Day 48 - February 20, 2025 - Thursday - Komodo National Park, Rinca Island, Indonesia

As we approach Rinca Island, the morning is mostly clear.  We are so ready for some weather other than rain!  I was able to get a good walk in this morning and enjoyed the quiet atmosphere on deck 8.  I did have a couple of brief conversations with deck crew, who were the only ones there. 

After returning to the cabin, I noticed what I thought was a strange looking island probably 3 or 4 miles in the distance.  After taking a photo with my maximum telephoto lens and then digitally enlarging the image, I realized it was a large barge, apparently loaded with coal!

I took my camera to breakfast this morning so I could get some photos afterward.  This gave me a chance to get pictures of our morning breakfast crew.

This is Debbie, our breakfast and dinner host at The Restaurant.  Debbie has been great, since we come at about the same times each day, she reserves us a nice window table which allows us to have the same servers each day.  We no longer even have to "check in" when we enter the restaurant, she simply waves us thru to our regular table.

This is Predrag, the head waiter.  Predrag always makes sure we have our grits in the morning, even though they are not on the menu.

This is Mariz who joined us in Sydney.  Mariz is a ray of sunshine in the mornings.  She is always pleasant and attentive as are all the restaurant staff.

Just a couple of the 17,000+ islands in Indonesia.

Now to our destination, Komodo National Park

Deep in the heart of the Indonesian archipelago lies a place that seems plucked straight from the age of dinosaurs.  This UNESCO World Heritage Site was recently named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature, and it's easy to see why.

The star attractions are the magnificent Komodo dragons - the largest living lizards on the planet. These fearsome reptiles can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh up to 300 pounds. Despite their prehistoric appearance, they are a very real and present danger, using serrated shark-like teeth and a venomous bite to take down prey as large as deer and water buffalo.

Komodo NP is Located just north-west of the northern most point of Australia

To our pleasant surprise, on the 25 minute tender ride to the island of Rinca, we found Aldrin, our cabin steward,  Aldrin was fortunate to have a brief break time which allowed him to visit the island.

This appears to be a portable sign that can be changed depending on the language of majority of tourist visiting.

The island is full of wildlife, almost all of which serves a food source for the Komodo Dragon.

Water Buffalo

I caught this little guy crossing a stream.

My bird of the day-

A large-billed crow or jungle crow.  I was hoping to see the orange-footed scrubfowl, which is plentiful on the island.

And now to the main attraction - the Komodo Dragon.  We saw a number of specimens of various sizes.  Since they "run free" and are not fed by the staff, you never know if or when one will be spotted.  Our excursion was around noon, not the best time.  Our local guide (you are required to have one to visit the island), said morning and late evening are the best times to see them active.  Most of the ones we saw were relaxing in the shade, but I can't blame them - the heat and humidity were brutal.

Their forked tongue is quite long, much longer than this photo shows.  It is used as a multi-dimension smell sensor.  They flick their tongue out and then place the tips into a special sensor in the roof of their mouth which then decifers the molecules detected.  It can not only detect the tiniest amount of blood from a mile away, but due to the dual nature of the fork, it can tell the dragon in which direction the scent came 

Our tender awaits us for the return trip to the ship. 

This excursion was relatively brief, but it was exciting to see the almost prehistoric lizards.  Despite the heat, we were glad we had the experience..

Tomorrow we are scheduled to arrive in Bali around 12:00 Noon.