Komodo Island

[Floridiana]

In case somebody is interested:

 

Komodo Island (tender port)

On our cruise (b2b) last February, our ship went there twice. We booked a ship's excursion for a relatively short walk to see the dragons. Almost all of the trail was in shade and it is flat and easy to walk.

 

At first, we saw a little dragon running through the bushes and several participants forgot all about the guide's warnings to stay on the trail. They ran into the woods to catch a picture. We also saw a large dragon nest which is a mound in the forest and then continued to a watering hole where the large dragons congregate, I remember about 5.

 

The watering hole is man made, but the park rangers have stopped feeding because it became too dangerous. Our park ranger said they sometimes had up to 70 dragons at the feeding station. We walked with a guide who spoke English and a second park ranger with a forked pole bringing up the rear. At the end of the walk, we were led through a long row of sales tables with trinkets.

 

Our tenders took us back to the ship for lunch. In the afternoon, the zodiacs took passengers out again to pink beach which is in the same bay but not directly connected to the tendering pier area.

 

The second time, the weather was too stormy for the tendering and the zodiac operation. Our ship stayed in the relatively sheltered bay to wait out the storm and continued north the following morning.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Glad you were able to get over there in the morning. We had a nice experience there in 2011.

 

Keith

[hallasm]

Thank you for your review - also one of my best cruise experiences - we did also visit Kampung Komodo

 

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[laughing husky]

thanks for posting those videos...It is on my bucket list....

[Floridiana]

Mogens,

Very nice videos. Our dragons barely moved, yours were very active.

[hallasm]

thanks for posting those videos...It is on my bucket list....

Thank you - Highly recommendable - if possible also visit the village - limited number of people allowed per day.

Mogens, Very nice videos. Our dragons barely moved, yours were very active.

Thank you. Probably hungry - there were quite many in different locations.

[Orlando Vic]

Floridiana,

What cruise line were you on?

This is something I am very interested in.

Vic

[Floridiana]

Orlando Vic,

I was on the Hapag-Lloyd ship Europa 2, but we will return this fall on MS Amsterdam of the Holland America line. We also saw a smaller local cruise ship, yacht type. Check cruises going from Australia to Bali and vice versa. None of the large cruise ships seem to stop there since facilities are limited. Our Princess cruise from Australia to Bali did not stop.

 

Mogens,

How did you book the village tour? Was it offered on your ship? In your video, the village looks much poorer than the ones we visited on Sulawesi. Could you describe what you saw in the village?

 

The villagers have trinket stands near the beach. I bought a wooden komodo dragon, but I noticed that quite a few vendors tried to sell me additional stuff and they sounded more desperate than vendors elsewhere.

[Floridiana]

If I am not mistaken, the komodo dragon is the largest monitor lizard. We saw large monitor lizards - not as large as the dragon but larger than any lizard in Florida - on the grounds of the Royal Thailand summer Palace and in a pond in the Botanical Garden in Singapore. So keep your eyes peeled!

[hallasm]

How did you book the village tour? Was it offered on your ship? In your video, the village looks much poorer than the ones we visited on Sulawesi. Could you describe what you saw in the village?

 

It was Celebrity Millennium from Singapore. “Gems of South East Asia” link to my review http://gemsofsoutheastasia.blogspot.com/

The tour was booked through Celebrity do not think there were other possibilities due to restrictions. Part of the price of the excursion was a donation to the local school. We did see the village, visited some families and the new school. Village is a extremely poor fishing village. 300 houses and 1100 residents..

 

 

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[Ned49]

We went to Komodo with RC, we booked a tour through them, we had a 90 min walk through uneven paths, it was very hot some older people were struggling. We arrived at the compound were the dragons were, that was all very good, but, we was only 10 mins away from where we started.