Tag Archives: Volendam

Only park personnel reside on Komodo, but there are many people from neighboring islands who work here. And that’s understandable on both counts. Who wouldn’t want to work on such a lush tropical paradise? And who in their right mind would want to sleep anywhere near one of these monstrous predators?

Here’s another view of that Komodo dragon “sniffing” the air for potential prey by using its highly specialized tongue:

And what might that prey be? Well, me for one, or any other person in our group if we’re not careful. But we’ll get to that later. Before we do, I was mentioning that most workers on Komodo commute here. Here’ is their version of a Chevy or Ford SUV:

Next Monday and Wednesday we’re going to take a look at those crafty Komodo dragons, such as this hungry follow:

Until then, and this week’s Fun Photo Friday of Komodo favorites, here are more examples of Komodo flora:

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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!)