Komodo Island, Indonesia

Komodo Island was the main reason for choosing to extend the Kimberley expedition with an Indonesian expedition on L’Austral. Fortunately, it delivers seven dragons in an early morning hike, making it a highlight of the Indonesian trip, along with Wakatobi Marine Park.

The temperature forecast is 29⁰C, but the humidity makes it seem much hotter, even at 7:30am at the start of the guided 2 hour hike. It’s an early morning hike on Komodo Island as the dragons sleep during the heat of the day, so we need to catch them moving in the relative cool of the morning. 

Two rangers are assigned to a group of 14, one at the front and one at the back of the group. The walking trail is clearly marked, and the surrounding terrain is dry and dusty due to the dry season.

We are lucky 30 minutes into the hike on Komodo Island, when having climbed a hill, another group we encounter has found two male Komodo dragons sun-baking on the side of the hill. One of the dragons gets up and walks down the hill, making from some great video footage.

Our luck continues 20 minutes later, when Manuel, the ranger, spots a solo dragon on another hill. It’s a steepish climb up to the dragon, which is not impressed with the company and promptly repositions itself behind the crest of the hill.

Close to the end of the hike, the preferred feeding ground of the dragons on Komodo Island, with an artificial water source, yields another four dragons, two juveniles and two adults. The feeding ground is also the destination for a shorter 45-minute hike, so there’s a large group of passengers in the area. The dragons are largely unimpressed by the crowd and move off into the scrub.

One of the large adults is blind in its right eye, as shown by the milky white coloration in the image below.

This is the same dragon from a different angle – impossible to tell that the dragon is blind in one eye

All up, the hike covers about 8km, and it is quite hot, particularly by the end of the hike at 10 am. Manuel is an excellent guide and did a fantastic job of explaining the characteristics of the dragons and in finding them.

Everyone is back on board L’Austral by 11:30 am, and Captain Marchesseau wastes no time in announcing that he is weighing anchor to depart for Bali, our disembarkation port early tomorrow morning.