Day 72 - A day of sightseeing, snorkeling and dragon hunting. - Unfinished Business

July 11, 2023

Day 72 - A day of sightseeing, snorkeling and dragon hunting.

I was in two minds about a Komodo trip fearing that I would decimate pleasant memories from years ago when Labuan Bajo was a backwater and few ventured to Komodo. I bit the bullet and decided that even a day just looking at land- and seascapes was worth doing. I'm pleased I did. The day was well organized in all regards.

A view to the west from Palau Padar - amazing is not it.

The time of year influences what you may see. July is far from ideal because it's mating season for Varanus komodoensis while manta rays have mostly left manta point, where they congregate from December to March.

The trip included four snorkeling spots, one of which dropped off because it was obvious that there were no manta rays about. They're 4 m across so you don't have to look too hard to see them from the boat. One of the others - Taka Makasar, was special. There was a tremendous diversity of coral in good condition and a diversity of fish to match - all of those parrotfish at the night-market and more. On top of that I saw one adult and four juvenile green turtles.

From there we went to pulau Komodo - Komodo Island, hoping to see the obvious.

How it has changed! Theres a large jetty, souvenir sellers, hundreds of tourists, etc.

Komodo from the jetty. It might look peaceful but........

The largest known Komodo dragon is about eight times the size of this female.

I managed to escape the group for a while and found a few interesting critters.

And perhaps the highlight of my day.

Near impossible to photograph; something looked wrong in the tree. A beautiful juvenile dragon.

One of our last stops was for snorkeling- the beautiful Taka Makasar.

Twelve hours out ended with a glorious sunset back here in Labuan Bajo.

I'll see more of this amazing place from tomorrow's daytime ferry to Sape, Sumbawa.

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Joel KrewazA stunning, super human effort and amazing trip so far Ian. I'm pleased you had a restful chance to inspect the flora and mega fauna in some detail. May you get more opportunities. Superb journaling, all eye opening with parts that have me right with you. All the best.
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9 months ago

Ian WallisTo Joel KrewazJoel, always enjoy your comments. I'm pleased to be keeping you on board, so to speak.
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9 months ago

Jackie LaycockMakes our perenties look positively cuddly. So please that you yaking time for yourself and loving the posts.
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9 months ago

Ian WallisTo Jackie LaycockJackie, perenties are cuddly. Cora and I watched one for ages while it was trying to stay awake. It just needed a cuddle and a pillow!
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9 months ago