Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Komodo National Park, Not Only About Komodo

It was an unexpected journey. Suddenly I have a chance to explore Komodo Island with free. Totally free. Lucky me, I traveled with three amazing man as my team. Mad, Ruli and Udin. We are Indonesia Travellers.

We started this journey from Jakarta on Monday, November 12th 2012 in early morning. Exciting!! We were really, really excited!! That morning we still sleepy and check in at 06:20. While check in we just realize that two of us have different flight schedule. We have to reschedule it. Glad that finally we can reschedule it with some money of course.

Our journey start from Jakarta to Denpasar first then we continue to Labuan Bajo. It takes about 4 hours from Jakarta to Labuan Bajo. Most of the passanger of Labuan bajo flight were foreign tourists. Mad, our adventurer, give some Indonesia travellers stickers to them.
Mad gave the stickers to the passangers. by Udin
Get a picture in front of Labuan Bajo Airport signage is a must. Don’t miss it. While you take a photo, you will feel the hot weather of Labuan Bajo. I think that time was hotter than Surabaya. We were picked up by Arya, our guide. We went to Aqua Dive to get the snorkel gear and diving equiptment. There are so many stores along the Soekarno Hatta street, the main street of Labuan Bajo. You can look for the ticket, the guide, the room, restaurant, and many more. We went to harbor by car. It just take 10-15 minutes from the airport to the harbor. Our boat name is Treebucca. We LOB (Live on Board) Treebucca for three days hopping island in Komodo National Park. The ship is very suitable for us who do the mission. It has Red and white flag same as our lovely flag. The design is modern and mostly from wood. Treebucca has a main bedroom, two twin room and one toilet. There are a simple kitchen and also the cook. Captain and the crew have a special room too. I love the cleanness of this ship.
Treebuca ship. It is colored red and white! by Udin
The tourists who want to explore Komodo National Park have to do LOB in a few days. Five days is not satisfying enough for exploring this place. Too many destination we should visited there. It has so many favourite dive spots, even only snorkeling we can see the beautiful underwater of Komodo National Park. The pink color of the sand, the sweet smile of the children, a local hospitality, an awesome and unique culture. Everything is worth to be explored.
Ardi, our cook. Say what you wanna eat, he can make it deliciously. by Udin
We wish in five days we can visit every corner of it. But its impossible. Need more than a week to get the detail of it. It just Komodo National Park, Flores, a little part of Indonesia. Imagine how long if we explore Indonesia. The dive spots we have visited are Makassar Reef, Costal Rock, Batu Bolong, Manta Point and hopping islands to some islands such as gosong island, an island with no people or else.
Cute turtle. by Mad
The underwater of Komodo National park is soooo colorful. by Mad
Gili Lawa, You Rock!! by Udin
Wohoooo.. Jump in Gusung Island. Dont you tempted to play here? by Udin
We also enjoy the great view from the top of Gili Lawa Darat and Gili Lawa Laut. Need an extra power to go there. We hiked about half an hour. Have you ever see a group of bats fly and go out from their nest while sunset? We did guy! We saw it.. Amazing! A thousand bats flied up in the red sky of sunset. Beautiful! Trekking to Rinca Island to see how Komodo lives. We got an epic moment, we record into our memory, a komodo eat another komodo. Really, really wild life. A Komodo Ethnic group is also stays in Rinca Island, we spend a little time to explore it. What else? Labuan Bajo, a harbor city. We can go around the the city by bike, mingle with the local people, dining in a good restaurant with delicious food, going to the morning market. We really enjoy our time here. Forty minutes from Labuan Bajo, we’ll see Cunca Rami, a great waterfall in the middle of the jungle. We did trekking for about 40 minutes to go there. Curious about the traditional village of Manggarai? We can visit Melo Village, West Manggarai. They have a sincere smile, love the culture and have a big dream to make the world know about them.
Happy Snorkeling!! by Udin
Take a shoot for our video
The Wild Komodo. by Udin
Cunca Rami waterfall. See the landscape? Awesome! by Udin
Treetop Restaurant on Labuan Bajo, they has so much food for us
Those are a little part of Flores that we visited. Yes, only a little part. Komodo Island is not only about Komodo. Just pack your bag and go!