Hunting dragons in Komodo - October 30, 2007

Before coming to Indonesia, I happened to catch an Animal Planet special on the Komodo dragon. Every detail about these ferocious lizards fascinated me -- their powerful jaws that can gulp down an adult deer in three bites, their poisonous saliva enabling them to attack and eat buffaloes (and sometimes humans!), the fact they only be found on three small islands off the coast of Flores. I knew that I wanted to see the dragons, not cooped up in some decrepit zoo, but in their natural habitat, where they are truly the masters of their domain.

Getting to Komodo Island from Lombok requires traveling by boat for three days past the volcanic island of Sumbawa. The journey itself was pleasurable -- given the dodgy reputation of some of the boat operators plying this route, I decided to fork over a bit of cash to go with Perama Tours, a company that has an excellent record for safety and professionalism. I was happy with my decision. The crew were attentive, the guide knowledgeable and best of all the food was delicious. I opted to sleep on the deck so was able to enjoy the spectacular sunrises and the rugged beauty of Sumbawa's coastline along the way.



As we neared our destination, the rich green jungles gave way to arid, savannah like terrain. It was hard to imagine that these desolate islands supported not only these gigantic carnivores, but a couple of tiny fishing villages, wild pigs and deer, buffalo and other tasty morsels for the dragons.



After a slightly scary safety lecture (example: women who are menstruating should let the rangers know so they can provide them with extra protection!), we disembarked and eyed the beach nervously -- the dragons are known to come to the beach to look for prey.

Our three park rangers then joined us, and with their big sticks, stationed themselves at the front, middle and back to begin our hunt for the dragons. We didn't have long to wait; two enormous dragons were lounging beneath the cafeteria hut, staring at us with the lazy confidence that comes with being the island's top predator. These creatures are simply awesome - at three metres long, their sheer bulk, enormous curved claws and sharp teeth were enough for us to realize that these were no ordinary lizards.



Then suddenly as we were walking back the park headquarters, we spotted a full grown dragon coming toward us along the path. To see these powerful creatures dozing around the cafeteria was intimidating enough, but to watch its leg muscles ripple, the toxic drool spilling out of its mouth and its tongue flicking as it sniffed for prey was just plain scary.

The rangers' voices suddenly sharpened as they told us to get off the path immediately. With adrenaline pumping, I and several other tourists scrambled into a small enclosure, which we realized too late didn't have an easy escape route should the dragon decide to go after us. As it got closer, the dragon seemed to turn toward us as if it had detected the delectable scent of a possible meal, but luckily for us, one of the rangers had stationed himself at the entrance of our enclosure and waved his stick at the dragon. It quickly decided we weren't worth the effort and slowly ambled past us. I don't think we were really in any danger as the rangers are well trained, but we exchanged relieved sighs and rolling of the eyes as we savoured our close encounter with this amazing beast.