Kimberley Trip, Day 6: Komodo

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Another early start today (we are getting used to these) for our outing to Komodo Island. Initially, it was planned that we would land at the pier (a “dry landing” in regular shoes), but the tide was very low, so we had a wet landing (in water shoes or sandals) instead. Komodo Island is, of course, known for the Komodo Dragon, the largest lizard in the world. We didn’t have to look far to see one: one was lying on the pier that we didn’t use.

After changing into shoes for our hike into the national park, we immediately saw more Komodo dragons on the beach. We broke into smaller groups accompanied by a local naturalist and two local guides, each with a big stick to protect us in case one of the dragons decided to attack. We took about a 1.5-mile walk along a park trail and stopped at a watering hole with three or more dragons, some local fowl, and occasional deer. Further along the trail, we saw a nest, a pyramidal pile of dead vegetation (compost), about 3 feet tall. The nests are not made by the dragons but are shared with them by the fowl that constructed the nests.

During lunch, they repositioned the Orion a short distance away for our afternoon activity, snorkeling from a pink sand beach. While the tide was low in the morning, it was very high in the afternoon, leaving little of the beach for our use. We donned snorkel gear and swam out a bit. There was, again, excellent coral but not quite the vast diversity of fish from the previous day. The water also wasn’t quite as clear.

I had a bit of confusion on the return: I had heard that they would be serving afternoon tea, which I assumed would be on the ship, but it turned out that they had set it up in a different area of the beach, behind a tree from where we were standing. Kenna figured that out, but I had already headed toward one of the Zodiac boats, and the staff member loading the boat did not appreciate my hesitancy about getting in. So I finished getting in quickly and then discovered the part of the beach I had not seen before, where afternoon tea was underway. The staff was also disappointed that several of us missed the event and apologetic about the miscommunication.

Upon returning to the ship, we found a note on our door inviting us to have dinner with the Hotel Manager, Fran, who oversees the ship’s accommodations. We were joined at the tables by two other couples, and learned about Fran’s career progression to hotel manager. Fran is one of those rare people who can approach a job of great responsibility with a very fun outlook. Fran also shared stories about some of the challenges they encounter, like Australian customs regulations when a ship full of food arrives there.

This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Indonesia and Australia. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.