We spent a day at sea between MS Volendam’s departure from Semarang and her arrival to the Indonesian island of Komodo. Komodo, one of 17,508 islands comprising Indonesia, lies in the Lesser Sundra Islands archipelago. This island is also part of the Komodo National Park, which includes Padar, Rinca, and twenty-six smaller islands.
Our initial view of these islands left the deceptive impression of peace and tranquility, but you’ll soon see why I described that as deceptive.
Stepping onto Komodo, that perception was reinforced with some lush, awesome flora:
Shortly after setting foot on Komodo we were greeted by a park ranger:
Her job was to brief us on Komodo dangers. For, despite the apparent tranquility, a viscious, stealthy killer resides here. How stealthy? Take a look:
We’ll go more into this silent killer on Wednesday, but next week is when I will truly focus on this apex predator.
Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)