We boarded the boat at 5.30pm for the welcome party/farewell party for the people departing at Labuan Bajo, Flores. The boat trip is nomally a 5 day one starting from Lombok, but we were on the return leg only (3 nights 2 days). It was 2 million Rupiah each full board. Millionaires at last! We were shown to our cabin a cozy little room with a double bed with a single bunk bed above it. The room had a window with two small sliding panels. The toilet facilities were shared, there were three bathrooms near the cabins with a dripping shower head over the toilet seat. There was also a mandi - a tap, bucket and scoop. The bathroom was cleaned regularly though. We got a briefing from the tour guide Runi, who told us we would get a basket of goodies everyday delivered to our cabin (1 beer, 1 soda, 1 large water and snacks). Runi did a brief run down of the rest of the trip. We were then served with dinner - basic but tasty Indonesian fare. We joined our fellow passengers - four Brits including a girl from Bromborough (small world), two Danes, 2 French, 2 Italians, 1 Swede, 1 Swiss and the rest were German. We chatted and exchanged travel stories. Next was the disco, the crew kicked off the proceedings by doing a traditional Indonesian dance followed by the Macarena. We were all asked to join in. It was great fun watching, eventually the disco turned into a crew party as they just played Indonesian pop and raggae. They seemed to have a great time. We spent the night docked in Labuan Bajo harbour. Around 10 passengers slept on the deck with a thin matress and a blanket. We were in our boiling hot cabin - there wasn't much of a breeze that night.
In the morning at around 5am we were awakened by the sound of the engine, we were setting off for Rinca (pronounced Rincha). Rinca is one of only 4 islands inhabited by Komodo dragons; the other passengers had called at Komodo island on the first leg of the trip. Komodo island is apparently a bit more commercialised, whereas Rinca is the place to see the Komodo dragons in the wild. The boat dropped us off at the accommodation camp on the island and there were 5 Komodos lazing about in the grounds. Only one woke up while we were there and took a few steps before falling back asleep. We all half suspected that they were drugged up and kept in the camp, so that the visitors were not disappointed - maybe we were a little harsh. Komodos are solitary beasts normally, they lay their soft shell reptilian eggs in nests and then leave the babies to it. The sex of the baby is decided on by the temperature at which the eggs incubate - like crocodiles apparently. Babies on Rinca are more often male because of the high temperatures. As there is a risk of the babies being eaten indiscriminately by adult dragons, they spend their early life in the trees out of reach and feed on insects and small lizards. Our Rinca island tour guide told us this on our trek across the island - he looked like Andre 3000 in the "Hey Ya" video - sporting a pair of Tinchy Stryder glasses. He knew his dragon facts, but wasn't up to much in the way of dragon spotting. One of the Brits a guy from Exeter - boyfriend of our Bromborough girl - spotted a dragon in the savannah. The guide informed us that we were very lucky to see one in the wild - he sighed heavily and told us of the complaints he usually gets when people are disappointed on their walk. You may know already that Komodos are pretty fast when attacking and can give you a nasty, bacteria-ridden bite. We had had warnings to keep our distance. Our group snapped away at the back of the Komodo, while I spotted Paul heading round to get some photos in front of it - he never does as he is told! Anyway, his risks paid off and he has some great shots. We continued on the walk back to the camp, without seeing another Komodo. The camp dragons were presumably back in their cages, no sign of them, when we returned. Another tour group had just arrived and I feared they might just be disappointed today. We had lunch on the boat and headed for Gili Laba another Indonesian island for snorkeling. I was keen to have a go at snorkeling but it seemed that we were weighing anchor and swimming out to the coral reefs. Runi told us about the currents and where to swim safely - this was not ideal for a complete beginner like myself - I was hoping to set off from shore. I was fitted up with a life jacket and scrambled down the boat's ladder to the water. The life jacket was far too big and lifted up to my ears - I could hardly swim in it. In a bit of a panic I headed back to the boat, swimming against the current with difficulty. Not a good start, I had somehow cut my leg in the process too - it was game over! The others headed out without fear and spent an hour out there above the coral. There were turtles and an amazing array of fish and coral - bummer! We spent the evening travelling past one of Indonesia's recently active volcanoes - no fire show this night though. The Captain timed our journey to catch the volcano at sunset. Another hot, sleepless night in our cabin, despite the breeze from the moving boat.
We arrived at Moyo island the next morning. Moyo island is a muslim settlement known for its cashewnut plantations. The north of the island is the location of a very excusive hotel. Princess Diana stayed here at $1500 dollars a night at the tax payers' expense. The tour guide told us that this was in 1965 though - so not sure how reliable this information was. We had a walk out to a waterfall with a swing rope over it - it was about 6m high, so I settled for a paddle at the top of the cascade, while the others daringly swung off the side of the cascade into the deep waters below. Paul took some photos but was more interested visually in the walk there.
We then headed for Keramat island. We watched dolphins somersaulting out to sea and later two dolphins raced under our boat. Although, I believe that dolphins have been spotted in Liverpool bay, so you won't be too impressed. Keramat island was tiny and uninhabited, just a bit of vegetation fringed with a white sand beach. It took just 10 minutes to walk round it. I tried snorkeling again - this time with a bit more success. I was too scared to venture out far like the others, but I worked with the currents to save effort and saw about 6 different kinds of fish in the shallows - including a clown fish. No turtles though. The others were disappointed as this was not as good as Gili Laba, but I was very excited. The afternoon was spent spotting more dolphins on our way back to Lombok island, where we would disembark. We had a farewell meal on board before getting a bus to our final destination, the resort of Senggigi. Thanks for following us on our amazing travels. The island of Lombok next.