We had read and heard quite a few times that the Indonesian government would be closing the Komodo National Park at the end of 2019, so we decided already early in our planning phase back home to make sure we were still able to visit it…
Early, very early, on a sunny Monday morning we heaved our backpacks back onto our shoulders and headed to the reception, leaving behind the private bungalow and the private pool. Snif. The day before, while wandering through Ubud centre, we considered our options for the one-hour drive to the airport. Grab was a possibility, but since we had to leave at 6 AM, we weren’t sure if there would be a car nearby at that time. So, we booked ourselves a normal taxi via one of many small tourist offices on the street for 300.000 IDR. A bit more than via Grab probably, but a whole lot cheaper than the 500.000 IDR offered by the hotel.
We figured that we could grab some Dunkin Doughnuts at the airport, but unfortunately it was only available in the international terminal, while we took a flight from the domestic terminal. Free weight counters were available, and after some necessary reshuffling of our stuff – 20 kg on our world trip is a challenge – we checked our bag with the Sriwijaya Air, a (low-cost?) subsidiary of Garuda and headed through security to the Starbucks franchise. A tepid - and frankly undrinkable - cappuccino later, we boarded our flight, on time, to arrive at Labuan Bajo around 10:30 AM. We took a taxi to our hotel, Eco Tree O’tel, left our bags and went out for a delicious – but small, at least for me – lunch at Bajo Bakery. We went to check in at the Scuba Junkie’s office in Labuan Bajo, to let them know we arrived and would be in time for our boat ride to their dive resort tomorrow. In the evening we went for a – disappointingly expensive – diner at fish restaurant of Artomoro.
In the afternoon next day, we walked to the port, where the boat which would take us to Scuba Junkie was awaiting us just next to a fairly big container freighter. After about one-and-a-half hour on the boat, we arrived at picturesque Scuba Junkie resort. Nestled at the foot of a hill and with a long wooden jetty jutting out to the sea, it has been well designed and located for dive trips to Komodo. After check-in formalities and paying the park entrance fees, we were guided to our bure, a basic and budget-friendly wooden construction with just a mattress and a roof, sharing the toilets and showers with the other bures.
After a nice buffet-style dinner we went to bed early, hopefully refreshed for a full day of diving tomorrow. Because yes, it was a full day, since we had to leave at 06:45 AM and three boat dives were planned. Breakfast on the boat, hup, into the water, first dive. Komodo is quiet (in)famous for its currents, and we felt it tugging at us while diving. Sometimes more than others, but still to be taken into account. We did saw plenty big and small underwater life though. It’s without question a beautiful and very rich marine environment and it’s good it’s being protected for future generations, and our earth.
The second day diving was more of the same, although at one point during the second dive, a strong downward current threatened to pull Véro down and she could barely hold on to me. The rest of that dive wasn’t very pleasant any more. Luckily the third and last dive was once more relatively relaxed, so we ended our diving adventure in Komodo with a positive note.
On Friday we paid the drinks bill and boarded the same boat to bring us back to Labuan Bajo, but not before we stopped at Rinca island, part of Komodo National Park and home to the Komodo dragon. During a one-hour guided walk with a park ranger, we got to see them up close, all the while admiring the sweeping vistas over the ocean and other islands dotting the horizon. Afterwards we set sail to Labuan Bajo, where we took once more lunch at La Cucina and had a relaxed coffee and diner, enjoying a stunning sunset from the rooftop deck of Bajo Taco (which shares the building and rooftop with Bajo Bakery).
When we just got to bed, we received a disturbing Whatsapp message from Lion Air, informing our 09:40 AM flight to Denpasar, Bali, was rescheduled to 16 PM… However, we had a connection to make in Denpasar towards Manado, so after lots of back and forth, we managed to get confirmation that we could get on the early-morning flight of 08:20 AM.