February 27, 2016 – Komodo Island, Indonesia

For those of you who weren’t sure if there really is an island in the world with living dragons, Jim can now tell you that he’s seen Komodo Dragons with his own eyes. Ginny decided to skip this trip off the ship to Komodo Island today, because she thought she’d have trouble outrunning one of the dragons in a footrace.

The deadly Komodo Dragon is actually the world’s largest living lizard, and it can grow to lengths of up to 11 feet and weights of up to 300 pounds. Komodo Dragons are exclusively carnivorous and will eat just about anything – deer, goats, wild pigs, water buffalo, dogs, and humans. They have large sharp claws and serrated teeth to attack animals. We were told they are also cannibals – they will eat weaker Komodo Dragons, including their own young. They can run (in sprints) up to 12 miles per hour, swim well, and can climb trees. These dragons don’t exist anywhere else in the world but are protected on this island, which is both an Indonesian National Park, and a World Heritage Site.

Having learned all this about the local dragons, Jim still signed up for the shore excursion to visit the island. For safety reasons, going ashore on Komodo Island is under strict supervision of local park rangers. No independent visits are allowed without being pre-booked on a tour.

When Serenity arrived at Komodo Island for anchoring this morning, we were surprised to see another cruise ship (Holland America’s MS Rotterdam) already anchored here. The Serenity pulled up close by, so there were two sets of tender boats transporting passengers ashore from both ships all day. It was an easy tender ride to the island, although we were an hour late leaving the ship, as the local government authorities were apparently overwhelmed with two such large ships arriving at the same time. That’s understandable.

Once reaching shore, our Crystal visitors were divided into smaller walking groups (about 25 people per group). First, the rules were explained to us – stay on the marked trail, stay with our group, listen to instructions from our guide, and don’t approach any animals on our own. Visitors are not allowed to walk freely and cannot leave the walk once it begins. We had an Indonesian guide and a park ranger (Makasao) with our group. Makasao had a long forked stick that he carried with him to help protect us from any dragons that might approach.

We had been warned in advance that there would be a lot of walking in a hot & humid setting. We set off on an uneven trail of loose, dry rocks through the jungle, and everyone was in an adventurous spirit. After about 20 minutes, we approached a clearing where we saw some fellow visitors surrounding a dry watering hole, snapping photos. There were six Komodo Dragons lying there waiting for some unsuspecting animal (or human visitor) to come to the watering hole for a drink. We circled the clearing about 10 feet or so from the giant lizards, while park staff members with pointy sticks kept an eye on the dragons (and on us).

Suddenly our guide shouted to us to back up quickly! A dragon had approached us from the rear walking out of the jungle behind us. Once we got out of its way, he ambled slowly in to join the rest of the group and didn’t threaten any of us, although he was slithering his reptilian, forked tongue at us as he walked by.

After leaving this group of dragons, we continued on the trail. The only animals we observed past that point were two deer and a wild pig that darted past us. These animals, of course, had to be wary, as they are favorite meals for the dragons.

Here are some facts we learned about Komodo Dragons from our local hosts: The number of Komodo Dragons on the island is about 2,800. There are close to that many on two adjacent, uninhabited islands that are also part of the Komodo National Park, meaning there are at least 5,000 of them here. If the dragons survive childhood, they can live for 35 - 50 years in the wild. The infants must escape from their parents and hide (mostly in trees) for about 2 – 3 years or they will be eaten by their parents or other dragons. If an animal is attacked by a Komodo Dragon, it may not be killed instantly. Often, the dragon will not eat the animal immediately. Saliva on the Dragon’s teeth is very toxic and, usually within 24 hours, the bitten animal dies of blood poisoning. Komodos eat bones, hooves, and even the hide, leaving not that much behind after eating. They are capable of eating 80% of their body weight in one feeding.

There are no roads, cars, or shops on Komodo Island. A group of Indonesian people are apparently allowed to set up souvenir shops under tents near the tender landing site, so that area was very crowded with passengers from both Crystal Serenity and MS Rotterdam. Jim bought a small wooden model of the Komodo Dragon and a t-shirt.

This stop on our itinerary was certainly a big change from our previous four stops in Australia. Even though the islands in the Komodo National Park are mostly uninhabited and quite mountainous, they are a very striking tropical green in color. The first visitors to the islands must have found them inviting until they stepped on shore and encountered the Komodo Dragons!

Thankfully, Jim returned to the ship healthy after his successful visit to see the Komodo Dragons. As far as we know, the same number of Crystal Serenity passengers returned to the ship that went ashore this morning. We did see one Holland America passenger receiving first aid on shore, but we think that heat exhaustion was her problem. Captain Vorland and Crystal Serenity left Komodo on time at 5:00 pm, and we’re on our way to Bali.

Activities continue unabated on board Serenity. We had dinner Friday evening (Feb 26) at the Prego gourmet Italian specialty restaurant (our second time on the World Cruise). It was great, of course. That same evening we attended the “My Life: The Music of Billy Joel” production show in the Galaxy Lounge for the second time. You may remember that this show was staged about a month ago, on our third sea day out of San Francisco heading for Hawaii. That time the ship was rolling and bucking in heavy seas, but this time all was very smooth. We really enjoy this great, high-energy show, including the dancers who put everything they have into it. The lead vocalist and piano player, James Fox, starred on Broadway doing these same songs.

On Thursday night (Feb 25), we attended “An evening of stories, song, and tap dancing with Arthur Duncan” in the Stardust Café. Mr. Duncan is now 83 years old and is still very active. You may remember him best for his appearances on “The Lawrence Welk Show” from 1964 to 1982, which made him the first African-American regular on an American variety television program. Our Cruise Director, Rick Spath, told us that he had invited Mr. Duncan onto the Serenity for a small appearance on the special event jazz show that the Entertainment Team staged about a week ago. However, Mr. Duncan told Rick that he really wanted to do a complete show for us, and Rick was happy to set it up. We were a little unsure of this but, surprisingly, we actually enjoyed the show – nice songs (old favorites) and impressively good tap dancing.

Jim & Ginny