Early rise this morning; 5:30. We had to catch the 6 am launch to Labuan Bajo, a 30-minute ride, so we could join a tour to fabled Komodo Island, home of the largest lizards on the planet.
It was undoubtedly the most fun day of the entire trip, a full-day speedboat excursion with stops on several isles.
We began on iconic Padar Island, surrounded by three turquoise bays, each one with beaches of different color sand - black, white, and pink. To view them all simultaneously, we had to hike to the top of a mountain. It was a very steep hike, which the heat rendered quite draining, but it was definitely worth it.
Padar Island
There are several deer on Padar, unfazed by humans. We were amazed to see that they like dipping in the sea water.
The second stop was at Pink Beach. This was Diane's and my favorite stop. We snorkeled for about 45 minutes among the rich coral reefs and saw fish of all sizes and colors. It was almost like being in an aquarium tank. And the sand really is pink, because pebble-sized pieces break off from the deep red coral and mix in with the white sand, rendering it pink to the eye. Really outstanding.
Not having water a proof camera, could only take a couple of pics from the surface
Raspberry red coral is responsible for the color of the sand
Komodo Island, now a National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was our next stopover. It is home to the legendary Komodo Dragons, the world's unchallenged lizard champion, weighing in at about 300 lbs. for an adult male. Because of the stifling noontime heat, the few Komodos we spotted were just lazily lounging around, without a care in the world. It would have been cool to see them on their four legs walking around. Their digestive system is like that of a python; they can swallow an entire pig or even a deer. We are told that they can sprint and are quite fast.
Seeing several people manning drones made me jealous, especially at our next stop, a place called Taka Makassar, an island so small (literally a sand bar) in the middle of the sea, also with pink sand. The place was surreal, and surreally blinding, with the sun shining brightly on the sand, but the colors of the water and sand together must be stupendous, photographed from a drone. Lovely place to swim.
Less of a lovely swim spot, but possibly more exciting, was Manta Point, a dive-site rich in plankton that attracts dozens of enormous Manta Rays. The problem is that it is literally in the middle of the sea, quite deep, and with wickedly strong currents. I did snorkel there, but kind of freaked out when, just several minutes later I looked for the boat, and I realized that I had drifted way beyond my comfort zone. I decided to try to spot the Mantas from the top of the boat, which of course is nowhere near as exciting as swimming among them.
Diane is ready for swimming with the Mantas
They are huge!!
Speedboat crew being playful
Lastly, the shores of Kanawa Island are rich in nutrients that are pleasing to giant marine turtles. I was not able to photograph a single one, but the ones we've seen were definitely worthy of the adjective "giant".
It was approaching sunset when we returned to our unpopulated resort. Ready-to-drop, we had a pleasing dinner, then collapsed. Slept more than 10 hours and woke up this morning, still in Nirvanaland.
The small town of Labuan Bajo
Heading back to Menjaga Bay
Arriving at the resort
To be sure, we have not even scratched the surface of the island of Flores. Whereas Komodo is becoming a destination for a number of people vacationing in Bali, Flores is still way off the tourist track. In the interior there are a number of tribal villages that I had hoped to visit, but reality got the best of me. Our resort is unexpectedly so off-the-beaten-path . It takes 30 minutes by speed boat to reach the nearest town. Roads are few and not well-kept, you'd have to hire a private driver, and the nearest of these villages is a considerable drive away, combined with a 3-hour hike on foot, which would require an overnight stay. Obviously, we passed. At my age, I'm not sure I could endure it, but we still have something up our sleeve, you'll just have to keep visiting this site.
