Sailing Indonesia – Flores and The Komodo Islands

Once we cleared customs in Maumere, Flores, we set sail for Labuan Bajo. Kye and his girlfriend Kailey were flying to meet us the following week. Our first stop was Pulau Raja, which is an island/volcano. After we anchored, we swam and enjoyed the cool breeze accompanying a thunderstorm.

The next day we found a nice spot to anchor at a small island just off Flores. We set our beach shade up and had a BBQ ashore. We went snorkelling and and saw lots of fish. There was a massive bump headed parrotfish, lionfish, barracuda, clownfish and several starfish I hadn’t seen before.

Labuan Bajo

The following day we enjoyed the antics of some very acrobatic dolphins. They entertained us by jumping clear of the water, and one even did a barrel roll. We anchored for the night. We went snorkelling and took a walk before an afternoon storm sent us inside the boat for a day’s rest. The next day we anchored at Labuan Bajo.

Dwayne was eager to get ashore and check out the restaurants and bars, so we put the dinghy in and went to explore. We had a look around before finding the markets where we stocked up on our fruit and veg, and had dinner in a restaurant with a great view of Thorfinn in the harbour.

Woken early the following day, around 0330, by the Muslim call to prayer, which was so loud you would have thought the guy chanting was sitting on the front of our boat! After another day of chores, we relaxed at a bar and then sailed to the Komodo National Park.

Komodo National Park

The Komodo National Park is an area of Indonesia that encompasses three large islands – Komodo, Rinca and Padar and 26 small Islands and the surrounding water of the Sape Straits. Ever since reading “Last Chance to See” by Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine, I have wanted to visit the Komodo Islands and see the dragons. Yay, another tick on my bucket list.

Our first stop was Rinca, where Dwayne and I anchored the boat and went to shore to explore. We saw a crab-eating macaque (monkey), Timor Rusa Deer (the main prey of the Komodo dragons), a wild boar and komodo dragon tracks.

We followed the komodo dragon tracks but did not find the dragon! The water wasn’t clear and inviting where we anchored, so we decided to move on to Komodo Island. We had a lot of visitors to the boat selling taxi (boat) rides to the entrance of the Komodo Park for tours, fish, diesel etc.

Dwayne organised to get 200 litres of fuel brought out to the boat in the morning and a lift ashore for us. I made five coffees for our visitors as Dwayne filled our jerry cans the next day. Then we headed to Komodo Island to see the dragons. It cost us about AUD27 (270000 rupiahs) for the two of us.

The guide took us for a walk through the bush and to the water hole. Unfortunately, because it is currently the wet season, the water hole wasn’t the booming social hangout that it usually is. In the dry season, the deer and other animals go to the water hole for water. The dragons lurk, camouflaged, and ready to ponce when a tasty morsel of venison wanders too close in a lapse of caution. However, we only saw one smallish dragon walking through the water hole area on that day.

We didn’t see any more dragons until the end of our tour, but we did see the orange-footed scrub fowl, deer, boar, snake and a beautiful yellow bird. Towards the end of our time, we saw four giant dragons (medium size, the guide told us) hanging out where the rangers and guides lived. We could get a good look at these creatures and get some photos.

We went back to our boat, and then we took our dinghy across to the pink beach where we had a snorkel. It is a beautiful place to snorkel. It is only a small area of coral, but we saw lots of large fish, heaps of colourful fish and stacks of anemone fish (aka clownfish). And Nemo was there!

The water was quite clear; I wouldn’t say crystal clear, but pretty close. Unfortunately, as with every place we have snorkelled (in Indonesia), we had to dodge the plastic bags and other rubbish.

Dwayne was missing the bars and restaurants, so we went back to Labuan Bajo to await the arrival of Kye and his girlfriend. The next few days, we ate, drank, and walked, and one day we lazed poolside at a resort.

We found the nightly food markets and enjoyed a feast. I had a yummy roti pancake filled with veg, chicken and egg. Yum!

We picked Kye and Kailey up from the airport and threw them in the deep end with a trip to the markets. It was raining, so we walked through mud in our thongs (i.e. jandals, flip-flops) and bartered for fruit and veg in the chaos! After a cocktail at the Osterai Del Mare, we took them back down to the markets to visit the food stalls for dinner.

We headed back to Komodo Island the following day to take Kye to see the dragon. The experience was much the same as the first one; however, we had a tour guide that was more informative about the animals and plants on the island.

Komodo Village

After seeing the dragons, we visited Komodo Village and had lunch at Harry’s house. Harry is a guy we met earlier in the week who had organised his wife to cook us an Indonesian lunch. Harry served us ayam goring (fried chicken), ikan baker(grilled fish), nasi goreng (fried rice), mie goreng (fried noodles) and eggplant for lunch.

On the walk through the village, we watched people carving the komodo dragons they sell to the tourist. The wood they use is hibiscus which they have to get from Flores because they cannot take any plant or animal from the national park area.

Continuing west towards Bali, we anchored at Gili Banta and snorkelled in lovely cool water (still 28c). Dwayne, Kye and I cleaned the bottom of the boat before going ashore for a walk and a swim. The anchorage was very rolly (absolutely dreadful). Eventually, after trying to sleep, we pulled up the anchor and sailed through the night. It was a long sail, and finally, the next afternoon, we were anchored a Pulau Satanda. Kye had pulled in a barracuda on the trolling line!

Again we headed ashore for a swim and a walk to stretch our legs. This island is also a national park, and we noticed on a map there was a lake in the middle of it, so we set off to find it. There ended up being a resort and a clear path to the lake ($5 per person fee). The lake itself was salt water and warm, but we still enjoyed a swim. Hills surround the lake, and the scenery is beautiful.

We left early the following morning (0430) and motored to a little island near Palau Seringgit (we couldn’t find its name on any map). It was tiny. There wasn’t a lot to see snorkelling. Still, we enjoyed an afternoon on the beach reading, playing boules and a BBQ dinner of mackerel cutlets, eggplant and rice salad.

The following day, after a great sail, we reached Lombok and anchored near a little village. We went for a walk, and Dwayne had some empty diesel containers which he no longer wanted. Once greeted by the people of the villager, we asked them if they wanted the containers. Nobody spoke English. It was a crazy 15 minutes with Dwayne trying to explain in English that he no longer needed the containers. I tried to explain it in Indonesian and got no further than Dwayne. However, when Dwayne picked up the containers and mimed throwing them away, the penny dropped, and with lots of smiles and laughter, we left them with the containers and went for a walk.

Armed only with the Bahasa Indonesian I had taught myself, we chatted with the villagers on the beach.

We left our anchorage around midnight the following day and arrived at Gili Air in time for breakfast. After a yummy omelette breakfast, we walked around the island before snorkelling, eating and drinking cocktails for the rest of the day. We met a young couple from Melbourne, and after a swim in their resort pool, we had dinner with them before retiring to our boat. The next day on our way to Bali, we stopped at Lembongan for lunch and a swim before continuing onto the marina at Benoa.

Next up – Part one of Indonesia with our boys

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