March 8 - Komodo Island

We anchored today off Komodo Island, one of the more than 17,000 islands which make up the nation of Indonesia.  This is the home of the Komodo Dragon, the largest living lizard in the world.  I have to confess that I was a wuss today and I didn’t go ashore.  I’ve seen a Komodo dragon before in the zoo so I wasn’t hell-bent on seeing one.  The main reason I didn’t go though was because it is so blazingly hot and much of the trail which I was told was about one mile long was in the sun and not the shade.  My thoughts about heat were confirmed when everybody who came back showed up totally drenched from head to toe.  When I opened my drapes and looked at the island the first thing that popped into my head was how much it looked like the island in the opening scene of the original Jurassic Park movie.  I could picture a helicopter flying in bringing the people to see the creatures Richard Attenborough created.

Can you imagine a prehistoric world here?  I can.

I would like to tell a little about the Komodo Dragon though because it is a thoroughly nasty creature. It is the largest existing species of lizard and can grow to nearly ten feet in length and 150 pounds. When I saw one it occurred to me that it looked as close to the dinosaurs as we have left on Earth.  It is a dangerous predator able to spot prey nearly 1,000 feet away.  It has an articulated jaw and an expandable stomach which enables it to swallow an animal like a goat whole.  The dragon will then go and lie down in a sunny spot somewhere and digest the animal.  After it has digested the prey, it will regurgitate the hair, horns and teeth. Sounds like a really pleasant creature, doesn’t it?

He must have eaten recently

Anyway, I stayed on the ship and friends shared some photos with me.  Only people on tours were allowed to go ashore.  Essentially all of the island is a national park and access is strictly controlled.  I decided it was a good day to take care of some spa kinds of things so I went and had my hair cut and got my toes and fingers spruced up.  All in all it was a pretty relaxing day and I need one of those every now and then.