Komodo Dragon

“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.