RINCA ISLAND (KOMODO)

John and I flew from Perth, Australia to Bali on 27 February. We planned to fly to Denpasar and spend only one night there, then fly to Labuan Bajo in Flores (one of many islands in Indonesia) for 5 days as we wanted to do some hiking on the island of Flores as well as visiting the Komodo dragons. 


It turned out to be a short trip to Flores as the weather was horrible; it rained during the whole time we were there. We ended up staying two days in Bali before we headed off to Flores.

One afternoon we were strolling around just outside the town centre and spotted some local guys playing instruments, practising for the upcoming big Hindu event which took place on 19 March. They invited us over and we ended up chatting and playing their instruments.

The following day we flew into Labuan Bajo, the main town of Flores and checked into the Golo Hilltop Hotel (seemed to be the only hotel there). The peak season was over and there were barely any tourists around. Flores is not as developed as Bali and only very few people spoke a little bit of English. The same day of our arrival, John and I went into the village, hoping to find someone with a boat who would take us to Rinca the next day.

Rinca and Komodo are the only two islands where the Komodo dragons live. We chose Rinca for several reasons: It is only a two hour boat ride away from Labuan Bajo and it is supposed to be less touristy and it has more dragons than Komodo. Although Rinca is much smaller than Komodo, dragons are spotted there more frequently.

About Komodo and its dragons 
Almost entire Komodo Island are hills and barren, except palm trees and woods. This island is famous with its giant lizards which are considered the last of their kind remaining in the world today. To many modern naturalists, East Nusa Tenggara is particularly interesting because of its unique species, called the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis). The local people call the animal "Ora". It is a giant lizard with 3-4 meters length whose ancestors roamed the earth about half a million years ago. Komodo lives by eating carcasses of goats, deer, and even of its own kind. The only human population in this island live in fishermen village. They also breed goats which are used to feed the giant lizards. Komodo is protected by law and though they are considered harmless, it is advisable to keep them at distance. Komodo is now preserved at national park. The national park is home to a number of rare species, deer, and wild pigs, which are prey to the lizards.

After hours of searching we found a fisherman who would take the two of us to Rinca for 300'000 Rupiah which was about 18 Pounds in 2007. Not bad we thought and booked the guy for the following day. The weather forecast was 'not too bad', according to the locals (no TV in Labuan Bajo and no electricity during the day) so we thought 'let's go ahead!

It rained all night and we did not have a good feeling about being on a boat at stormy weather.


The first thing we did when we woke up the following morning was opening our door and check out the weather. It looked ok, although some clouds were building up slowly. We were told that the weather is much better out there once you leave Flores so we were happy to believe that.

Anyway - we had a nice and reasonably quiet ride to Rinca. On the island, we were given a tour by the local park ranger. He gave us interesting information about the Flora and Fauna of Rinca and Komodo and about their habitants (dragons, buffalos, monkeys).

It was a very impressive tour. We spotted approximately 12 dragons near the rangers house. They sometimes gather there when the locals are cooking as they smell the food. We were lucky to get there in time, just before the animals left. 

Did you know how the dragons hunt? They are very clever and patient - they follow their prey and wait for the right moment before they attack. Even if the victim escapes, it is only a matter of time until it gets ill and dies, usually within days or a couple of weeks if it's a large water buffalo. The dragon's saliva contains a large number of bacteria and is highly venomous and once bitten by a dragon, death is unavoidable. Fascinated by the Komodo dragons? Further information can be found here.

Just after we decided to head back to the rangers hut, the rain started to pour down like there is no tomorrow. Soaked wet, John and I finally reached the boat where the fisherman was waiting for us to take us back to Labuan Bajo. We sensed already that it would not be a smooth ride but there was no real alternative for us. We both knew that it would not stop raining until the next morning so we hoped to get back as soon as possible as there are no hotels or other accommodation on Rinca.

Just a few minutes after we departed, a big storm started to build up. Heavy rain and a strong wind made it hard for the captain to make headway. The bad weather conditions did not allow us to sail fast and the visibility was very poor. We could not see further than 80 metres!!! Suleyman, our captain had troubles to navigate as his boat was very simple and he did not have any kind of GPS but oriented himself on the islands nearby, which was almost impossible in our case as the visibility was terrible.

John and I tried very hard not to go over board as waves, three metres high, hit our little boat. We had troubles not just hold ourselves on tight to the boat but also to hold on to our belongings. There was water and rain all over the place and we feared that our camera would go wet and ruin all the photographs. But our biggest fear was drowning out there, in the middle of nowhere. Nobody knew where we were and we would probably never be found if the boat had sunk. Both of us did not think we would make it.

Somehow the fisherman managed to navigate the boat back to Labuan Bajo, after three and a half hours of nightmare.

Happy to be alive but soaked wet all over, we walked into the town centre to find a something like a travel agency to change our flight back to Bali. We had enough of this miserable weather and wanted to go back to Bali as soon as possible as hiking was impossible.

Flores is supposed to be a very beautiful island but the timing was not right and the rain made it impossible to travel around the island as the roads are very poorly built.

We were lucky to find a travel agency that represented the airline we were flying with (Budget airline: Indonesian Air Transport) and managed to get the return flight changed. The woman who dealt with us said that we could not change our flight as there were no seats available. We then took some money out and a miracle happened – after a few phone calls, we were able to change our booking.

The day was not over yet as we still had to make our way back to the hotel which was on top of a hill. The road was a muddy path rather than a proper road and it was hard work to walk up that hill, totally soaked, hungry and thirsty. Another miracle happened and we came across a local bar and restaurant on the way uphill.  It took us two seconds to decide what to do. Wet and still in shock over the nearly drowning, our faces lit up when we smelled food.

Pints of beer made the day for us and let us forget about everything that happened on that boat.

The only other thing I dreaded was the shower. My feet and hands were cold – I could barely feel them as the temperature dropped at night and the thought of a cold shower was everything but exciting. Our room did not have hot water.

After all, we were very happy that we went to Rinca to see the dragons. It was a dream of mine to see those creatures, I read and heard about so much.


My advice: 
Have a good look around and hire a proper boat that has life jackets and other life saving items. It is not worth taking such a huge risk for the sake of saving some money. 
Put your photo camera into a waterproof bag and don't forget your motion sickness pills if you suffer from it. Inform your hotel where you are going and when you expect to be back. Leave your contact details with them in case something does happen. And last but not least: Keep your distance to the dragons :-)


--> More photos of Flores and Rinca