Tuesday, November 10, 2009


The top of the hill at the preserve afforded a hazy panoramic view of the bay and sparsely covered hills with eagles and cockatoos flying by squawking. The harbor water was dotted with boats and twinkled under the morning sun . We stopped for a group photo and began our descent to the beach. Back at the village I collected some souvenirs at the covered market area where one can find dragon carvings and all sorts of trinkets and local pearls.
Over the next few days we sailed south to Rinja and Horseshoe Bay. On Rinja Island we went ashore for brief encounter with more dragons who roamed the beach unrestricted by a park environment. These animals are more aggressive and curious than those at Loh Liang on Komodo . We made a wet landing in the panga and scurried up above the sand to a slight embankment, armed with tree branches as the dragons approached to check out the latest visitors. One dragon took off and chased a diver in our group, but he was stopped by a couple of large sticks planted in his path. A large can of tuna was proffered to distract the dragons, and we headed back to our boat.
The crew headed to Rija a few times after the end of the dive day to play soccer on the beach, and the dragons approached and watched from closeby, doubtless fascinated by the humans darting about kicking a round object across the sand.

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