Dinner alfresco and my phone pings. I curse out loud, its an email to say that our trip to Komodo Island for tomorrow has been cancelled! As this our only window of opportunity, it is 8pm now and all the Komodo tours start a 5am we seem to be well and truly screwed over. My mind goes into overdrive. Walking through town I noticed half day tours to Rinca Island promoted, that could work. Google is fairly unhelpful but I resolve to push through and make it happen early tomorrow morning.
Reception is incredibly helpful the next morning and before we know it we have chartered our own speedboat leaving at 11am for a cost not much more than the original tour would have cost. Game on! Half an hour cruising takes us to our lunch spot at a pretty white sand beach on Kellar Island. A brief steep walk up the hill here affords grandstand views of the surrounding islands
Rinca is the second largest of the only five islands in the world that are home to the Komodo Dragon. There are 1400 of these uniquely ugly but fascinating remnants of the dinosaur age. They are the largest lizards in the world growing to 3 metres in length. They are apex predators, carnivorous and able to take down large animals such as goats a and deer and swallow and digest them whole. They are aggressive and can run at speeds up to 18kmph.
The infrastructure on Rinca is impressive with raised boardwalks and barriers the initial impression is a bit disappointing as it is a bit zoo like but we are treated to multiple sightings of these magnificent creatures. Out of the blue our guide asks if we want to see a dragon nest and before we know it we are off the boardwalk at ground level with 4 adult dragons lying around us and a juvenile scurrying in the distance. I am gripped from behind by my life partner who insistently tugs at my shirt wanting to go back. I am deaf to her entreaties and the guide reassures her she will be safe. We have a magic time wandering within a few metres of these massive reptiles and even Suzanne settles down and at the end of it acknowledges this is one of the more exhilarating life experiences.
Our day finishes with some snorkeling.
