Komodo is one of 17,508 islands that make up the Republic of Indonesia. The Komodo Dragon, a type of monitor lizard, is the world's largest and roams the island freely. It also makes it's home on some of the smaller surrounding islands. The lizards grow to an average of 6 to 10 feet and weigh an average of 150 lbs. It is an endangered species, protected under Indonesian law. There are about 1200 of them on Komodo Island, a total of 3000 on all the islands. Although some try to dramatize their ferocity, they rarely attack humans. They could, however, gobble down an adult in a matter of minutes. They have been clocked at speeds of about 12 mph. Their jaws are hinged, much like those of a snake, so they are able to swallow large animals without having to chew much. They have a keen sense of smell, being able to sense a possible meal from miles away.
After being given the above information, we still proceeded to the Queen's Lounge to line up for our tour. We were on the island by about 9:00. We were greeted by a sign reading "Komodo National Park". Komodo, along with Rinca and Padar, was made into a National Park in 1980. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. We were divided into groups of about 15 with an escort from the ship as well as 2 rangers, one in front, one in back. I was looking for who was carrying a gun but all they had were long staffs w/a Y at one end. Apparently they are able to hold back a 150 lb lizard w/that...WRONG!
We proceeded down a nicely maintained path. It was about a 10 minute walk with the ranger pointing out various plants and bugs. When we drew near the watering hole, we were told to be quiet and stay together. We left the path to walk across recently chopped down undergrowth, their stubs were sticking up everywhere. Not the best place to be walking. We drew near a clearing and there were 2 HUGE lizards. The water hole was actually surrounded by bricks, man made. The guys lumbered around for us, posing for great pictures. They were in the sun, we were in the shade, so they show up pretty well on "film". There were rangers all around the clearing, about 5 or 6 of them, in addition to the 2 with our group. We had passed a First Aid station on our walk...a man standing next to a tree with a gurney propped up on the tree, 2 red First Aid bags at his feet.
We were there for about 15 minutes, slowly moving to the other side of the clearing and back to the path. For some reason one of the rangers decided to prod one of the Komodo's ....so he would move for pictures I guess. He moved all right, directly into our group! I've never seen a group of older folks move faster, we scattered in every direction. As everyone scattered, someone screamed, adding to the drama. The dragon scooted into some underbrush with about 5 rangers "holding him back" (yea, right!) with their forked sticks. Two of them grabbed him by the tail, so as we left, there they were with a dragon by the tail. I had actually just started to video the lizard when he was poked, and have it all on my camera.
Turned out, the woman who fell had someone fall on top of her, thus the scream. And we discovered later that rangers had gone into the mountains to find 2 Komodos and dragged them to the clearing so everyone would have a chance to see them. The one that ran at us was just trying to get away. The 5 or 6 rangers at the site were there to keep them there. The one they held by the tail was dragged back to the clearing for the next group. Even so, it was a great experience, made better with the "attack".
Within an hour of returning to the ship, it had gotten around that there was an event with Group 5 (the number on our sticker). We caught up with Paulette who was the one who had fallen, someone told her they'd heard she was bitten. Someone in the gym told Mel they heard she was in the hospital. How rumors fly around our small floating city. She had a minor cut on her leg due to the stubby undergrowth. The medical team immediately cleaned it and covered it well with bandages. Komodos know the smell of blood.
But the feeling that the Komodos won't hurt a human isn't true. A Swiss man disappeared about 20 years ago. They did eventually find a skull. Two years ago a nine year old boy was killed by a dragon. Don't know the details. Just 2 days ago a ranger was in his "office" (hut) doing paper work or something when a smaller one bit his leg. In trying to get it off, it also bit his hand. The ranger is currently in a hospital in Bali, doing well after 6 hours of surgery. Nothing to play with!
Paulette who is actually a guest chef on board, organized a dinner tonight with us, the other man who had been slightly injured (scratched) and the man who fell on top of her (and wives). We had a blast going over the event of the day. Her son actually films professionally, so his clip is even better than mine. He was following the dragon. Only after it had all calmed down did he realize that it was his mother who fell! We were all cracking up. I hope to add the video clips to my blog, but I've been having a hard time uploading anything. The PhotoShow for the Sydney segment has been ready for a week. It will not upload successfully.
After our Komodo walk, we were taken to a small National Park Store. Our Shore Excursion Lecturer had told us there was nothing to buy on the island so I'd only brought about $20 in Rupiah. We wanted to buy T shirts so a woman from our table handed us her credit card and said to just sign her name. Nice to have friends! They wouldn't take a credit card. Someone over heard us and asked how much we needed and handed us some cash. We traded cabin numbers...turns out another couple who is going on an overnight in Africa had invited another couple, and that was them! Small world. They already knew of us. After the NP Store, there were a lot of vendors set up selling carved dragons, misc jewelry, and masks. Glad we had some cash. We were back on the ship by noon. Exciting day!
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