The biggest lizards on the planet. One bite and your blood will be fatally poisoned. They can run faster than Usain Bolt. They can climb trees using their enormous claws. They swim smoothly and powerfully. There is no escape, no place to hide. They will track you down and tear apart your dying body. My advice, go with someone who can't run as fast as you can. Better still, tie their shoe-laces together when they are taking a photo, and trip them up. Survival of the most devious.
Komodo Dragons have a fearsome reputation, but is it deserved? From Labuan Bajo on the Indonesian island of Flores, we took a two-day private boat trip around the islands of Rinca and Komodo to see these living dinosaurs for ourselves. I've always loved reptiles and for a while used to own many lizards back in England, but these are slightly too large to keep in a glass tank and I'd fostered a lifelong desire to see them in the wild. As close as possible while standing behind someone else.
Although the lizards live on several islands, they are associated with the island of Komodo. Strangely, this island isn't uninhabited, but instead, is home to around 2000 people. Rather them than me. Komodo is to the east of the little known, but large island of Sumbawa and to the west of Flores, which is where one begins to see Melanesian people, who have a more Pacific island appearance.
We went to the island of Rinca where there is a national park office and one enters from a jetty to the park headquarters. In the past, park rangers used to feed these enormous monitor lizards, and accordingly, some of them hang around the jetty area and HQ grounds in the vain hope of a free meal. This is where you will have your first sight of a dragon, and it is unforgettable. Their apparent lethargy is deceptive of course, and it is wise not to get too close, or try to ride one. Send your child in first. If you have two children, send the ugly one in to "sit on the doggy while daddy takes a photo".
The Komodo dragons are members of the monitor family of lizards, and have probably grown to their enormous size due to lack of other large predators. They are truly the dominant species of the region and are only threatened by human activity. Thankfully, the Indonesian government have created a national park to protect them, and the constant influx of visitors almost guarantees their long-term future. It's a long trip to Komodo, but a significant number make the journey and help preserve the park. I'm glad I went and would recommend it to anyone with the time and money to get there. The surrounding seas are clear and blue, although the nightly dynamite fishing might deplete the fish stocks somewhat. Our boat anchored at a tiny island which was home to thousands of fruit bats who filled the trees at their evening roost. The sunset photo above was taken that evening, just before I dove into the cool water for a refreshing swim.
On Komodo, you will have a services of a guide whose main aim is to set a new speed record for walking around the island. We managed to slow ours down by dawdling and stopping for drinks as much as possible. This also allowed us to actually spend time looking at the amazing dragons. They are not difficult to stumble across and happily pose for photos, being not in the least scared of tourists. Adults vary from two to three metres long and weigh in the region of 70kg before a meal. As they eat carrion, and there are plenty of deer on the island, they weigh substantially more after eating, just like me after a curry. They are carrion feeders, but can and do kill live prey. This is done by inflicting a bite on their victim. Although their bite itself is not venomous, their saliva contains bacteria that poison the bitten animal and case it to collapse through blood-poisoning. The dragon then tracks its prey and waits for the animal to succumb.
You looking at me?
Check out these videos from You Tube to see these fantastic creatures in action. A warning though, they are not for the squeamish. And an extra word of warning for any Japanese readers, please look up the word 'squeamish! in your electronic dictionary before pressing the 'Play' button!
