March, 2019 | Captain, who's driving?

6 in the morning and we approach the anchorage in Slawi Bay; on the map above, the bay is to the right of the “o” in Komodo. It’s dark, hence no time-lapse for this call I’m afraid. The sole purpose for this call is, of course, for the sights of the Komodo dragons. There is a long, concrete jetty to which we take our tenders, guests and crew having to negotiate a rough set of steps up onto the jetty itself and then a 200m walk to ‘land’.

Lying at anchor in Slawi Bay

Here, (apart from the inevitable market), one will find a guide, accompanied by a Ranger, (armed with a long, forked pole for fending off any dragon which gets too close). No-one is allowed to walk the paths without being accompanied by both, every individual must be on a tour. Despite this being communicated to all, there were those who tried to ‘sneak’ onto the island, however such is the organisation that they were soon ‘discovered’ 😉

We 3, (Hazel, Karen and myself) had a prior arrangement and met our guide, Marcel and Ranger, Rizman and off we set. The paths are muddy and one is surrounded by vegetation, I kept a wary eye on the undergrowth, I did not want to become an item on the menu 😯

Marcel was knowledgeable on the island’s flora and fauna and reptiles. There are approximately 1100 dragons on Komodo itself and another 1500 or so on two adjacent islands. Into a clearing and bingo! 4 dragons, eyeing the assembled tour surrounding them with distinct relish, their mouths were ‘watering’, however it was actually saliva, so full of bacteria that it is used to kill their prey; one bite and 3 days later the stricken animal, (usually deer or pig), will die of blood poisoning and the dragon can eat at leisure.

Here is a video, far easier than trying to describe it all. In the latter part of it, when walking back towards the assembly area, we happened upon a dragon which was obviously in a hurry…..