rinca, komodo.
labuanbajo, rinca, komodo
good bye from derren and lucy. so this is the temporary end of the post war fraternisation, how sad if you have to overcome all the prejudice: they didn't have sunburn and they weren't drunk. maybe they weren't english? or maybe i only got along with them so well because i'm not german? very suspicious, have to ask my parents.
waiting endlessly for the other passengers who are still on a shopping tour. among them a canadian family. they're late but nevertheless very nice. surprise, again it wasn't hard to find out they're canadians. but additionally to the usual flag on the backpack dan wears a t-shirt saying ‚i'm canadian'. well, that's about the most direct approach i've ever seen. we're leaving late for rinca and arrive at noon. certainly the worst time to observe the komodo dragons. no chance to be attacked if they're sleepy. we're getting a guide who doesn't speak english. only after my protest one of the others stops playing cards and dares to do his job (the first guy probably lost the last game and was forced to do the sweaty job in the heat with the foreign dummies). what's the fuzz, we're on vacation, maybe they are too? no dragons to see.
some snorkelling on the way to komodo. stop in front of komodo in the evening. a flog of salespeople enters the boat. it's like in a monty python movie. 6 guys try to ‚convince' one potential buyer with lots of blabla and basically holding all the stuff in front of the tourist's nose. despite my warnings to start with 10% the girl from nzl offers 250.000 r after a initial price of 300.000. i try not to laugh. the salesguy just goes ‚ok'. easy money. you travel and learn: the additional 2nd necklace goes for 50.000 r without much discussion.
komodo
after some snorkelling we visit komodo for more dragon observation. at least we're a bit earlier today. interesting animals: they're not successors of the dinosaurs but rather modern monitor lizards, attacks are executed with the tail trying to break the legs of the prey, even buffaloes are hunted in packs. the young ones live 2 years in the trees after hatching as they're are threatened by cannibalism. we're hiking through the heat. surprise! i'm discovering a real komodo dragon in the bush and hunt it until i have my pictures. no attacks to mention today, the good old days are gone.
in the night we continue to travel on the boat. rough sea. this is literally a nutshell in the storm, we're definitely not in control of the situation. the people get sick but my motion sickness medicine helps them a bit. the boat shakes extremely. the water is even with the edge of the boat, the waves roll over the deck, it's getting really messy and dangerous. this is worse than a roller coaster because you can't just get off. i try to judge how far i had to swim to the next islands but i looks not really close and it's almost dark. i guess i'm not in the shape to make it that far and i doubt that there's life jackets on board this would not be like gokyo where you can use adrenaline to move, take a rest before a collapse and push yourself with ‚no pain! no giving up!'. this would simply be ‚swim or drown'. whatever happens will happen. interesting how cool and indifferent one can become in such a situation. well, no need to get excited or frightened if there's nothing you can do but let things happen anyway. it just look at the stars and let the thoughts and the time pass.
good bye from derren and lucy. so this is the temporary end of the post war fraternisation, how sad if you have to overcome all the prejudice: they didn't have sunburn and they weren't drunk. maybe they weren't english? or maybe i only got along with them so well because i'm not german? very suspicious, have to ask my parents.
waiting endlessly for the other passengers who are still on a shopping tour. among them a canadian family. they're late but nevertheless very nice. surprise, again it wasn't hard to find out they're canadians. but additionally to the usual flag on the backpack dan wears a t-shirt saying ‚i'm canadian'. well, that's about the most direct approach i've ever seen. we're leaving late for rinca and arrive at noon. certainly the worst time to observe the komodo dragons. no chance to be attacked if they're sleepy. we're getting a guide who doesn't speak english. only after my protest one of the others stops playing cards and dares to do his job (the first guy probably lost the last game and was forced to do the sweaty job in the heat with the foreign dummies). what's the fuzz, we're on vacation, maybe they are too? no dragons to see.
some snorkelling on the way to komodo. stop in front of komodo in the evening. a flog of salespeople enters the boat. it's like in a monty python movie. 6 guys try to ‚convince' one potential buyer with lots of blabla and basically holding all the stuff in front of the tourist's nose. despite my warnings to start with 10% the girl from nzl offers 250.000 r after a initial price of 300.000. i try not to laugh. the salesguy just goes ‚ok'. easy money. you travel and learn: the additional 2nd necklace goes for 50.000 r without much discussion.
komodo
after some snorkelling we visit komodo for more dragon observation. at least we're a bit earlier today. interesting animals: they're not successors of the dinosaurs but rather modern monitor lizards, attacks are executed with the tail trying to break the legs of the prey, even buffaloes are hunted in packs. the young ones live 2 years in the trees after hatching as they're are threatened by cannibalism. we're hiking through the heat. surprise! i'm discovering a real komodo dragon in the bush and hunt it until i have my pictures. no attacks to mention today, the good old days are gone.
in the night we continue to travel on the boat. rough sea. this is literally a nutshell in the storm, we're definitely not in control of the situation. the people get sick but my motion sickness medicine helps them a bit. the boat shakes extremely. the water is even with the edge of the boat, the waves roll over the deck, it's getting really messy and dangerous. this is worse than a roller coaster because you can't just get off. i try to judge how far i had to swim to the next islands but i looks not really close and it's almost dark. i guess i'm not in the shape to make it that far and i doubt that there's life jackets on board this would not be like gokyo where you can use adrenaline to move, take a rest before a collapse and push yourself with ‚no pain! no giving up!'. this would simply be ‚swim or drown'. whatever happens will happen. interesting how cool and indifferent one can become in such a situation. well, no need to get excited or frightened if there's nothing you can do but let things happen anyway. it just look at the stars and let the thoughts and the time pass.