Flores

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9th day - Flores

I'm not particularly happy about domestic flights, had a few rough one's in Ethiopia and have developed a bit of a fear for them, this one however was smooth as! I arrived in Flores at kimodo airport in the small coastal town of Labuan Bajo with the plan of getting an official taxi (one with a metre). There were no official taxi's to be seen however.
I got in any old taxi, another chap invited himself too, he obviously knew the taxi driver and wanted my business. I said where i needed dropping off (my chosen travel agent, to organise my trip to see the dragons) but they dropped me at what was obviously the guys own travel agency. I like to plan things myself so I know exactly whats going on, I appreciate helpful advice but I really don't like people taking it upon themselves to arrange everything for me and saying anything to convince me that my plans are not possible. I didn't like being lyed to so I told him to stop lying and take me where I wanted. So he did, but the place turned out to be useless. It's a long story that I wont go into but basically I didn't want to accept any old travel agents so concentrated my efforts on a place to stay and found somewhere an hour and a half later.
I was quite happy with my temporary home at the Kimodo Indah. I made sure to do a thorough insect inspection - a look in the top 4 corners of the room and then the bottom ones, and the toilet of course, all was fine. I've done this in every place so far because I can't think of anything worse than a huge spider appearing on my face during the night. I then headed out to get my bearings and find some food. Whilst eating my food and making good use of the free wireless internet in "the lounge" - a rather pricey restaurant but well worth it, i read up on a travel agent that seemed genuine. This place happened to be right across the street so I headed over straight away, eager to get something booked for the next morning because I was only here for a few days. The place seemed to be operated by 3 young girls, the oldest being 17, they were really nice so I decided to chose personality over experience and book with them. Later that night whilst walking back to my hotel, my flips flops fell apart, maybe due to the war-torn roads etc. They weren't actually my flip flops, they were my dads (apologies dad, yet another piece of footware of yours destroyed!) - this has become a bit of a joke in my family, because it happens a lot. My dad lends me a pair of smart shoes for some special function etc and they just fall apart everytime.

10th day - Flores

I woke up early to get to the travel agents on time for 7, met the captain of the boat and we headed out straight away. The views on the way were breath taking, I couldn't keep my camera in my bag!
Feni, the girl from the travel agents came with me. She did her best to teach me some Indonesian but with the sound of the boat engine it was tough to hear what she was saying. It was a 2 hour journey to Rinca but there was plenty of beautiful mountains and deserted desert islands to feast my eyes on so the time flew by.
When we arrived at the small dock I was instantly greeted by a medium sized dragon just basking in the sun and on the trail to the National Park office through mangrove forests, I saw quite a few curious long tailed macaques (these monkeys appear very cute, but if close enough I bet they'd attempt to steal my camera!). After paying my fee I met my Indonesian guide who had the western name of "Johnny", a very nice and informative chap. We walked to the camp kitchen just round the corner to find about 5 or so dragons waiting at the steps for scraps etc. Komodo Dragons will eat absolutely anything and everything, even each other! These things eat so much that the water buffalo population on the island is almost gone, and there once was a healthy number. The mother will eat her own babies as soon as they've hatched so right from coming out of the eggs, the babies will run up trees to escape their own mother! The mother obviously doesn't teach them this, so they must of just adapted to it through many years of evolution. Looking at the pictures I've taken and seeing them on TV just doesn't do them any justice, they are huge! I saw a lot in the forest area too, in their natural habitat instead of just seeing the ones waiting at the kitchen which was kind of cheating.
I climbed to the top of a hill, which was taxing in the dry heat, and looked out over the forest on one side and the many islands out to sea on the other, really made me feel miles from home. Thinking about it now, Australia & New Zealand are probably the furthest place away from the UK and I wasn't too far from australia.
We left Rinca and headed back to Flores, stopping off at a beautiful island on the way with white sandy beaches for some snorkelling. I swallowed a mouth full of sea water...which was nice, and wearing the snorkle made me feel like I was hyperventalating....it wasn't for me. I decided to just lay out in the sun with my legs half in the water. It wasn't until later in the evening that I realised how burnt I was, I don't normally burn easy but this is Indonesian sun and he's a cunning bastard.

The town of Labuan Bajo was a little intimidating at first but I've come to really like it. Everyone's helpful and friendly and it's a really authentic indonesian town - it's dirty, fast paced and all the inhabitants are extremely proud of thier island. I got the impression that the folk here are a little disappointed that people only really stop in Labuan Bajo to see the dragons, because there's a lot more to the island of Flores, it's really quite big and there's such a variety of things to see - huge formations of tea plantations that resemble spider webs, volcanos, volcanically heated lakes, just amazing scenery really. I unfortunatly didn't have the time to stay here any longer and besides, I was more interested in getting to Borneo.

I'm now in a cafe at a tiny airport waiting for my flight to Bali. I'm hoping the French guys didn't get stopped by the police while I've been gone i.e. not having a license would result in a fine and maybe take the car away (still a lot more lenient than most places).

Bogden & Florent were waiting for me at the airport. The only trouble they'd had concerning the car was that Florent kind of fell as sleep at the wheel and took the wing mirror off by hitting another car. They returned the car a few hours after we got back into Sanur, which I was kind of glad about to be honest. I'm not saying I dont trust Florent's driving (I don't when he's tired!), it's just the driving here is a little crazy, you've gotta keep your eyes peeled for scooters and mopeds coming round either side of you and I bet there's a hefty amount of accidents each year. I found myself some accomodation for the night. (I'll just use B & F instead of spelling out their names from now on, it's just easier!) B & F travelled this evening via night bus to Surabuya to catch a flight to Miri in Malaysian Borneo, which they'd arranged back in France before setting off. It was cheaper for me to fly to Miri from where I was in Bali, I'd then meet back with them in Miri on the 3rd.
I'm now in a restaurant sipping on a Bintang letting my food go down. My thoughts so far on Indonesia are that it's a great place to visit, it's quite easy to get about and do things, really friendly and a much safer place than I originally assumed. Like my friend Dan said before I came out - you'd need a year to fully appreciate this country, there's so much to see and every place is different to the last. I know I sound like I'm complaining a lot in previous posts but they're the kind of moans you'd have for every country, and we were unlucky enough to cross paths with a few sharks. People here seem far friendlier than us in the UK, I say this about every country I go to.

Tonight will be my last night in Indonesia apart from the night I fly back home from Jakarta. I'll be in the Malaysian part of Borneo for the next week (Indonesia, Brunie & Malaysia all share the same Island) and this is apparently the best for wildlife i.e Mulu caves is featured on Sir David Attenborough's Plant Earth series.

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