On the long busride through Sumbawa I began to get a feel for local bus travel, Indonesian-style. Bus schedules loosened up and became flexible, in true "rubber time" fashion. There were two people working each bus: one who did nothing but drive, and another, often a teenager, who functioned as the driver's assistant. It seemed to me that the poor assistant did everything and was practically run ragged! He had to jump off the bus at every stop, heave new passengers' luggage onto the roof and lash it down, retrieve exiting passengers' luggage while he was up there, and then run like mad to jump back in the bus as the driver steps on the gas and speeds away. As a rule, the bus driver laid heavy on the gas pedal as we sped through mountain turns. I soon discovered the purpose of the little plastic bags hanging above every seat. Glancing around the bus, I noticed most of the passengers' faces turning a sickly shade of green. Hands started reaching up and pulling down a bag here and there, and then came sounds of coughing and gagging, and then more hands reaching up to pull down bags, and pretty soon half the bus was puking their guts out. Filled bags were casually tossed out the window. I tried to focus on the scenery and breath the fresh air coming in through the window, but my gag reflex almost kicked in several times as the sounds and smells became overwhelming! I was very happy to get off the bus and onto a boat. We started out on the big ferry between Sumbawa and Flores, and we were met midstream by a tiny vessel from Komodo that had come to pick up residents and visitors. So we all crowded onto the rickety deck and endured a short passage to the legendary Komodo island!

Drawing near to the island I was struck by the bizarre, formidable landscape. Steep arid mountains jutted straight up from the beach. Craggy rock formations at the water's edge did little to invite a smooth boat landing. But the feeling of excitement at venturing to the dragons' natural habitat started to grow, and a smile crept across my lips. We first dropped off a few locals at the island's only village, a small fishing community of stilt houses, rumoured to have once been a prison colony. Then the boat continued around to a small bay some distance away, where we floated up to a pier and disembarked. We stepped off the boat, walked along the pier and onto the beach, and stepped into the prehistoric land of dragons. Welcome to Komodo National Park!

The park headquarters consisted of a couple central buildings: a ranger station and a café with several tables and chairs on the patio. A path led a hundred meters or so to a series of cabins, presumably our accomodation. We were greeted by a couple of leathery park rangers, friendly chaps who immediately led us on a brief walking tour. I was exhausted after the 28-hour bus-and-boat journey I had just undertaken to get here, but the thrill of finally stepping foot on Komodo sparked a second wind. It was beautiful! Small meadows of dry grasses broke up a fairly sparse forest, filled with multitudes of wonderful orchids, colorful lizards and snakes, huge stick insects, bulky poisonous spiders that spin yellow webs, cockatoos flying overhead, deer (dragon food?)... The short path ended in a clearing, and sure enough a couple of humongous Komodo dragons were sunning themselves. We filed in behind a wooden barrier and stared dumfounded for a few moments. In the recent past, this was the site of staged feedings which I had read about and seen on various PBS videos: the rangers would dangle a live goat from a tree branch, and a group of dragons would tear it to pieces. The park service has ceased this practice, but a few dragons still frequent the area out of habit. For the most part they didn't think much of us, but every once-in-a-while they'd hiss at us and move away a bit. Wild...

Back at the café, we enjoyed a surprisingly tasty meal. After seeing the massive dragons earlier on our walking tour, I was wary of venturing away from the ranger station on my own. We walked briskly to cover the short distance to our rustic housing, glancing left and right the entire way. The cabins were spartan at best, but the thin stained mattress was all the comfort that I needed to zonk out almost as soon as my head hit my backpacker's pillow. Maybe an hour later I was awakened by the sounds of a discussion in progress between the other couple of folks sharing the cabin. Darkness had fallen, and they were trying to decide what to do about the rats. Should we leave the lights on? Will that deter them? In the darkness you could hear them scurrying above us. Were they inside the walls, or just running around in the open on the shelves? I wondered if I had anything edible in my backpack that might attract them, decided that I didn't, and drifted back into an uneasy sleep. I assume the cabins were dragon-proof...

The next morning a huge dragon was sitting in the middle of the path that led back to the ranger station! It was quite an impressive sight. The Komodo monitor lizards really are massive beasts. They can grow to more than 3 meters in length, but are still able to run quickly for short distances. We learned that ambush is their most effective hunting technique. They lie still in the tall grasses, and simply lunge when a deer or goat or, well, I suppose just about anything, passes too close. Looking at the muscle-bound arms and legs, I could easily imagine the dragon leaping up and striking a lazy tourist! And the Komodo dragon really only needs to get a single good bite. The nasty bacteria in their saliva does the rest of the job. An animal that escapes with a non-fatal dragon bite will run away, but it cannot escape the ensuing infection of the wound. The lizards then just follow the scent of decay until they come across the dead or dying animal, and enjoy an easy meal.

With that in mind a small group of us went on a guided hike through the tall grasses and up to the top of Gunung Ara, a hill about 1500m above park headquarters. It was a great walk, extremely hot and dry, and full of the big poisonous spiders spinning their thick yellow webs. We saw a couple dragons, sitting very still, watching us intently. At the top we were treated to a commanding 360° view of nearby Sumbawa, Flores, Rinca, and various other islands. Continuing east would take us to Flores, and after numerous encounters with the legendary Komodo dragon I was satisfied with my visit. So it was back onto the crowded deck of the same boat that had brought us here. We were taken out of the bay and around a corner, where we tied off to a buoy and waited for the Sumbawa-Flores ferry. It was to be a few hours' wait, and the water looked inviting. Some of the other travelers had snorkel gear, so we all jumped in and had a swim. The water was almost too warm, but nonetheless refreshing after sitting in the blistering sun on the deck of the boat. Unexpectedly, this was the best snorkeling I've ever experienced. The reef was fantastic, untouched and incredibly alive, glistening in the crystal clear water. The density and variety of fish was mind-boggling. Giant clams, huge puffer fish, stars, sea turtles, octopus, anemones, etc. Rumours of sharks and sea snakes were in the air, but nothing obviously threatening showed up. When we all were back in the boat, almost everyone agreed that this was the best they'd seen - better than Fiji and the Great Barrier Reef! "Thanks for letting us have a turn with your mask and snorkel!" When the ferry finally arrived we didn't want to leave. But the ride to Flores was nice and smooth, past many beautiful little uninhabited islands, complete with dolphins and perfect weather. What a day...