Komodo Dragons Island

Real dragons spurt no fire, have no need to fly and cast no magic spells.

And still, one look from them might render you speechless. These komodos, the real life dragons, are a sight indeed. Gigantic, the lizard-like creatures are about two or three meters in length. They can easily weigh about 165 kilograms. Despite of their sheer size and appearance, they are not active hunters. What makes them intimidating is the fact that they are a patient predator. In the wild, they stalk a victim, usually a weak or injured one.

One bite and that’s what it usually takes. After following the victim for a while, sometimes up to several days’ time, the komodos will devour the dying prey.

The Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is an endangered species which can only be found in the Komodo National Park (KNP) in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). Because of the unique and rare nature of this animal, its habitat – KNP – was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986.

The park includes three major islands, Komodo, Rinca and Padar, and numerous smaller islands together totaling 603 km2 of land. The total size of Komodo National Park is presently 1,817 km2. Proposed extensions of 25 km2 of land (Banta Island) and 479 km2 of marine waters would bring the total surface area up to 2,321 km2.At least 2500 Komodos live in this area. Large dragons are usually three meters long and weigh up to 90 kg. Their habitat has beautiful panoramic views of savannas, rain forests, white beaches, beautiful corals, and clean blue seas. In this area, you can also find horses, wild buffalo, deer, wild boar, snakes, monkeys, and various types of birds.

KNP has a rich and amazing underwater sea biotica. Divers claim that Komodo waters are one of the best diving sites in the world. It has fascinating underwater scenery. You can find 385 species of beautiful corals, mangrove forests, and seaweeds as a home for thousands of fish species, 70 types of sponges, 10 types of dolphins, 6 types of whales, green turtles and various types of sharks and stingrays.

Komodo National Park is currently voted as one of the finalists for the New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign held by the New 7 Wonders Foundation. Please support Komodo National Park to become the New 7 Wonders of Nature by voting here.

Getting There
Labuan Bajo is your entry point to the Komodo National Park. From Komodo airport in Labuan Bajo, you can take a rented car, bemo public transportation, or motor taxi to Labuan Bajo seaport. or you can call this number (+62 381 22117) Bina Karya for good public transportation

From there, you can take a motorboat to KNP (you can choose to go to Rinca or Komodo Island). When the weather is good, it will take two to three hours to travel to Loh Buaya on Rinca Island and about four hours to Loh Liang in Komodo Island.

Getting Around
Your feet will be your trusted companion on this island. Good thing most people never leave home without them. When you wish to see these animals in their natural habitat, you have to walk to the hills nearby (paths have been designated). On Komodo Island, you have to climb Mount Ara (538 meters above sea level) for three to four hours. On Rinca island, you have to trek for about one and a half hours. If you are lucky, you can see Komodos attacking prey, fighting, or even employing their mojoes along the way, as illustrated by this picture on the left. If that’s too wild for you, you can try to spot a group of deers, buffaloes or wild horses.

To Do
You can see and do many things here. It is amazing to see Komodo dragons up close in their native habitat. On Rinca Island, you can see Komodos lying down outside the homes of national park rangers, or “parking” near the officials’ homes. Previously, to find one, you had to “offer” a goat to attract the Komodo, but now this practice is no longer allowed.

If you don’t see a dragon, Rinca and Komodo have beautiful sceneries with white beaches, mangroves, savannas and blue waters. During the dry season, these savannas and hills have dried grasses.

You can also egage in other activities such as diving and snorkeling. You can take a cruise ship or fishermen’s boat in the persuit of these activities. There are diving points highly recommended to visit which include Merah Beach, and Batu Bolong and Tatawa islands. If you want to see thousands of bats, you can stay overnight in a motorboat on Kalong Island waters (near Rinca Island).

To Stay
Similar with those available in Loh Liang (Komodo Island), Loh Buaya (Rinca Island) also has simple guest houses offering few rooms. A luxurious hotel with limited capacity is currently being built in Loh Liang. Most tourists visiting Rinca Island don’t stay overnight (they come from Labuan Bajo and stay in the hotels in Labuan), while those coming to Komodo Island usually stay in their rented motorboats. Nearly all motorboats have cabins and bed rooms. Large motorboats usually have good bed rooms.

To Eat
In Loh Liang, the KNP management (PT Putri Naga Komodo) owns a restaurant. No restaurant is available in Rinca Island, though. There is only one kiosk selling drinks and snacks. If you stay in a guest house, you will have food available with your stay. If you take a rented motorboat, your rental usually includes meals (but you have to confirm it when negotiating the rental price).


To Buy
At the reception in Loh Buaya and Loh Liang, there are souvenir shops selling t-shirts with komodo pictures on them and wooden komodo statues. There’s not yet a shop selling a t-shirt saying, “I went to see the Komodo Dragons and all I got is this lousy T-shirt.” So that’s a potential market for you.

Tips

* Don’t walk alone. It is best to walk around with a ranger or guide.
* Don’t disturb or feed komodos. Despite slow and lazy movement, this animal can suddenly turn aggresive and move fast.
* When trekking, please take a stick with you. Komodos are usually afraid when threatened with a stick.
* Please wear shoes. Komodo, Rinca, and Padar islands have 12 types of snakes and three of them are poisonous, namely green snakes living on trees, cobras and russel’s viper who live on the ground in holes on the savannas.
* Women having their menstruation must report to a guide or ranger for special attention. Komodos have a very strong sense of smell and may turn agresive when they smell blood.
* Please bring along your insect repellant because this area has many mosquitoes who’ll be excited at the prospects of having fresh blood.
* Most lands on Komodo and Rinca islands are savannas which are prone to fire during the dry season so smoking and making fires are prohibited.