“Mind your head” said our guide as we trekked through the jungle like Komodo Island. This morning we anchored off Komodo Island in Indonesia. This is where the Komodo dragon lives and is the only place they still exist. Cruise ships rarely visit this remote island so the government built a dock especially for the Ship’s tenders. Since the groups are large they had to bring in guides from islands far away.
The Dragon itself is between 150 and 300 pounds and can grow over 9 feet long. They have razor sharp teeth and produce a bacteria that kills their prey within minutes. They are carnivors, their young live in the upper tree branches in order to survive their early years. The can smell blood from 1 1/2 miles away. Definitely a bad boy! For these reasons we were given safety briefings before we left on our trek (stay in the group, be quiet, nothing dangling etc). The island reminded Marie and I of the “Lost Island” with the Dinosaurs (towering green peaks, jungle and Macaws in the trees, lots of spooky bird sounds). It must have been 90 degrees and 100% humidity because in no time we were sweating up a storm.
About 10 minutes into the walk we arrived at a watering hole where 2 dragons were drinking. We had about 15 people in our group and we all took photos and video. We were about 20 to 30 feet away from the dragons and at this point one of the (inexperienced) guides went over to one of the Komodos and prodded it at its neck with a pronged stick. It turned on him and before he and the other guides could get their sticks around his neck he charged the group. The guide started yelling “run away, run away” and it didn’t take much encouragement from us. Unfortunately Tom was to the right of the group and as the Komodo came at us he could see that the Komodo had closed off his (and 2 other passengers) path of escape. Tom’s comments. “This is when you get those 5 seconds of panic. All I can remember is the Komodo charging at us and as I tried to run I fell over a tree root and went down. Luckily I fell away from the Komodo that passed to my left by about a foot. I think he was just trying to get away from the group but that was not what I was thinking at the time”. Except for a few minor cuts, which they made us clean and bandage before we made our way out, (remember these creatures can smell blood) that was the end of the adventure. One of the other passengers fell right behind Tom and also had to be fixed up. She happens to be the ships visiting Chef and had a camera man with her since she is filming for an around the world type cooking show. She invited Marie and I to eat dinner with her that night and view the video. It shows the commotion and the Komodo running at us etc. She came to dinner wearing a stuffed dragon back-pack she bought for the occasion. We have a copy of the video and will make it part of the DVD when we return.
It was an exciting day and in the end adds just one more story to tell and embellish over the years. The Dragon has already grown by several feet and added 100 pounds. We learned—never poke a dragon with a stick. Our next Post will find us in Java, Indonesia and we will discuss our visit to Java and Borobudur the largest Buddhist temple in the world.
It has taken four days to get to the Island of Lombok, Indonesia from Perth. However, it was the smoothest 4 days of cruising we’ve experienced. I suppose it has something to do with protection from the West coast of Australia and then the Archipelago of Indonesia. Indonesia has always been a bit of a mystery to me so it’s probably worth reviewing a bit about the country first. The Archipelago has a total population of 240 million and is made up of 15,000 Islands of which about half are inhabited. The island range is 3,000 miles end to end and most islands have their own language (estimate is 600 languages). However, the government has forced a mandatory one official language called “Bohasa” for school education and for doing business, which has unified the country. The U.S. would do well to follow this lead.
Formerly known as the “Dutch East Indies” because of the East Indian Trading Company, the islands were also known as the “Spice Islands” after the many spices grown here, such as nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon etc. The Japanese occupied the Islands during WWII treating the people badly. The Islands claimed their Independence in 1945 (even though the allies had given it to England after the war) naming themselves Indonesia (India Islands).
It is the world’s largest Muslim country, but Islam is much more flexible here. An example is that they pray 3 times a day vs 5 times as in Arab countries. Indonesian character is one of acceptance. The culture finds it hard to criticize, they are frugal, work hard and education and family are very important. They are not great marketers and instead put value in their artistic and creative capabilities even though you may not be able to find the product to purchase. Because they were so tolerant of mediocrity, they put up with many years of a very corrupt government starting in 1945. This led to the violent overthrow of the government in the 1960 but not before that government had purged over 1 million people. The hard part for us to understand is although it is a democracy, the government expects self censorship. Freedom of the press is sort of ok, but be responsible. There is a lot of gray muck here.
Rice is the main staple as a food source throughout the islands. A note about rice: Why does it grow in water? Because it can tolerate water which controls weeds. No pesticides are needed, the fields are flooded and lots of rice will grow! However, the country is still unable grow enough rice to meet the total demand so they are unable to export.
The Island of Lombok sits next to the island of Bali but is different in many respects. We are told that Lombok is the way Bali used to be prior to the invasion of tourists. Lombok, like Bali has its pristine beaches, reefs and native villages. That became obvious during our visit. However Bali is Hindu and Lombok is Muslim. Although both islands are roughly the same size and have about the same population (3.5 Million), Bali is much further ahead in terms of tourism. In fact, our cruise ship was the first American Cruise ship to visit the Lombok in 9 years. Upon arrival we were greeted with a great deal of fanfare, bands and dignitaries. It’s something that the island had been waiting for since they had heard the Rotterdam was going to visit a year ago. Upon arrival our group boarded 4 buses and had a police escort of 8 motorcycles and a police truck that barreled through the countryside not stopping at any lights and weaving around stopped traffic. Essentially our arrival made it a holiday for the island with many villagers lining the roads waving at our bus convoy as we drove by. This was quite a surprise to all of us. Many of the pictures we have included are of the people (especially the children) who are a delight. We were able to spend time at a village pottery shop, a Sasak Village(the locals are Sasak’s) which was not a tourist village, a weaving school, a local school for children and finally a resort on the Indian Ocean for lunch and a swim. It was quite a day and one we will not soon forget. We have many pictures and have included just a sampling for the Blog.
Fremantle is the Port city for Perth but has its own character, distinct from Perth. Many of the beautiful old buildings were built using convict labor beginning in the mid 1800’s. The buildings still make up a good part of the downtown today with its old hotels, pubs and cafés. In 1987 the Port was the site of the unsuccessful defense of what was, for a brief period, one of Australia’s most prized possessions—the America’s cup yachting trophy.
We arrived back in Fremantle after our Swan River cruise from Perth and immediately went to the Maritime Museum which is directly on the harbor. This is one of the most complete Maritime centers I have seen and has something of interest for everyone. The building itself sits at the entrance to the harbor and makes for a very interesting sight upon entering. I’ve included a picture in the Blog. As well, there are actual vessels from the beginning of the fishing industry in the 1800’s to current day America’s cup yachts. There’s also an Australian Sub from the days when the U.S. had its Sub base in Fremantle during WWII.
The city is compact enough that you can walk around the entire city in an hour or so. We did just that, had a Beer at a Pub and Fish & Chips at the Fisherman’s Wharf area. The buildings remind you a bit of New Orleans and everywhere you look is the Harbor. The streets are full of art shops, second hand book and map stores and touristy places. I bought an out of print book at a used book store on a guy by the name of Jon Sanders. I had seen his boat in the Maritime Museum. It’s a 42ft Sailboat in which he circumnavigated the world 3 times solo, each time leaving and arriving from Fremantle. No one has ever beaten his record. He was 645 days alone at one point without stopping. Interesting guy—must be nuts.
We left Sunny Fremantle on the following morning at 9AM on our way to Lembok, Indonesia. This will take 4 days to transit and we are very much looking forward to it. We’ll have a Post for you when we leave our 3 Ports of call there. 
“Mind your head” said our guide as we trekked through the jungle like Komodo Island. This morning we anchored off Komodo Island in Indonesia. This is where the Komodo dragon lives and is the only place they still exist. Cruise ships rarely visit this remote island so the government built a dock especially for the Ship’s tenders. Since the groups are large they had to bring in guides from islands far away.
