We awoke to strange cries from the crew. It took us a short while to comprehend their frantic cries...
"Dolphin, dolphin, dolphin!"
We jumped up, ran to the side of the boat and saw the magical dolphins. They didn't stay as long as we would have liked but it was so nice to see them.
Our first destination today Komodo Island, the home of the mighty Komodo Dragons! The boat arrived at the jetty about 9am, where we met our rangers that were to take us dragon hunting, armed only with cameras! Oh, the ranger did carry a big, long stick to fight off the mighty beasts.
We spotted many deer and some pretty cockatoos on our walk around the island. We walked up to a view point which looked out over the many islands in the area. At about the half way point of our tour, we discovered a large dragon lying beneath a tree. We kept behind the ranger and studied the overgrown lizard, whose only movement was to blink. On our way back to the jetty, we passed the ranger's kitchen. The smell of food had attracted several dragons. They are usually fairly sleepy in the morning as they are cold blooded and need to warm their blood. One dragon however made a sudden move towards us ... but it seemed sleeping was more important than eating us and after a few steps, he lay down once again.
Just before our visit to Komodo ended, we saw a small snake (luckily) scurry into the bushes and a huge bird hitch a ride on a wild boar's back!
From Komodo we sailed for a short time before our visit to Red Beach. It had wonderful snorkelling but the water was unusually cool! The beach was a mix of red coral and white sand, hence its name. The view was really beautiful and one word describes the scene ... Paradise!
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and we arrived in Labuan Bajo on Flores island to end our trip. In the harbour we spotted a small sailing boat at anchor flying the British ensign. A long way from home and likely to be on a round the world sailing trip.
We found our accommodation for the night and had been rather spoilt in Bali and Lombok. The room was ok ... just! We headed back to the tour boat for a farewell dinner and disco. The crew completed the 'line' dance we had practised on the first day and they really were good. The party ended at midnight. We said our goodbyes and collapsed into bed.
"Dolphin, dolphin, dolphin!"
We jumped up, ran to the side of the boat and saw the magical dolphins. They didn't stay as long as we would have liked but it was so nice to see them.
Our first destination today Komodo Island, the home of the mighty Komodo Dragons! The boat arrived at the jetty about 9am, where we met our rangers that were to take us dragon hunting, armed only with cameras! Oh, the ranger did carry a big, long stick to fight off the mighty beasts.
We spotted many deer and some pretty cockatoos on our walk around the island. We walked up to a view point which looked out over the many islands in the area. At about the half way point of our tour, we discovered a large dragon lying beneath a tree. We kept behind the ranger and studied the overgrown lizard, whose only movement was to blink. On our way back to the jetty, we passed the ranger's kitchen. The smell of food had attracted several dragons. They are usually fairly sleepy in the morning as they are cold blooded and need to warm their blood. One dragon however made a sudden move towards us ... but it seemed sleeping was more important than eating us and after a few steps, he lay down once again.
Just before our visit to Komodo ended, we saw a small snake (luckily) scurry into the bushes and a huge bird hitch a ride on a wild boar's back!
From Komodo we sailed for a short time before our visit to Red Beach. It had wonderful snorkelling but the water was unusually cool! The beach was a mix of red coral and white sand, hence its name. The view was really beautiful and one word describes the scene ... Paradise!
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and we arrived in Labuan Bajo on Flores island to end our trip. In the harbour we spotted a small sailing boat at anchor flying the British ensign. A long way from home and likely to be on a round the world sailing trip.
We found our accommodation for the night and had been rather spoilt in Bali and Lombok. The room was ok ... just! We headed back to the tour boat for a farewell dinner and disco. The crew completed the 'line' dance we had practised on the first day and they really were good. The party ended at midnight. We said our goodbyes and collapsed into bed.
