The boat trip I booked started off with a bus ride through Lombok stopping at a village where they were making pottery.
We arrived at the boat later in the day, met the crew and set off to a nearby island. It was a lengthy stay at a beach and I sat with a couple of Australian's, drank Bintang and shared a few stories. Then it was back to the boat to sleep in the cabin.
The following morning we headed on around the north coast of Sumbawa. Our first attempt to land on shore was a failure because it was low tide and there were loads of rocks sticking out of the water. I would have thought the trip organizers would have known when high and low tides were. A pity as the locals came out to greet us in their small rowing boats.
We did land at a small village further up the coast just as it was getting dark. If there had been only a handful of us it would have been better. With 20-30 of us it felt like the village was a "human zoo". Few people go to Sumbawa, usually just to catch the nightbus through it or hardcore surfers.
The second night on the boat we were on the move all night. Despite being next to the engine noise and smelling fuel all night I slept fairly well............
On the final morning we arrived at Komodo national park. Before we got of the boat there was a safety talk about the Komodo dragons.
The big group split into 2 smaller ones and we headed inland from the park headquarters. It was very hot and humid which was not the best situation for walking around hilly tracks. We were going for well over an hour before spotting the first one.
Our guide spotted one at the side of the hill and some of them went up for a closer look. It didn't move all the time we were there. That was the only one we seen on the actual walk round the island.
One thing I had noticed on this boat trip is that the further east we went the landscape started to look more and more like Australia.
When we got back to the park headquarters there were 2 of them hanging around outside the huts. They might have moved slow but I was keeping my distance.
We also seen 2 snakes but they were being kept at the head quarters. One was in a tree and was so well hidden you could hardly see it. The other was a deadly Russell's viper I did question the ethics of keeping it in a bucket and proding it with a stick for the tourists. After that it was back on the boat and off to Flores stopping at another beach on the way.
Some were going back on the boat to Bali and others including myself were staying on Flores. They gave us a few hours to find accommodation then it was back on the boat for the leaving party......until the early hours!!!!!!!
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