Bus stopped at Bima at 4:00AM, where we all got off and on to another, crappy public bus, way overpacked with supplies, bags and people. About 4:30 the bus left, I was crammed in a seat, the guy beside me kept dozing in and out, his head on my shoulder. In SE Asia, locals can sleep literally anywhere, no matter how uncomfortable or no matter the conditions!
Bus made it to Sape, on the eastern shore of Sumbawa at about 6:30, and everybody got off. I then realized I wasn't the only tourist on that crappy bus. A German girl, Martina, and Belgian guy, Stephan, were on it too. They are travelling together.
We were informed that there was no ferry service on Friday mornings, the only ferry today is at 4:00PM. The three of us talked to a local about hiring a fishing boat instead of waiting for the ferry. After lots of discussion, we hired a boat to Komodo Island, where we'll stay for a night, then the next day, he'll take us to Rinca, then on to Labuan Bajo, Flores, the port town on Flores. Cost is 900,000 rupiah, 300,000 each. We left on the boat about 9:30. The two boat guys didn't speak much English.
Long, hot boat ride. Sun is especially bad, because of the reflection off the water. I got a major sunburn, but Stephen and Martina got it worse than me! It was very relaxing, though.
Saw some dolphins. I dozed off for about 30 minutes.
Got to Komodo National Park, on Komodo Island about 4:45, seven hours on the boat.
Registered in the national park, and got accomodations in the park. I got a single, they got a double.
The park guy told us there was some dragons just down the path, so we were going to head that way, and I saw a big one walking around the cafeteria area, so went and took pictures. A worker then grabbed his poking stick and brought us to a bunch of other dragons, lounging in the late day heat, underneath one of the huts. Coolness! The largest one was about 1.5 metres long, maybe longer.
They are quite lazy, actually, just lay around in the dirt, maybe move a bit if prodded by one of the park rangers.
Went back to the room and I bathed (mandi washrooms), then went to the cafeteria, had a Sprite, then Stephan came down and we had supper, fried noodles. Martina was sleeping. She joined us later, and we sat around until about 8:00, then back to the rooms and we sat on the balcony and chatted, I wrote in journal, listened to music, etc. Saw a real gecko tonight!!
To bed about 9:30.
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