Komodo Island and Dragons

Move over King Kong, the Blob, Godzilla and other great creatures from the movies.  This is the real thing – the Komodo Dragon!  OK, so it’s not really a dragon; it’s the world’s largest lizard that has a near fatal bite.  As of two weeks ago, three guides have been bitten by these creatures; we asked how they were doing and our guide replied, “They’re still alive.”  Oh boy.

It has been a busy few days here aboard the Seabourn Quest.  We have had lumpy seas since leaving Cairns but I am proud to report that I have not gotten sick or even queasy.  We have had a change in the weather as well.  It has rained quite a few times and in the process, cooled the temperature down.  We are heading to Indonesia, so the heat and humidity will be increasing.

Last night we had a dinner party for the bridge players in Restaurant 2.  The staff made sure the entire restaurant was decorated appropriately with bridge cards.  They made a special cake just for us.  What a beautiful job they did and it tasted as good as it looked.  Michael gave a little speech and a good time was had by all.  The players have really enjoyed his lessons and the method he uses to teach.  We had a rough start with players wanting the directors from last cruise, but we have finally won them over with our sparkling personalities and exceptional abilities (you can throw up now).

The cruise so far hasn’t been so exciting as far as the places we have visited.  We have been to most of them before so the initial discovery has worn off.  Today, the new adventures begin!  Let’s hope that the old knees hold out.

You can only go to Komodo Island with the appropriate paperwork and a stamp from the government allowing you to go.  You must have arranged in advance to have a guide.  This is a national park, which was established in 1986, and is a UNESCO world heritage site.  The park is composed of four islands, and there are approximately 5,000 of the dragons.  There are 2,852 on Komodo Island alone.  So what is so interesting about these creatures? 

We arrived by tender and our first task was to figure out how to exit the tender.  Due to high tides, the dock was so high that it almost reached the crossbars that went across it.  The crew wrapped protection around these crossbars to if/when we bumped our delicate little cabazas on it we would survive.  We went to shore and saw our first dragon in the first five minutes we were on the island!  Who knows if it happened naturally or they coaxed it to come to greet us.  There were many men around with nine foot long poles to protect us.  By the water, there was a slight breeze, so it wasn’t too hot YET.  We saw deer sunning on the beach.

Riding on the Tender

Timo Deer sunning on the beach

Our first sighting

Off into the jungle we went, on a narrow and muddy path that was very slippery in places.   It was partly sunny and I was glad for the shade among the trees.  We sprayed ourselves with bug repellent and the further from the water we walked and the deeper into the jungle we went, the breeze died down; there was not a breath of air, it was very hot and humid.  I could see that everyone had sweat covered clothes, except for the guides.  I was ready to melt.  We kept watching the lemon grass for movement as they dragons don’t always walk on the path.  The lemon grass is about three feet high and is very dense.  We saw unusual fruit pods.  There was a spotter in front of the group and one behind.  At one point, the guide quickly told us to hurry up and gather together off the path.  We were told not to wave anything around as the dragons were sensitive to sudden movement.  There was a big dragon walking right behind us!  In this video­­­ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ah4n8M3YxA you can see how close it came.  It did not seem too interested in us.  Maybe because it ate a whole water buffalo or a timo deer for lunch.

Speaking of food, they will consume 80% of their body weight at a meal.  These guys would not make it on a Seabourn cruise as they can go one month between meals.  They eat dead meat.  They bite the prey and wait for it to die.  So why is a bite so lethal?  The way I understood the guide, is that the dead meat they eat contains a lot of bacteria; the dragons have 60 kinds of bacteria in their saliva which can cause fatal infections if they bite you.  Plus, they are cannibals.  If one of their buddies die, they eat him too.  Since females have no maternal instinct, they will eat the young ones, too.  When the young hatch from eggs that have been buried underground after an eight month gestation period, they run for the trees, find one they like and live there for three years before coming back down to earth.  And you thought you had a bad mom?!

They looked to be a bit lazy.  They need the time to digest whatever was eaten, so they just lay about.  They can smell up to 5 km away (2.5 miles).  These are solitary animals and hunt by themselves, and they can run about 12 mph.  Lesson:  make sure you can outrun anyone you are with when walking in the jungle.  They live for 50-60 years and die of old age or fighting.  There are four males for every female.  Ladies, how do you like those odds?

We made it out of the jungle in one piece, soaking wet, without a drop of rain.  As we made our way over to the "restaurant," it started to sprinkle.  Lunch was served:  they gave us a Styrofoam container with rice and some other stuff, but who knows what cooties lay in something that may have been sitting out in the heat for who knows how long.  We passed on lunch and thanked them for a wonderful tour (and for arriving safely back to the beach). 

We had to walk the gauntlet of souvenir vendors selling T-shirts and pearl necklaces.  They were somewhat aggressive and all we wanted to do was get back to the ship for some nice a/c.  I know they need to make a living, but…..  We could see children in canoes bobbing around the ship waiting for people to throw things in the water for them to fetch.  People threw soda cans into the water for the kids and the CD came on the intercom and said NO NO NO. These kids swam like fish, diving down to retrieve their treasure.

While waiting for the tender, we were given ice soaked washcloths to wipe away the sweat and cool us off.  Nice touch Seabourn and it is much appreciated.  We finally boarded the tender.  This time, the dock was even higher and one had to be a contortionist to get in the boat.  It’s a good thing I can now bend as there would have been no way for me to get back to the ship except strapped to the top of the tender.  We were wondering if we would have to take our muddy shoes off when we arrived back at the ship.  Well, they thought of everything:  upon exiting the tender, each person lifted up a foot so a crew member could wash the mud off our shoes.  Nice….

We headed back to our suite, changed into bathing suits, hung up our sweat soaked clothes to dry, washed the rest of the mud off our shoes, and then went to the grill for some lunch.  By this time, the weather had changed; it had cooled off and started to rain.  We had a nice soak in the hottub, then showered.  And I bet you can’t guess what Michael did next.  Yep, play Bridge.  I was left to play with pictures and write the blog. 

Tomorrow we arrive in Bali for a 1 ½ day stay.  I may actually get to see it this time.