Tropical Cruising Amongst Volcanoes, Dugongs and Dragons

Thanks to Tony and Peggy Kendall for this fascinating travelogue.

In June of this year Peggy and I flew direct to Bali, Indonesia, overnighting there before a 1 & 3/4hour flight southeast to Kupang, East Timor, again overnighting before flying 55 minutes north to Kalabahi Bay, Alor Island. The distance at this point from the airport to Darwin airport is only 519 miles. We were joining OMBAK PUTIH, a 150 foot two-masted traditional vessel from Sea Trek Adventures for a ten-day cruise 365 miles west to Komodo Island. 

The schedule included four visits to local tribes who gave us demonstrations of their local culture, including their very physical sword dancing, whip dancing, special cultural dances and many forms of weaving and dyeing fabric.

First, we appreciated the warm air, gentle winds, clear water for snorkelling (twelve times) over colourful coral gardens and a water temperature you couldn’t feel - neither cold nor warm – just a feeling of velvet . We loved it. We had underwater visibility over 50 metres most of the time

The afternoon of our arrival, we motored at seven knots east to where a dugong is in residence. He has two reputations - living alone and very amorous towards the RIB tubes – he clasps himself alongside, kisses the tube and then humps it  or, he is reputed to have a shy mate and baby who stay away from this tourist point on Alor Island. 

We only saw him and yes, we were humped, penis and all!

That night, we ran and rolled west along to a group of volcanic islands, some active and glowing red at night and puffing clouds of grey smoke in the day. The area is spectacular, reminiscent of Hawaii or Whangarei Heads but with many islands all around. This gave us an anchorage well sheltered from the ocean swells.

One feature was a 50-mile trip north out to an active volcanic island, Komba, about two miles in diameter, with recent evidence of lava, black ash and sand flowing down to the sea. 

Snorkelling off the island, we were shocked and extremely disappointed to find stratified layers of plastic floating in the water, surface to floor. So far away from land. I think we are doomed!

At night, we had the excitement of watching another volcano blowing lava into the sky about every 5 minutes, lasting for about 30 seconds with each blast. This was the Isle of Api in the same area. A magical experience.

We travelled west, sometimes during the day and often at night, to wake up in another sheltered bay or cove along the Flores Island coast for more snorkelling and shore visits. Eventually, we arrived at our westernmost Island destination, the Rinca Island. This is a Komodo Dragon reserve!

Infrastructure here is impressive and we had a very informative guide. At first I thought he was over-cautious when we spotted these beasts, up to 3 metres in length and 80kg. However, have a look at You Tube – Komodo eating everything – gruesome, and we were so close! They can hit 20km running, one bite will poison you sufficiently to finally kill you, and there is no known cure. Gulp! We can see why these dragons are so well respected and known world-wide. 

That evening, we witnessed several thousand large fruit bats lifting off from their special island and flying to the mainland to plunder fruit crops in the forest. Another magical experience.

The following day we visited the official Komodo Island Park and were equally impressed. From here we flew to Bali for our final night before an easy night flight back to Auckland, arriving to rain and freezing cold at 5.30am. 

Indonesia? Just a pleasant dream.

The journey gave us excellent warm weather, amazing and satisfying experiences and great memories from OMBAK PUTIH and its great helpful crew. 

Thanks, Sea Trek Advenures!