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Published: February 24th 2010
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Komodo Island
It's early in the morning and we are approaching the mysterious island. Today, Regent Seven Seas Cruises had a special event for the World Cruisers in the port of Komodo, Indonesia…The Komodo Dragons. On the approach to Pulau Komodo, a tiny island 22 miles long and 9 miles across at its widest point, it’s hard to imagine that this island is the home of the fearsome dragons described by late-19th century explorers. The Komodo dragon is a dinosaur-like reptile believed to date back to the Jurassic Age, and thought to be extinct until rediscovered in 1912.
The island is located in the Indonesian region of Nusa Tengarra, and at first glance it looks like a tranquil island with the trees and grasses sloping down to the bays of clear-glass waters, and white-sand beaches with quiet shorelines. But then you realize that this is the island inhabited by 13-foot long, 300-pound ’ora’, as they are known to the locals. And by the way, there are not many inhabitants on this island.
The Komodo dragon is the remnant of a once widespread ancient order of monitor lizards that today survives on only a handful of islands. With fewer than 300 of this protected species remaining, the Komodo dragon’s very existence hangs in the
Beautiful Water
The beautiful water around the island. balance. Their saw-like teeth can snap a goat in half, and their digestive juices are so strong that they can digest bones and hair. It thrives on the wild pigs and goats that inhabit the island, can swim quite well for short distances, and is both agile and swift on land.
The island is part of a national park, established in 1980 to protect the Komodo dragon and in 1992 was declared a World Heritage Site. Although the Komodo dragon is the featured attraction of the island, there are many other animals that live here. There are 150 different types of birds that inhabit the island, and offshore there are more than 1,000 species of fish.
We are anchored in the bay and after we’ve tendered to shore, we are broken up into groups of approximately 25 with a guide and his helpers (guards). It’s about an hour walk along a path with the guide who is giving us information about the dragons, trees, plants and other animals. Because these creatures are in the wild, they can’t guarantee we will see them, but they will take us to the last known locations where they have been sighted. We
Fabulous Coastline
The untarnished coastline of this island with minimal population. first got a 10-minute safety briefing and description of the path we would take. Several of the important things were that we must not stray from the group, or leave the path, and once we got to a certain point we should be as quiet as possible.
More than halfway through the walk we came to a clearing where we saw 4 dragons. The 3-4 guys that walked with us carrying long wooden poles with a V at one end spread out around the area with their poles ready to keep control of the creatures. For the most part, they were not terribly phased by our presence. They got up and moved around. They look a bit like crocodiles as they move on land. We saw the amazing snake-like tongue. They are definitely intimidating creatures! We stayed there for probably 15-minutes taking photos and then moved on, as there was another group behind ours. Later, from the path, several of us could see one sitting back in the bushes.
Well, it was absolutely a worthwhile hike to see these creatures in the wild. After we finished, we walked through the tents on the beach with vendors selling T-shirts,
Boat in the Harbor
This local boat is anchored in the bay not far from our ship. carvings, bead necklaces, etc. We bought a few things and tried to help the locals out. They were very civil and did not leave their tables. We then hopped on the tender for our return to the ship.
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