Before I left for this leg of the odyssey, whenever I mentioned that I was going to spend the summer in Indonesia, invariably the person with whom I was speaking mentioned either Bali or Komodo as being the number one and number two attractions. Well...we're en route to Bali...but our first stop of these two was Komodo.

We chose to anchor off Rinca, an island near Komodo, based on the recommendations of our cruising books and rally mates who preceded us. The anchorage was gorgeous: serene, pretty, and not very busy. Having already checked out the lay of the land at the Komoda National Park Ranger Station, our buddies, Phyllis and Don joined us and we dinghied in to the dock to meet our guide, Sophiana, a local from the island. I put on socks and sneakers, for the first time since I last played tennis in Marco in May. The guide books suggested it...and, frankly, I did not need much convincing. I was not crazy about having to explain to my certified nail technician on Marco why I was paying for a 10-toe pedi and only have 9 toes. (They would charge me for 10, anyway.) Once on the island, I found out that it's not about losing toes. These Komodo dragons are not content with toes; they go for the whole enchilada. I won't go into detail but, let's just say that their poop deposits have white circles: bone. That's all I'm gonna' say on this topic. Lest you think we were in harm's way, fear not. Each guide walks softly and carries a big stick: a hand carved forked walking stick. There was also a rack of similar sticks, available to any of us trekkers who like to DIY. Our guide had quite a few grisly stories...which I shall not share with you.

Anyway, these critters are quite amazing. They truly look like they are animated characters out of a Disney production, but when they move, they get your attention...quickly. In addition to seeing them, we also saw wild boars, monkeys, water buffalo, eagles, Timor deer, etc, The sad thing for me was seeing the buffalo who had been bitten (in the butt) by a Komodo dragon. He just stood there, ostensibly posing for pix, but in reality, was just preparing to die. (They don't airlift buffalo to Bali hospitals for massive antibiotic treatments like they do for people.) Years ago, when when we were on Safari in Africa, we saw cheetahs devour a little Thomson's gazelle. I was so sad, but then realized that it is the circle of life. Cheetahs...and Komoda dragons need to live and, therefore need to eat. There is no 'Domino's delivers' for them. But, I readily admit to being a hypocrite, I eat chicken, pork, beef, duck, lamb and fish but compartmentalize that this is just food coming from some plastic packaging from Publix.