So we hopped on board a cramped minibus to take us to our boat which we'd be staying on for the next 4 days. Stopped on route to take more money out only to find all of my cards (and Hannah's) blocked. An expensive call to the UK and a large cash advance to hopefully mean the end of bank trouble and we were on our way.
First impressions were not great, very small and very uncomfortable but we (13 of us) were excited nonetheless.
Day 1 - 6 Hours of travel and plenty of 'my god this boat is slow' comments. We stopped well after dark and settle in for our intimate night on deck.
Day 2 - Left at 4am for another 6 hours travel to a remote island, a snorkelling reef and a waterfall. It got rough...I was sick. We then left for another 2 hours to another snorkelling spot. The reefs are in amazing condition (compared to the rest of the dynamite fished one's we've come used to) and there was so much to see.
Day 3 - Travelled all the way through the night! Needless to say we didn't sleep well, eventually arrived at a peninsula off the island of Sumbawa next to another boat from the same company. It had a broken engine and they were having to wait to be picked up, we continued onward to another remote island and snorkelling reef. The sea was the roughest we'd ever experienced and everyone was getting thrown around and all the kit soaking wet. Hannah did very well despite having a french bloke wearing speedo's girating in front of her face (he was trying to hold himself steady) while I, yet again, was sick.
When we eventually made it, the reef was great, didn't venture too near the stingray though.
Day 4 - We arrived at Komodo Island bright and early, home to the Komodo Dragon. We went on a small trek throughout the park, saw our first one up a tree (a 2month old baby one) and then our first fully grown one at the end near the restaurant! They're huge, incredible to see. We then went to a fantastic beach for lunch (which was naturally slightly red from the broken coral) followed by a trip to Rinca Island. Komodo Dragons were literally everywhere on this island, there was even one to greet us off the boat! We then went on a 3hr trek which was awesome, dragons, buffalo's, deer, you name it. The last day was a real highlight and made the whole trip worth it. We then made our way to Flores, the end of our trip where Hannah tried fruitlessly to find us a room, so, we stayed on the boat in the harbour for one more night!