I woke up in the morning, preparing for the next journey.
While we are eating our breakfast (crepes with banana and chocolate sauce, very yummy), we could see a ship approaching the hotel.
Our ship name is Fadaelo.
The welcome drink is papaya juice with milk.
Surprisingly, it is very delicious.
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| Me and my friend enjoying papaya juice |
From Labuan Bajo, our first destination is Pulau Rinca. The port name in Rinca is Loh Buaya.
I'm not a biologist or an ecologist, so I'll say what I see.
Once inside the gate, what I can see is savanna, rock and sand. The weather is hot and dry, with only a small of plantation.
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| From the top left, clockwise: Rinca habitat, a Ranger explained Loh Buaya map, me with the Komodo stick, ranger standing near a Komodo nest |
We are accompanied by two rangers because our team consists of 9 person. Normally a ranger accompany 5 person.
The ranger brought a stick with two branch in the edge. Why? Since it is known that komodo are afraid with something similar with their branched tongue.
Komodo has an excellent smelling capability.
Women during period is prohibited to enter the Komodo National Park for their safety, because Komodo could smell the blood and locate you even from far away.
According to the ranger, komodo could run at 18 km per hour speed. I think that's fast, because I could only run with max 9 km per hour on the treadmill. :D (and the maker of this song "Macet lagi macet lagi, gara gara si Komo lewat" must have never known anything about Komodo!)
So you better hope that you don't have any open wound or during your period when you go there. A chase between you and a komodo surely would not be a pleasant part of the trip.
For myself, I'm thrilled when we meet a komodo in our trekking trail. I'm speechless, because I feel so frail.
Notes: if you want to see komodo, but you are afraid of doing some trekking, I suggest you to come there before noon. Many komodo will gather around the ranger's housing area, since they smell the cooking!
It is quite strange to see a group of Komodo laying below the house.
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| Laying under the ranger's hut, "waiting" for the lunch time |
After Rinca, our next sailing target is Pulau Kambing. ( Kambing = goat)
If you love to snorkling or diving, you have to go there.
It is one the most beautiful underwater scene that I've ever seen.
I've ever been to several snorkeling points across Indonesia, and this is definitely one of the best.
Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my underwater camera while I snorkeling there. :(
I don't know why it is named Pulau Kambing, because I didn't see even one goat there.
The next destination is Kalong Island. (Kalong = bat)
This is the last destination for in the first sailing trip, because this is the place where we'll watch sunset and spend the night.
The view is spectacular.
Beautiful red orange sky with thousands of bats flying across the sky.
Unfortunately, I have a pocket camera only, and it couldn't capture the red beautiful sky. :(
After breakfast we continued the journey into Pulau Komodo.
This is the biggest island in the Komodo archipelago area.
The difference with Rinca is the komodo living in Pulau Komodo are older and bigger.
Rinca's komodo are younger and more savage caused by their agility.
The habitat itself is quite different.
It is more like a tropical forest. This is also a good place to do some bird watching.
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| From top left, clockwise: Sulphurea Hill Top, Sulphurea Hill Top, Komodo, Sea Dock |
Oh yes, and I'm lucky that I've got there before the permanent dock is finished. I think a wood dock is much nicer than a permanent dock.
I understand that Komodo will be a big part of tourism in Nusa Tenggara Timur.
But I really hope that the government won't forget that the main reason of making Komodo archipelago as a National Park area is for the animal reservation, not for tourism.
The next destination is Pink Beach.
Why it is named Pink Beach? Because the sand is pink.
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| Pink Sand |
But that's not the only think that you can see at Pink Beach. It is also a beautiful place snorkeling. If you are not a water activity fans, you could do some trekking to the hilltop, the view is quite fascinating.
The last destination for our sailing trip is
Bidadari Island.
It is a small island near Labuan Bajo.
This island also has pink sand, but it is more polluted than Pink Beach.
Pink Beach is a no man island and the location is quite far from the local people village.
Bidadari is close to Labuan Bajo, so the rubbish from Labuan Bajo are washed into this shore.
It's a shame, because the beach is pretty.
After two days of sailing trip, we returned to Wae Cicu Eden Hotel.
So long Komodo.... :)
Hope that I'll see you again someday..
notes: all the pictures aren't edited. I'm not a professional photographer, and I'm only using my pocket camera (Sony Cybershot W-570)
