Komodo Dragons of Indonesia

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There Be Dragons

Komodo National Park is a fascinating place, with barren, desolate features and the rare, slow lumbering giant lizards that most people go there to see. These endangered animals live on a small group of islands between Sumbawa and Flores in the Indonesian archipelago. The two biggest islands in the National Park are Komodo and Rinca. The nearest island on the regular tourist route is Bali and the nearest airport is on Flores. The Komodo Dragons live on Flores too, but no one bothers to tell you that, because there is a huge industry associated with chartering boats for trips out to the National Park. There was also, apparently, no way of getting to see them on Flores, when I was there anyway, most of the research into this endangered species having been done on the islands, not on the mainland.

The Komodo Dragons, which are a kind of monitor lizard, grow up to 10 feet long and can move surprisingly fast, easily out running a human. They wander freely around the islands and can even swim between them, but so far only one tourist has been eaten, although a few of the villagers have had injuries. Every tourist who arrives there is told the story of the poor Swiss tourist who wandered off on his own to take photographs and was never seen again. His camera was found hanging in a tree. This presumably is to prevent more visitors doing the same.

These huge monitor lizards only live on this small cluster of islands and although there are other big monitors elsewhere in the world, none are as impressive as these ten foot long powerful beasts, especially when viewed on these desolate prehistoric islands.

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Komodo National Park in Indonesia 

The Land of the Giant Lizards



Flores, the biggest of the islands that the lizards inhabit, has an airport, with flights from Bali. It takes several hours to get there in small old planes, which hop between other islands on the way and tend to have a slightly unreliable service, so you need to allow several days for a trip to Komodo National Park. The biggest island in the National park is Komodo, but Rinca also has a large number of "dragons", so both of these fairly large islands should be visited. When I was there, I was stranded on Flores for an extra day because the airline claimed the plane wasn't working, although I suspect they didn't have enough passengers to warrant taking off.

Komodo Island:





Boats can be booked from Flores to the National park. My traveling companion and I hired a boat and pilot for two days, and slept and ate on the boat, moored off Komodo Island. We managed a bit of snorkeling during the trip too and many tourists come to Komodo specifically for diving. I can't remember the cost, but it was sufficiently inexpensive for us to charter the boat for just two people rather than joining a group.

Flores had basic accommodation and restaurants, but was not a particularly interesting place to stay except as a base for visiting the National Park, or diving.





Map of Komodo, Indonesia 

Where is Komodo Island?

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Guidebooks for Indonesia 

Bali & Lombok (Lonely Planet Travel Guide)

Bali & Lombok (Lonely Planet Travel Guide)

by: Ryan Ver Berkmoes, Iain Stewart

Amazon Price: (as of 12/01/2009) Buy Now

Diving and Snorkeling Guide to Bali and the Komodo Region (Pisces Diving & Snorkeling Guides)

Diving and Snorkeling Guide to Bali and the Komodo Region (Pisces Diving & Snorkeling Guides)

by: Tim Rock

Amazon Price: (as of 12/01/2009) Buy Now

Komodo and Rinca 



The recommended amount of time to spend at the islands was two days, to improve the chance of seeing some of these endangered prehistoric creatures and my guidebook warned that there was a reasonable chance of not seeing any at all. The smaller island, Rinca has fewer dragons and allegedly a lower chance of seeing any. When I arriver at Rinca, the dragons apparently were not aware of this and a fairly large lizard was waiting for me on the jetty. The pilot of the boat smacked him over the head with an oar and he reluctantly lumbered away. No wonder they are endangered.



Guides met us and tourists from other boats, on arrival and briefed us on what we would see and we set off on a walking tour in small groups. The guides were equipped with thin walking sticks and running shoes. I thought that this seemed rather inadequate protection from a ten foot lizard, until I realised that in the event of a dragon-attack the guide could simply hit a tourist over the head and run away. Fortunately this never occurred.

During the time spent on the islands we saw many sleeping dragons of various sizes and quite a few wandering around, but the best sightings were in a clearing on Komodo Island. When the first tourists visited Komodo, many years ago, they would purchase a goat and tie it up in a clearing and wait to watch it being devoured by the dragons. They don't do that any more, but a few old dragons with good memories still come back to the clearing. I got some excellent photos from there, of dragons coming towards me with blood on their mouths after a kill nearby. The guide got rather agitated because I insisted on waiting for the ideal shot as they got closer, before jumping over the barrier into the safe viewing area.

We also visited the main village on Komodo Island, with its simple wooden huts on legs, to keep the dragons out and frightened looking goats and children running around underneath them.

Summary

Komodo National Park was a wonderful, memorable place to visit and I certainly don't regret it, but it is a big detour even if you are staying in Bali and does take several days. If we had gone all that way and not seen any dragons I would have been very disappointed.

Both Komodo and Rinca has a large number of Komodo monitor lizards of various sizes wandering around or sleeping. The biggest grow to about ten feet in length, which while not the only monitor lizard in the world of enormous length, it is by far the heaviest.





More reading on the subject 

Komodo Dragons: On Location (Darling, Kathy. on Location.)

Komodo Dragons: On Location (Darling, Kathy. on Location.)

by: Kathy Darling

Amazon Price: (as of 12/01/2009) Buy Now

Komodo Dragon (Welcome Books)

Komodo Dragon (Welcome Books)

by: Edana Eckart

Amazon Price: $4.95 (as of 12/01/2009) Buy Now

Komodo Dragons (Predators in the Wild)

Komodo Dragons (Predators in the Wild)

by: Anne Welsbacher

Amazon Price: $7.95 (as of 12/01/2009) Buy Now

A Komodo Dragon Hatchling Grows Up (Scholastic News Nonfiction Readers)

A Komodo Dragon Hatchling Grows Up (Scholastic News Nonfiction Readers)

by: Katie Marsico

Amazon Price: $15.60 (as of 12/01/2009) Buy Now

Komodo: The Living Dragon

Komodo: The Living Dragon

by: Dick Lutz, Judy Marie Lutz

Amazon Price: $13.22 (as of 12/01/2009) Buy Now

Komodo Dragon Photos 

Komodo Dragon Apron Komodo Dragon Apron by AndyPo

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Komodo Dragons Komodo Dragons by AndyPo

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Current Weather in Bali, Indonesia 

What is the Climate Like in The Indonesian Archipelago: Bali, Komodo, Flores, Rinca?

Current weather conditions in Bali, Indonesia

Local Pollen Reports

26°C (Feels like 28°C)

Last update: 12/2/09 6:00 AM Local Time

Humidity: 83%
Visibility: 10.0 km
Dew Point: 23°C
UV Index: 0 (Lawn and Garden Weather)
Barometer: 1010.8mm rising
Moon: Rush Hour Traffic
Wind: 5km/h From: Airport Conditions
powered by weather.com

Today


Partly Cloudy
High: 31°C
Low: 26°C
Sunrise: 5:51 AM
Sunset: 6:26 PM

Thursday
Dec 3 


Partly Cloudy
High: 31°C
Low: 26°C
Sunrise: 5:51 AM
Sunset: 6:27 PM

Friday
Dec 4 


Mostly Sunny
High: 32°C
Low: 25°C
Sunrise: 5:51 AM
Sunset: 6:27 PM

Saturday
Dec 5 


Sunny
High: 32°C
Low: 25°C
Sunrise: 5:52 AM
Sunset: 6:28 PM

Please Leave Some Feedback 

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  • Reply
    Tipi Tipi Oct 31, 2009 @ 2:30 pm
    I took in an iguana that needed a home. It was up to 25" long when we gave it to some friends that just loved it. I enjoyed George while with us for about a year or more. It loved to go for walks outside and drew the neighborhood kids over. Iguanas are either good or bad tempered, this one was good. It loved to be held and liked to kiss you cheek.

    We had 2 kittens when we got George. The first time I let George out on the kitchen floor the kittens wanted to get too close and play, so they got a lizard tail swished at them. That was the only time I seen any aggression from a nice pet.

    I do love this lens Andy, been here before. Shelly reminded me of it and it was once a gain a pleasure to visit this interesting page. ~ Blessed by a Squid Angel today!
    Susie
  • Reply
    Shelly Shelly Oct 31, 2009 @ 1:12 pm
    I watched a PBS special on Komodo Dragons last week. The fellow who was presenting the special said that Komodos are very smart and are the only ones in the lizard family that are looking back at you while you are looking at them. We were amazed to learn that they are pretty affectionate and love to be stroked on the head and neck--however, I will be very content to see from afar.
  • Reply
    JaguarJulie JaguarJulie Jul 11, 2009 @ 8:02 am
    Wow, these are unbelievable -- the iguanas of Costa Rica scared me silly -- imagine what encountering a komodo dragon would do???
  • Reply
    GodMother GodMother May 31, 2009 @ 11:05 am
    Beautiful, just beautiful!
  • Reply
    ElizabethJeanAllen ElizabethJeanAllen May 25, 2009 @ 4:06 pm
    Welcome to The Nature and the Outdoors Group
    Lizzy
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