Monday 19 September 2011

Komodo National Park

We decided to take a day trip to Rinca Island, part of the Komodo National Park to see if we could get a chance of seeing some Dragons. After our 2hr boat ride we got ourselves a ranger to take us around for a 2 hour hike. Within minutes of heading off and still at the rangers station we came across about 13 of them of varying sizes. They look like a long lost cousin to the Perenti in Australia but growing up to 3 metres in length and up to a weight of 80kgs. We then headed off in to a sweat busting walk in the middle of the day. The humidity being very high here at the moment to see if we could find any in there natural habitat. After about an hour we came across one just chillin out in the shade. It looked pretty docile but, as they can be very dangerous, our ranger had a long stick with him just in case it decided to attack. Their weapon is all in the bacteria in their mouths. Some years ago a local guy was bitten by one and a couple of weeks later he was dead. They also kill water buffalos this way.
After our very hot walk we were in much need of a cool relief and were taken to nearby Angel Island where we jumped in for a snorkel in the crystal clear water.


Komodo Dragon



Angel Island


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