Once again we woke up in paradise at the entry to Slawi Bay, Komodo Island. We ate our customary breakfast and went up to deck 11 to watch the sail in. The craggy mountain islands were extremely stunning as we sailed to our anchorage point. We met up with our group in the Ocean Bar to obtain our tender tickets. For this port one needs to have an authorized guide and confirmation letter which our organizer, Janet, took care of. After a safety briefing by a park ranger, our guides led us down a narrow pathway into the scrub forest. We weren't 100 yards out of the village when the group encountered our first Komodo dragon which crossed the path between groups and found a resting place in the shade. This led to a picture taking frenzy and I have to honestly say I was totally impressed by the size of the Komodo! As we came around the bend in the trail, I was within 18" of the tail of the Dragon. We continued our stroll through the forest and saw some large birds and deer (the latter are primo dragon food). As we came to a watering hole there were 4 large Komodo dragons and they were mighty impressive. They were both docile and moving around with their prey seeking forked tunges being fully extended as they examined this motley group of tourists. As we continued our stroll back to the dock, we saw a few more deer.
Back at the dock, we gathered our snorkeling gear that we had left behind and headed over to the longer dock where our snorkeling launch was tied up. 11 of us boarded the smaller launch while the remaining 26 went on the larger launch. As we sailed to the snorkeling beach, we were served water or soft drinks and watermelon. The launches anchored off the beach and we donned our snorkeling gear. I let myself off the boat and was first impressed by the warmth of the water and then by the beauty of the coral. There was also a mild current which I used to slowly glide me over the coral and hundreds of fish of many colors. I'd then swim against the current and repeat the glide. I was able to snap many pictures and was in the water about 1 1/2 hours. It was clearly the best snorkeling we did this cruise. But we didn't find Nemo! I snorkeled my way back to our launch and was the last onboard. We were served a TERRIFIC Indonesian meal of noodles, rice, chicken, fish, super delicious pineapple, and more watermelon.
Back at the launch dock we made our way to the tender dock which required us to walk the gauntlet of child and adult vendors hawking wooden Komodo dragons, shell angel fish, pearl necklaces and the like. I had spotted a t-shirt design and color I liked and we negotiated a good price for a pair of them. That, of course, brought other vendors over when money was displayed. But we survived and made our way to our tender dock and boarded one of the last tenders to take us back to the ship.
Onboard we showered and I went up to deck 11 to watch the sail away. All the tenders were re-stowed but I noticed the port side tender dock which retracts back into the side of the ship. Eventually the Captain came on the PA system and announced that we would be delayed until the door could be closed. This turned out to be about an hour and a half.
On the sail out, a pod of dolphins frolicked in the ship's wake and it was fun to watch. They were some of the first large sea mammals we've seen and definitely put on a show. We were also blessed with a terrific sunset behind the hills of Komodo Island as well as glimpses of some of the many thousands of islands that make up Indonesia.
We had a simple dinner in the Lido before attending the evening's entertainment which was a juggler from Adelaide, Mr. Spin. He was entertaining.
During Jeremy's (CD) introduction of the evening's talent he mentioned that he saw the many signs that were being posted on stateroom doors saying, "No cabin service required. Enjoy your day in Bali." Since 50% of the crew is Indonesian, Jeremy indicated there would be over 750 guests on board and showed his appreciation of the passenger gesture. We had previously posted the sign on our door and also gave our stateroom attendents a tip to be able to help them on their day in Bali.
After the show we walked laps on deck 6 so We could reach our 5 mile goal. While doing this walk we noted we seemed to be sailing faster than normal. When I checked my GPS I found we were sailing at around 24 miles per hour which is fast for this ship.
It was a terrific day at Komodo Island and this should be a bucket list stopping point for any serious traveler.
While the destination is important, savor the journey.
Tim Bowman
Sent from the Road Somewhere
No comments:
Post a Comment