Komodo and Flores - Mr Bean in the Village

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The Journey (6th Sep to 8th Sep)

Arrived at Denpasar airport late in the evening coming from Darwin. The immigration officials offer an express service for a bit of extra money and whisk people through the queue... I decided to wait in line. The lady at the X-Ray machine was half asleep and not even paying attention. From there I got a taxi to Kuta and a hotel room, feeling tired as it was 1am Darwin time by now. Kuta is filled with narrow lanes with lots of shops and scooters zooming by.

The next day I went for a walk through Kuta - the beach has big waves and I also stopped by the Bali bombing monument. On the way back I ended up booking transport to Gili Air island just off Lombok, there was no time for breakfast as the shuttle was about to pick me up. The drive was through some picturesque countryside with lots of rice fields and patches of dense forest around rivers. Onto a ferry, I stayed in a room with a bunch of truck drivers, one could speak English very well so we chatted for a long time before he joined the others in a nap. Long wait just outside the port before being picked up by another shuttle to be taken to Senggigi for an overnight stay - we passed many Mosques on the way.

The following day I was picked up by the shuttle bus to be taken the short way to the boats to the Gili islands. There is some stunning scenery along this route - steep hills rise from the beaches with lots of palm trees.

Gili Air (8th Sep to 12th Sep)

Gili Air is a sand island with no cars only bicycles. I found a really nice hotel on the other side of the island and signed up for a couple of dives including a refresher course in the pool as I hadn't dived for around 4 years. The sunset was quite spectacular as Gunung Agung the volcano on Bali can be seen.

The following day I did a couple of proper dives. Highlights of the first dive included Nemo (Clownfish), a Green Sea Turtle which I got very close to before he swam away and a huge sea cucumber, a lot of the coral is dead though because of dynamite fishing. On the second dive highlights included a star fish, scorpion fish, giant clam and a Hawksbill turtle surfacing at the end of the dive to breath.

I made an effort to wake up early for the sunrise as the eastern side has a view of Lombok and the Rinjani volcano. There was also some glowing plankton in the water by the shore. Spent the day doing some snorkeling and getting to see another turtle surface for air. Watched one last sunset before heading back for the dock the following day. What followed was a fast boat trip back to Lombok, bus trip, ferry trip, bus trip (with change to a smaller bus) and finally a long ferry trip with lots of waiting in between. Even though the distances to travel are short the going is always slow with only busy single lane roads - on Lombok we where delayed by processions blocking the road so the trip ended up taking around 30 hours. Island of Palau Bantana - first of the Komodo islands - was stunning as it has steep green hills rising out of the sea and the ferry passed fairly close. Finally made it to Labuan Bajo at around 6pm, huge fleet of Navy boats just outside the town. As it turned out the president of Indonesia was about to visit also so there was no accommodation left.

Ali a travel agent saved the day by allowing me to sleep in his shop. I tried to explain that I had my own sleeping mat so wouldn't need his bed in the back of the shop but his response was that I must sleep in his bed. I was starting to think that maybe camping would be a better option but then he added that he would sleep at his fathers place. The following day would turn out the same with still no accommodation - but his room wasn't bad as it did have a fan, the only downside was no proper shower / toilet. The following day I managed to have a shower at a massage parlor without a massage. First we agreed on a price for the shower, but when I was finished the man didn't take any money.

Diving (13th Sep, 14th and 17th Sep)

I originally planned on doing a live aboard dive trip, however all the trips where also booked out so ended up just booking 9 individual dives over 3 days. The dive boat was quite well setup with lounge areas and we where provided food and tea all the time. Highlights of the first dive included giant trevally sitting still in the water and a Giant Manta just a couple of meters away from me before it glided away. Highlights of the other two dives included White Tip Shark, turtles and a coral rainforest on the last dive. In the evening I took Ali out to dinner, he wanted to have local food but the only option was chicken as there was a 2 hour wait for fish. He ended up calling his father and father's brother for the feed also.

Highlights of the second day of diving included a huge turtle eating large chunks of coral, it didn't bother him / her that I was right behind. Other highlights included underwater caverns, huge eel, puffer fish, and there was lots of coral on all dives today. Finally found a room in the evening but only available for one nights. Had a break from diving for a couple of days to visit Ali's village.

On the last day of diving the highlights included doing a cave swim through and more Manta Rays at Manta point. It took a long time of searching before we finally found some Manta's there.

The Village (15th Sep to 16th Sep)

Ali the travel agent who let me sleep in his office invited me to visit his village which is around 3 hours away. He only gets to visit once a month to take money back to his family, he is only paid commission on sales he makes so some days he doesn't make any money. He organized a scooter for the trip from a friend. Soon after we left Labuan Bajo the road started to climb and had many turns, pockets of jungle and villages from time to time. The temperature is also a lot cooler up there.

Unfortunately we also had a flat in the back tire, Ali left me and back tracked to get the tire repaired. After about an hour of waiting Ali returned and we continued. Eventually we reached a flat area surrounded by farmland, we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant for a simple meal of fish and rice and vegetables. As we continued on around a corner the bike suddenly started to skid sideways and it was lucky Ali managed to keep it upright. We had another flat tire on the back wheel. Ali flagged a bike down which took me while Ali slowly continued on the bike with the flat, however the next two villages both had shops for tire repair closed, so we loaded the bike onto a bus and continued on to the next big town. There we where finally able to repair the tube again, it turned out it had punctures in 3 places. Finally we arrived in his village after about 7 hours on the road which should have been 3.

There is a Catholic church at his village and the kids where all curious but a little scared to see me. Ali's little boy Faran was the first to reach out and come up to me. Ali's wife prepared a meal of fish, rice and vegetables (Ali had phoned ahead and told her I like fish). After the meal which was eaten on the floor in his house on a large mat, the man drank a cheap alcohol from what looked like a plastic patrol can. I just had one glass. The kids danced to music and goofed around with me. Since I was miming expressions and signs to them, they started calling me Mr Bean. Once it was bed time, I was given one of the kids beds I presume, it was as wide as it was long so I laid down diagonally but it was still about 0.5m too short.

The following morning as I placed Faran on my shoulder I suddenly felt wet on my shoulder, it turned out he had wet his pants. We visited Ruteng to buy corrugated tiles for Ali's roof. Ali's current roof leaks when it rains, he has electricity but no running water and shares the "bathroom" with his neighbor. With the money I gave him Ali was able to buy enough tiles for half his roof. We had leftovers for lunch before heading back to Labuan Bajo, stopping at the spider rice fields which resemble a spider web from above, unfortunately there where clouds and fog around spoiling the view. The journey back was a lot smother with no flat tires.

The Dragons (18th Sep to 19th Sep)

After finishing the last day of diving I organized a trip to the Komodo islands to finally see the famous dragons, it was to be a two day / one night boat trip. Once on the boat, and getting over some engine problem, our first destination was Rinca island. Once on the island we paid the entrance fee and where guided by two young rangers. We spotted the first lot of Komodo Dragons almost straight away lounging by one of the buildings. The rangers have these long forked sticks and don't like tourists in front of the dragons while they are moving. We continued on a two hour loop spotting a buffalo and Monkees further on as well as some Komodo nests. Once back on the boat we stopped at a snorkeling spot, I gave it a miss because of all the diving I had done. Slept outside on the deck under the sleeping bag like a baby.

Woke up to a great sunrise from the boat. First port of call was Komodo national park. I spotted the first Komodo while waiting for the rangers. We did a smaller loop as we only had one hour here. Rangers spotted a bunch of small Komodo dragons along the way. We also stopped at a lookout which was spoiled by a huge sign. At the end of the walk there was another 5 large dragons laying around. Once back on the boat we stopped at another couple of snorkeling spots before returning to Labuan Bajo.

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Photos

Ali's house
No running water, and the roof leaks.