Komodo National Park
We came to the island of Flores for 2 main reasons : go to the Komodo National Park to see the Varanus komodoensis (aka Komodo Dragons) and to do some of the best SCUBA diving on the planet.
 |
| Getting ready for our first dive |
We set out from Labuan Bajo on the La-ra, a 20 metre boat with three cabins and 10 guests. We were going to go to our first dive spot about 1,5h boat ride away. When we got there we geared up and back rolled into the pristine waters of the Flores Sea.
 |
| Some of the best SCUBA diving on the planet |
What we saw was breathtaking: turtles, sharks, rays, thousands of fishes and colourful corals. Just incredible.
Later that day we snorkelled with Mara and Lea and that too was magical. Within a minute we saw 2 turtles, another minute later we saw a shark (small reef shark). I’m so happy Mara is getting to experience this at her age.
 |
| Beautiful beaches and pristine lagoons |
For the last activity of the day we climbed a hill on Padar Island to see the beautiful sunset. It was more than beautiful, it was majestic! The foreground with the hill ridge splitting the island in three coloured beaches (white, pink and black) made for a surreal setting.
That evening we slept like babies on the boat. Early following morning we completed a short trip to the Komodo National Park and were amongst the first people there. We met with our guides and set out. After 5 minutes walk in a clearing there was an old male sleeping. The ranger did his best to wake him up for some photo opportunities for the nerdy tourists. We walked another 40 minutes before reaching the cafeteria where 2 more big males were basking in the sun.
 |
| The first dragon we saw - old but still fierce |
They were a little more active and started moving when we got there. We got some more pictures and videos and left. I must that we also like many other before us had the disappointing impression that all of this was staged, that it is somehow made certain that tourists see a few Komodo dragons to keep them coming. I for one never had the impression we saw “wild” varaans.
 |
| Just wow |
That evening we slept on an island in basic shacks. We were treated to yet another magical sunset.
On our final day we had another packed menu. We dived at one of the top 10 diving spots in the world in Batu Bolong. And you would see why. The reef teemed with fishes of all sorts and sizes and the corals were electric blue, lime green and red. We saw turtles just lying on corals and a couple of reef sharks circling around. One of the best dives in my life (ex-aequo with the Galapagos).
Later that day we snorkelled looking for manta rays, some of them have a wingspan of 7m. Unfortunately we did not see any and only saw a spotted eagle ray.
We did a last stop on a small island for a refreshing swim and then it was time to head back.
 |
| Last stop of the trip - not bad |
This trip was amazing, I am so proud of the girls who snorkelled and swam in the ocean (especially Mara) or stayed on the boat waiting for mommy and daddy while we were scuba diving.
We met some very nice people too and the whole group clicked. Special thanks to Lauren, Kieren, Christopher, Iver, Katarina, Anke, Paul, Jeffrey, Andre and the rest of the crew.
If you want to see what pro vlog looks like, check out Christopher from SeeLauTravel's latest work
After coming back to port we decided to all go to this Mexican taco place to have a farewell dinner.
We headed to our hotel and had a warm shower which felt like a real treat! We went to bed still feeling a little rocking from 3 days on a boat and heads full of incredible memories.
Comments
Post a Comment