Komodo

There is no direct route¦ the very shortest way requires a flight to Bali or Lombok; a boat or tiny plane to Labuan Bajo; finally, onto a junk after bartering a reasonable price. The cost which will cover your food, transport and park entry fees of the junk varies greatly. A reasonable price; a guaranteed sleeping spot below deck; and sea-worthiness with a limited number of passengers (these boats tend to sink) are all part of negotiation.

Boarding the junk at dawn almost aways will require climbing over three others that look significantly more sea-worthy. Once on board payment is collected with more negotiation and quarters and supplies are distributed. The captain, with passengers only half convinced they won't sink, sets sail out of the harbor and into Flores sea. A few hours later, past hundreds of islands and some scattered Bajau (sea gypsy) villages, the junk sails into Komodo National Park.

The park, a collection of 30 islands, is home to the Komodo dragons the largest lizards on the planet and apex predators. Once on the island a walk up a jurassic park like boardwalk brings the passengers face to face with the dragons. There are no cages, walls or fences¦ rangers, the only human residents within the national park, act as guide and protector. The rangers aren't armed and only carry a forked stick that they use to redirect a curious dragon.

This stick offers little reassurance when a 150 lbs. 10 ft Komodo dragon starts to charge. Especially when they can smell blood up to 10 km away and hunt with saber-toothed, serrated teeth. By the way, these lizards can stand on their hind leg so climbing a tree won't help. Most importantly Komodo dragons happen to have infinite patience and have been known to wait out their prey (including human in rare instances) for hours and even days.

"What was I thinking?†should be the slogan for Komodo National Park. Traveling to see these dragons in their natural habitat is no small fete. However, getting there and seeing these creatures is worth every bit of the danger and the trouble¦even though instincts may disagree.