Dec 5, 2012 - Komodo Dragon hunters

Hi friends, today we went to an island in Indonesia called Komodo Island. I saw some Komodo dragons and deer in the wild. We went on a hike around the island. You have to stay with a guide that carries a big stick to protect the visitors from the dragons. They are huge, like 300 pounds. The island is very hot & dry like a desert. All the trees were losing their leaves & looked dried up. Bella fell on a tree and scraped up her arm:-( She will be ok. Your friend, Phillip

Oct 17, 2012 - Labuan Bajo

10/17 Return from Seraya Island, very low tide so we wade out to deeper water where their small boat can take us to the bigger boat back. Met and chatted with a couple of young Berlin surgeons (Frieder and Sonja) on vacation, on our way back to Labuan Bajo. Once back we have to wait several hours for our room at Gardena to be ready since the one we had 'reserved' had been taken, I guess reservations don't mean much. While we wait we have a good chance to chat with other tourists who are waiting to go to Seraya...more Dutch, a family in...

Oct 15, 2012 - Labuan Bajo

Hotel Rima staff arranged our van for return to Labuan Bajo after breakfast of pancake and tea. Last night we spent quite a lot of time on their internet which was easily the best connection and machines yet in Indo. Gunung Mas showed up once again (we found out later they are the only game as far as this type of service - explains alot), we end up seated in the very back seats even though one of the middle seats is unoccupied! "No, NO" the driver insists and points to the back. All the locals are in the front 2 rows - tourist are 2nd class...

Oct 14, 2012 - Ruteng - Not Where We Expected to Be!

Hotel Rima Well, after waiting until 11am the Gunung Mas bus showed up. We had called our fellow, Rickey, at Perama two days ago to confirm our location and Bon repeated that she wanted a seat towards the front of the bus, because the second leg of our trip here two days ago was with Gunung Mas also, and the driver insisted that we sit in the very rear altho he finally let Bon move up to the row just in front of the rear. The driver of this bus was not willing to let us sit anywhere but the very back of the bus. Bonnie said she would get...

Oct 12, 2012 - Bajawa

Wiki Info Bajawa 10/12 The hired/shared minivan - Perama arranged it - only took us as far as Ruteng where 3 of the 9 passengers got out. Other tourists in the van included a French gal, German gal, and a young Polish couple who'd been working the past 7 years in Ireland. Very interesting story from them, they quit their retail & recycling jobs, respectively, and took off to SE Asia 7 months ago. In Ruteng we waited until 1:30 when we were transferred to another company's (Gunung Mas) larger van losing our forward seats. Bon tried to...

Oct 11, 2012 - Labuan Bajo

Wiki Info Labuan Bajo 10/11 After our breakfast at Gardena Hotel9incl.in price) we went down to the Komodo Park office, not really helpful, only prices. Fellow said we must arrange our own boat! Bon was hoping there would be a regular boat over to Rinca but no such deal. Checking more and finding all boats leaving to Rinca go before 8am - now half past - and include snorkeling, not just a hike on the island. Also, none of the agencies put together groups so we tourists must put our own group together. We go to hang out at 'The Lounge' where...

Oct 10, 2012 - Sape via Bima and Ferry to Labuan Bajo, Flores

Our onward Dunia Mas #2 bus arrived just before 10pm and took us - somewhat uncomfortably - to Bima by 3am, earlier than we had expected. There was a local bus sitting at the station which took us to Sape ferry terminal but only after we sat on the bus until 5 am. We traveled from Bima just as the sun began to rise and during our 1+ hour ride I enjoyed seeing the unfolding valley of rice and waking/walking children to school along the way. We were both very tired after now on the move for 24 hours and still not at our destination. We got...

Mar 5, 2012 - Komodo Island

We sail through calm waters and anchor off the shores of Komodo Island. The tiny island is sandwiched between Sumbawa and Flores in Indonesia. The humidity is high and low clouds are hanging over the top of the mountains. The foliage is lush green with palm trees and the accompanying undergrowth of grass and bushes. It is quiet and calm here. There is only one small fishing village on the island as this is a national park and home to a fierce and rare species of reptile that looks like a dinosaur. It is called a Komodo Dragon but it is not...

Apr 19, 2011 - Maumere

Woke up at 400am, drove to Kelimutu National park to see the 3 coloured lakes, torrential rain, camera died sunrise was not seen but got a view from the top of the 3 lakes back to Moni for breakfast then headed to Maumere - stayed at the Gading Beach Hotel, saw a simulated dynamite fishing capture

May 28, 2010 - Sumbawa

Most people pass through Sumbawa on their way to/from Flores so that was reason enough for me to pay a visit. I took the bus to Bima where I stayed the night - there's not much there but the local inhabitants seems friendly enough, I think I was the only Westerner in town. Next up was a trip on a local bus whose suspension had long since been shot to pieces for the 8 hour trip to a resort close to Sumbawa Besar. I spent 6 Days on the resort and I never did get round to taking any photos, in fact I did very little at all there.

May 22, 2010 - Labuhanbajo and Komodo

I do everything I can to avoid overnight bus trips - I just hate them because I never get any sleep and I'm always too big for the seats but there was no way of avoiding the 24 hour bus/ferry trip from Mataram (worst bus station on this trip - annoyingly aggressive touts!) across the island of Sumbawa to the town of Lubuhanbajo in Flores. I used this town as a base to see the dragons on the nearby islands of Rinca and Komodo and to do some diving of which I had heard many good reports. I was fortunate and met a Dutch and Spanish guys who...

Apr 19, 2010 - Labuon Bajo, Flores

Happily, we caught our flight to Flores without a hitch. We were relieved when it turned out our plane was a rather new jet instead of the old, propeller plane we'd feared. Though, it must be noted, we had our doubts about our safety as each passenger and their baggage was carefully weighed and we noticed several passengers hiding their carry-on bags to avoid being charged excess baggage fees. When the plane began to land and we couldn't see a runway anywhere, we feared the worst. Eventually, the runway was found, but was nearly too short...