Dragons
22 September 2012 | Rinca, Komodo and Banta Islands
The Islands of Komodo, Rinca and Banta
Komodo Dragons on Rinca (Rindja) Island
We left Kupang on Monday (Sept. 10) to do the 2 day, 240 mile passage to Rinca Island. We arrived at the southernmost tip almost exactly two days later and entered the pass between Rinca and Nusa Kode islands. Our good friends, Peggy and David from Toronto, on s/v Rhythm, had sent us the co-ordinates for the anchorage. We had first met them in Huahine the day before we left there for good last July. In Suwarrow in August, we got to know them very well and then, spent a few months with them at the same marina in Auckland. They decided around the same time we did to join the Sail Indonesia Rally. After New Zealand, we met briefly in Noumea, New Caledonia at the end of June, and had been trying to reconnect since.
We were very excited when we turned into the bay and saw a catamaran in the distance. Immediately, I pulled out our binoculars, but I couldn't quite tell if it was them. I did see what looked like Peggy's orange kayak, but I just couldn't be sure. I hailed them on the VHF radio and was thrilled when I got a response of "Gromit, it's Rhythm!" Yes!!! It was them. They invited us to raft to them, as they were on a mooring ball.
Rinca Island is beside Komodo Island, which is famous for the 'Komodo Dragon'. Everything we had heard and read about Komodo Island was that it is incredibly touristy, so when we learned that there were also dragons on Rinca, we decided to come here instead. We were not disappointed! The very first evening, from the boat, we saw one on the beach, as well as some wild boar. Today, we saw a wild boar with its baby and a monkey on the beach. After dinner, we dingied to the beach and saw 4 massive dragons fairly close up. They are quite prehistoric looking.
The following description of the 'Komodo Dragon' is from the Indonesia: Lonely Planet guide book we have:
The Komodo dragon is actually a monitor lizard. All monitors have some things in common: the head is tapered, the ear openings are visible, the neck is long and slender, the eyes have eyelids and round pupils, and the jaws are powerful. But the dragons also have massive bodies, powerful legs (each with five-clawed toes) and long, thick tails, which function as rudders underwater, but can also be used for grasping or as a potent weapon. The body is covered in small, non-overlapping scales; some may be spiny, others raised and bony.
The dragons' legs allow them to sprint short distances, lifting their tails as they run. When threatened, they'll take refuge in their normal resting places - holes, trees (for the smaller ones) or water. They are dangerous if driven into a corner and will then attack even a much larger opponent. Komodo dragons often rise up on their hind legs just before attacking and the tail can deliver well-aimed blows that will knock down a weaker adversary. Their best weapons are their sharp teeth and dagger-sharp claws, which can inflict severe wounds.
Komodo dragons have a very keen sense of smell. All monitors feed on other animals -small ones on insects, larger ones on frogs and birds. They also prey on deer, wild pig and water buffalo. They can expand their jaws considerably, enabling them to swallow prey as large as a goat. To tackle even bigger prey, they ambush their victim, bite it and wait for the potent bacteria in their mouths to take effect - they will wait around for up to two weeks for a buffalo to die- before tucking in.
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I'm glad our camera has a good zoom lens!
We snorkeled over and around a huge coral head here in the bay and saw some amazing coral we hadn't seen in the Pacific Ocean. There were lots of fish of many colours and sizes. The water was surprisingly cool, considering we are only 8 degrees (about 500 miles) from the equator.
Tomorrow we will sail about 12 miles, to an anchorage on the west side of Rinca. We are hoping to see more dragons and some other Indonesian wildlife.
Friday, September 14, 2012
We left the anchorage in the south of Rinca early and motor-sailed the 12 miles to the anchorage on the west side - Lehok Gingga.
It is dry season here and it is interesting to see the land so parched. The hills are covered with long brown grass and tall palm trees, with tufts of green at the top. There is an occasional green tree or bush and they make one wonder how deep the roots must run to allow them to not die after months of no rain. It is a very barren and sparse landscape.
Late in the day, we took a quick trip to shore to let the kids run around and to burn our garbage. It sounds really bad and feels worse. We recycle most things into the ocean, but never plastic, so we have to burn it. This is especially difficult for us because we know what chemicals we are letting off into the environment, especially when we see the black smoke rising up into the air. We have not choice though. There is no garbage disposal system here, so we know that if we were to take our garbage into a town, it would be burned there or worse, thrown into the ocean. In fact, when we arrived in Kupang and took our garbage ashore, the guys who helped us with our dingy took it and immediately began to burn it right there on the beach. We were a little shocked, but now we understand that this is the way it is.
Our plan, on Saturday, was to get to Banta Island north west of Komodo Island - about 33 miles away. However, we stopped on the way at an island just off the north east of Komodo called Gili Lawa Laut. The cruising guide described it as 'not to be missed' and we are glad that we stopped.
The water was clear and the coral and fish beautiful. It was the kind of anchorage we had been looking for since we left Fiji last November. We stayed 5 days. Rhythm was anchored nearby, so we could swim to each other's boats. We had a sushi dinner aboard Rhythm and they came for a pizza dinner aboard Gromit, which was prepared by Zoe and Liam. Also in the anchorage was a German boat called Fee, which we last saw in the Galapagos two years ago. It was nice to get caught up on their news.
Yesterday, September 19, we left Lawa Laut and sailed to Banta. Rhythm had already left as they were hoping to get to Lombok Island by the 20th. We also will sail to Lombok, but we want to stop a few places along the top of Sumbawa Island between here and there, so we'll be going at a slower pace. It has been nice to just stop and enjoy, without the feeling of having to rush. We would like to catch up with the rally, but not at the expense of missing out on beautiful anchorages, snorkeling and a bit of reading!
We stayed at Banta for a full day and then sailed to a small boat building town called Wera, on the island of Sumbawa. There they build 100 foot wooden boats, one of which they launched this morning. We were told that they would launch it at 7 am, but as we were preparing to head into shore to watch, we noticed that is was already in the water. We were disappointed because we were very curious how such a large boat was going to be slid into the ocean without the machinery that we'd expect it would take.
From Wera, we sailed and motor-sailed all day, with some nice winds for the first part of the day, to a small town called Kilo. We'll leave here very early in the morning to get a good start on a 140 mile over-night passage to Lombok Island which is directly west of Sumbawa.
Dennis, our friend from Toronto, who has been sailing with us for almost 3 months, has to renew his visa before the 28 of September. To do this, we need a large city with an Immigration office. Lombok Island is such a city.
The internet here in Kilo will not allow for the volume of pictures I want to post in a new album, so I'll be adding an album about Rinca, Komodo and Banta when we arrive in Lombok.