2/27: Dragons, coral and the sun

sun rise from my deck

Two hour boat ride to Kinca island to see the dragons

Still Flores island from the boat

Komodo dragon - the males get to about 10 feet long.

Two males - they are normally solitary. The male in the background made this huge hissing sound to try to drive the other male away, but to no avail.

We went on a beautiful, but hot two hour trek on Kinca island. Seeing the dragons was one of those things you have to do, since I was in the neighborhood. But was it worth the $55 - I don't think so. We ended up seeing 14 dragons, though 12 of them were within 100 meters of the park entrance. Mostly what the dragons do is nothing.

On the way back to Labuan Bajo, we stopped at this little island to snorkel. We spent 1 1/2 hours snorkeling around the island. Only one word to describe the coral - amazing!

Sunset

Sunset from my deck

Quote from Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, p. 79:
"I think that perhaps my life has not actually been so chaotic, after all. It is merely this world that is chaotic, bringing changes to us all that nobody could have anticipated. . . . one must always be prepared for riotous and endless waves of transformation."

I leave tomorrow for Kenawa island, an hour boat ride from Labuan Bajo. There are only little huts on the beach, and a restaurant, and supposedly some of the most beautiful snorkeling in Indonesia. I'll be back in a couple of days.