with spectacular views of steep hills and sparkling coves, only to find the larger proportion of dragons around the rangers’ accommodation and café. It was fantastic though, to see some "Ora", in their more natural habitat – camouflaged by small pools of water, and under the shade of large rocks and trees – waiting to pounce on unsuspecting animals, or tourists.
At sea, and in the large bay to the east of Komodo, we also saw plenty of dolphins, although they largely ignored us, and seemed unwilling to put on much of a show. Flying fish were keener to get our attention, including one that jumped a good three metres high out of the water, at the apex of a stunning arc.
Eagles, coloured brown and white, soared above, looking down in interest at the huge colony of flying foxes – massive bats – that stirred en masse from the mangrove.
We stopped at pristine bays and beaches
on the hard-to-reach Pulau Moyo and Pulau Satonda, north of Sumbawa’s largely uninhabited north coast, as well as in the Komodo national park. Under water, the wildlife was just as impressive, and made for excellent snorkelling.
The only downsides to an otherwise excellent trip were the uncomfortable and rather cramped conditions, and an epic 16 hour overnight journey. During this odyssey, the wind picked up and the sea became rough, causing our boat to bob and lurch like jetsam in the swell. The situation was exacerbated by the dark of night, the tricks it plays on one’s mind, and the obvious difficulties it presents to any potential sea rescue. Thankfully, none were needed, the sea calmed, we continued, and finally drifted off to sleep, eventually to safely wake for another exciting day.
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heather
non-member comment
watch out for those dragons...
Sounds good so far, apparently those dragons can bite you then walk away and the poison from the bite can take about 3 weeks to work but you do die in the end. Not a nice way to go. Also what I want to know is where is all your stuff did it go on the boat trip too?!!! Hopefully the Danes will carry it for you! hxx