Komodo: Day One
1:38 AM
I'll go back to the beginning to explain how this holiday came about. We hadn't planned on going away, but we always say that 😏
Around the start of January I randomly-half-jokingly said to Matt "hey I don't really want any presents for my birthday I'd much rather just go on a holiday", half expecting a get away to Melbourne or something.
A week later he said it was booked and then asked what my passport number was. From then until two days before we left I had NO CLUE where we were going. I had my suspicions but I was so far from guessing it wasn't even funny.
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| Our view from the villa in Labuan Bajo |
Anyway, Matt planned the most amazing adventurous holiday I could have ever dreamed of and if I could I would go again next week. He managed to roll most of my fears into one holiday but I loved it. I think sometimes we need to be pushed out of our comfort zones to really experience life. But what did we do?
We flew to Bali and then the next day flew to Flores, an island East of Bali into the town Labuan Bajo, aka the gateway to Komodo National Park. The day after we got there we were picked up at 7:30am and taken down to the harbour for a three day two night live aboard tour with a company called Flores XP.
I was a bit hesitant at first, I will admit. The ocean terrifies me, swimming in the ocean terrifies me. I don't like sand and I am petrified of almost every single creature in the ocean. On board was just Matt, myself and four crew. The first stop was Kanawa Island. There is a resort on the island but it is incredibly run down and one of the guides said that it used to be good but since it had a change of management it had gone down hill.
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| Kanawa Island |
The reef was amazing though. It stretched a long the front of the island and we saw a baby sea turtle, a lion fish, a trigger fish, needle fish, clown fish. I could name them all but I don't know the names of them. The jellyfish though! I wasn't expecting it because they are so tiny that most of the time you can't see them but being stung by them was like being pricked by needles, over and over and over again. I may have had a slight panic attack in the water. I am a confident swimmer but the guide was going so fast and I was trying so hard to keep up with him that I lost my breath. Matt managed to calm me down pretty fast though.
When we got back on the boat after an hour or so exploring and walking on the shore we had a delicious lunch of tempeh and rice. Then we just hung around on the boat for a while before going to the next location.
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| Tempeh and rice for lunch |
The next location was Mini Wall. Before we went in the guides warned us about trigger fish. Apparently if they are feeling territorial they can be quite defensive and are known to attack humans. One of the guides said he was chased by one in the water once. They also warned us about sharks, only little reef ones but sharks none the less. I went into the water but after about 10 minutes the anxiety kicked in and I made Matt swim me back to the boat. I just relaxed and read on the boat while Matt continued to swim around.
After that we headed to and island called Sebayur, otherwise known as pirate beach camp. They own part of the island and have set up a dozen or so beach side huts with nothing more than a couple of foam mattresses and some mosquito net. There was fresh water for a shower (aka a hose) and toilets that needed a bucket to flush but it was enough.
Matt and I relaxed on the sun lounges drinking Bintang and making friends with a cat with creepy eyes before heading up to the dining hall for dinner.
The sunset over the horizon was amazing and the food was delicious. One of the guides gave us a brief run down of the next day activities and then we had a quick shower (in the dark, the solar panels weren't working!) and then went to bed listening to the waves lap on the shore.
Matt and I relaxed on the sun lounges drinking Bintang and making friends with a cat with creepy eyes before heading up to the dining hall for dinner.
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| Lucky the cat |
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| The dining hall |
The sunset over the horizon was amazing and the food was delicious. One of the guides gave us a brief run down of the next day activities and then we had a quick shower (in the dark, the solar panels weren't working!) and then went to bed listening to the waves lap on the shore.
Keep posted for day 2!
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