Traveljunkieindonesia.com – TJI visit to Komodo National Park this time was not in purpose. Blowing only 5 hours to explore this national park was definitely unsatisfactory, according to me. Yet, what else I could have done, my friend from Sweden would be going back to her country the next day.
After I arrived in Labuan Bajo, I directly run off the short itinerary that we had made before in Bali and used the 5 hours available even better to enjoy this coolest national park ever exist in Earth.
Komodo National Park is Paradise – everything is green, blue, tropical, exotic and real wonder of the world!
A speedboat took us to the Komodo Island for approximately 30 minutes from the harbor, Labuan Bajo. Charlotte, a beautiful and good friend of mine, always said “omigod, omigod and omigod” when the speedboat was about to berth. She was frightened, nervous and at the same time captivated by the beauty of Komodo Island, she told me.
This island is very exotic coated by the dried savanna. Standing on the ground in this island is as if standing in the other planet. Pink Beach, the beach with its pinky sand looks tremendously ravishing and memorable for the tourists who visit Komodo Island. The tourist often use this beach to have snorkeling and diving to enjoy its underwater allure, which is known to be one of the best spot for diving in the world.
Pink beach is mixed with fine grains from damaged red coral reefs.
Trekking, we promptly continued the trip to have trekking to learn the habitat of Komodo. All the visitors in Komodo National Park have to be accompanied by the rangers to keep up the trekking. A ranger or also known as a guide will give important information during the trekking. For instance, komodo is such a “good actor”. Good actor? Yes, when we met the Komodo, I asked the ranger:
“Sir, why do these komodos like to stick around lazily?” I asked.
“They are not sticking around lazily, they are acting, Sir!” answered the ranger shortly.
“Omigod!” that word came out (again) from Charlotte’s slender lips.
Exactly, komodo is keen of acting due to its characteristic to hunt. Before we started trekking, we were offered the length of time for trekking, which were: short trek (0.5 hours, 1 km), medium trek (1.5 hours, 3 km) and long trek (2.5 hours, 4.5 km). Since we were in time-constraints, hence we chose the short trek.
Four rangers escorted us, each of them carrying a long wooden stick with the Y-shaped tip. “The Y-shaped stick is similar with the komodo tip tongue and it is used to prevent the komodo of trying to get closer or even attack us,” said one of the rangers.
At the beginning, we saw a flock of birds perched on the trees. As we walked through the forest, there was a herd of deer enjoying the savannah. It was quite tiresome in finding the komodo at first; we did not know where they were hiding.
“Hey komodo, come on, show up your famous faces!” said Charlotte.
Basically, all the members of our trekking group are afraid of komodo after we heard the story of a tourist who was attacked and killed by a komodo. As a matter of fact, it is extremely dangerous if a tourist does the trekking without any ranger, especially when you face a hungry komodo. However, need not to be worried, as long as you trek with a ranger or a guide. They will definitely keep your safety. Another tips from the ranger, take a certain safe distance if you face the komodo and don’t bring too much loading when trekking.
Komodos have extraordinary capabilities. They can see 300 meters and can smell a rotting animal corpse up to 10 kilometers away. They can also run up to 20 km per hour, swim, dive, and climb trees.
We almost reached our post. A ranger was heard shouting, “Komodo, komodo, komodo”. It turned out that the ranger post had an arrival of a special guest, which was, komodo. We immediately ran off to the post to see it. This was the most bewitching moment for my friend because this was her first time to see a komodo directly. The word of “Omigod” was once again resounded in this national park.
“I thought we would never meet komodo in our short trip,” I said to Charlotte.
“The other groups get more chances to meet the komodo as they take a longer trek than your group,” said the ranger shortly.
Taking a time off in the post while watching the acting komodo was wonderful; it had a strong character and was so charismatic. As for safety, all the buildings in Komodo National Park have a design of stage-houses.
Thirty minutes later, the other group arrived. They told that they have met the komodo, birds, and deer then had lunch together. While we were passionately telling stories with each other, suddenly there was a sound of rustling under the chair. Surprisingly, it was komodo down there! We all straightaway took our cameras and did not want to waste this moment. A ranger then persuaded the komodo to come out.
My friend echoed back the word of “Omigod” when the komodo came out from under the chair. All of us there were busy taking pictures of the moment called, “Komodo is getting out of under the post,” yet the komodo looked so calm and did not show its furiousness. Back again, it was all acting!
The other visitor shouted, “Look, there’s another one!” Another komodo was coming with a bigger size. This komodo appeared unexpectedly, so we were all lucky.
“We expect that we could stay longer in Komodo National Park in our next trip, there are still many heavens of islands and underwater seas that haven’t been visited yet,” I said to Charlotte.
“Yes! Next year I’ll come back to Indonesia and we’ll visit the east of Indonesia. Deal?” answered Charlotte.
“Okay, let’s explore the east of Indonesia next year!” I spontaneously answered her back.
Afterward, we went back to Labuan Bajo with a speedboat and back to Bali.
Getting there: Although the society is in fire to support the Komodo National Park as one of the wonders of the world, unfortunately there aren’t a lot of airlines that have a flight to Labuan Bajo, the entrance gate to the national park. Merpati Nusantara are apparently serving the route to Labuan Bajo, but they do not have a fixed and regular schedule. The airlines available currently are Trans Nusa, and Lion Air with the flight of Denpasar-Labuan Bajo – all prices are for a commute flight. The other option will be by ferry or a board from Lombok.
Happy Green Travels!
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