We are sitting 100 meters off Rinca Island in the most magnificent anchorage surrounded by high peaks in the Komodo World Heritage Park that is better described as the Dragons Den !!!!
There are not many places one can travel on this planet to view a natural attraction that delivers as good as the publicity material promises. Komodo National Park promised critter heaven with Komodo Dragons, wild boar, Timor Deer, Monkeys, Buffalo, wild horses and scrub fowl all surrounded by a marine park teeming with tropical fish and coral reefs.
As we dropped anchor in the channel at the south end of Rinca Island we were absolutely in awe as we focussed the binos on everything but the buffalo and wild horses. Within minutes we were in the dinghy and motoring inshore to get some of our best camera footage of the giant Komodo Dragons which are up to 3 meters in length and 90kg plus in weight. These laid back guys are just so impressive but well capable of
running and swimming at up to 17km per hour if the challenge of a meal presents.
They are big time carnivores capable of swallowing a live goat without as much as a hiccup. Needless to say we kept our distance as they made definite body language that we were in their domain.
Last night we were at anchor with an American and British yacht so we invited them over for sundowners and in due course they stayed on to share our last leg of lamb that B cooked with roastvege. They only came for drinks and stayed until 10pm which was a nice impromptu dining experience for all.
This morning we decided to take the remains of the roast ashore for one of the dragons and the lucky one showed his turn of speed as we threw the bone from the shallows of the lagoon. This dragon just hoovered it off the sand and came at us for more as we scarpered to the dinghy and deeper water. Up until this point B had been very trusting as she got close for pictures but this thankfully ended her gregarious endeavors. This afternoon we took to the clear waters fed by the deep cool ocean currents to the immediate south and explored the fish laden reefs.
We will spend a second night here and move west to Komodo Island for more life on the natural wild side.
B&P
