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…..
Once near the shore, deer were in abundance and 2 dragons were ‘hanging out’ near the cafe….
I’ll leave you with the market stalls, Karen searching for pearls, (success) while Hazel provided support, darn it!
Jonathan,
I so appreciate and look forward to your posts, pictures and videos. I’m vicariously enjoying WC’19. We decided to take this time and move to FL this year.
Looking forward to WC’20!
Thanks for this nice memory too. When we were here on the Grand Asia it was so dry so it was interesting to see the very green on the hills and along the walking path. I’m wondering if you could comment on the beach where you tenderer to. When we were there it was very littered and we were so disappointed to see a Unesco site in this condition.
Captain, what a treat to see your video! I think it was much better than being on the island. We thought all the dragons were slow and lazy, even tho we had been told they were not. You certainly put that myth to bed.
Captain, what a treat it is to wake up to one of your blogs. We have been to Komodo island also ..thankfully the dragons were far less active than the one you saw walking purposefully across the island….
Many thanks Captain for your excellent log. This brings back memories of our visit to the island on board Amsterdam in November 2010 (Grand Asia Australia cruise) when we saw the Komodo dragons – but we did not see one as active as you captured on your video.
We have enjoyed cruising with you on a number of occasions, the last being the 2018 World cruise, from Fort Lauderdale to Singapore, and we always look forward to your logs when we are not sailing with you.
Great video & Pics.
We have been here a couple of times. The first, there was a report that two fishermen were walking in the island & were attacked by the Komodo, one escaped up a tree, the other never found except his glasses.
The 2nd time I spotted a passenger walking along the beach unaware that just behind him a few meters away… a dragon stalking him!
I have some great videos of them as well, complete with all the saliva!
Captain Jonathan –
What a treat! Thanks so much for sharing this experience!
Jan & Maureen Smith
We were there on the 18th of January on the Maasdam. Thankfully we had much better weather with beautiful partly skies. My wife went ashore with a group and it was a brutal hike.
Thanks for the terrific video, which I assume was shot with the GoPro using a stabilizer.
I also enjoyed your discussion on “sweep” in a previous blog entry
Actually Jack, I’ve given up on the GoPro except for time-lapse, using my camera for them now, better quality 👍