Close encounters with Komodo Dragons
When I was 15 my family joined 3 other families on an 8-day sailing adventure in the Indonesian archipelago. We lived in Jakarta, Indonesia for almost 7 years. There are many tales to tell and lessons learned. We'll start with a fun one taking place nearby on Komodo Island.
I’m on the left in this photo. Older brother Mark (middle) and younger brother Ryan (right) with me. Ryan said he was feeling a bit sick from the sail that day (thus the grumpy face).
Our second day of sailing brought us to Komodo Island (perhaps I will do a separate post on the sailing trip overall). A trail from the coast carried us to the park base-camp, a small building where guides met with tourists like ourselves. On this day our group of 15 seemed to be the only tourists on the island.
After about an hour of hiking through the hills and valleys and over small creeks I began wondering if we would ever find these modern-day dinosaurs. It was hot and humid which made the hunt progressively less inspiring. We were a long way from air-conditioning (there was none on the island) and had limited water supply. Fortunately my soccer coach didn't mind working us hard in the heat so fatigue wasn't a major factor. Nevertheless, if I was impatient I bet the others were too. When your breathing is audible to those around you it is hard to hide your feelings.
We soon came upon some of the komodo's prey, the water buffalo, though, which the guide explained was a good sign. Apparently the komodo's venom fells these creatures (over time) after one swift bite. This had me curious about how long we humans (weighing a fraction of the water buffalo) would survive if attacked. We read later that you had little chance of survival if bitten.
Over the next hill our guide motioned for us to stop. He pointed along the path ahead of us. There it was. The giant monitor lizard we sought. It strutted toward us, about 50 meters away. Oddly, I could taste its size and strength. Maybe the heat was getting to me. The group was hushed with excitement. We’d found our dragon.
After the creature lurched a few more steps toward us our guide waved his hand for us to get off the path. (We found out later these paths were part human and part komodo, so it made sense for us to clear the lizard highway when one passed by.)
Only slightly weary of venomous snakes, we moved into the tall grass. There wasn't much to be afraid of, really, since our guide did have a weapon to protect us. And what a weapon it was: a long stick with two forks, shaped like the tongue of the lizard it was used to defend against. How remarkable that we felt safe heading off into komodo-infested hills with nothing but a twig to defend us. I felt a little less safe now. But I was also 15 and wasn’t afraid of much.
The dragon followed the path toward us. Our guide held his stick at the ready. Later Dad would joke about how dangerous this whole operation was. We found out, too, that we probably wouldn’t have been able to outrun a dragon, despite how methodically they walked. The oft-spoke phrase as-long-as-you-can-outrun-the-slowest-person came to mind.
The lonely stick to protect all 15 of us seemed a bit useless at that moment. This was a far cry from hunting rifles our guides in the jungles of South Africa had wielded when we’d come upon a lioness feasting on her prey at night.
I don’t recall the komodo dragon caring much that we had walked on his highway. I don’t think he even slowed his gait as he came within 10 meters of our position in the tall grass to the side of his path. That is, unless you count the long forked tongue thrusting out into the air, then back into his massive mouth, like a party favor.
Perhaps it was best, after all, that he didn’t acknowledge us. He maintained his strut. He was king of this island.
We saw a few more of the great lizards in the hills of Komodo Island that morning, but none that politely asked us to move off his path nor any that came us close to us as this one.
That afternoon we were off to explore the next island.
Please let me know what you enjoyed and what you didn’t like about this post. I will take the feedback and adapt it for the next post.
Last edited by decision_; 12-30-2013 at 01:50 PM.
Reason: Edited photo links.