Komodo Island, Komodo National Park

The main event! The big attraction! Finally, the komodo dragons...

These huge lizards are only on a handful of the islands still, and most of them are on Komodo Island. Our tour group was escorted by three guides to see a medium sized 15 year old male which was lounging by the beach, after passing another one that was also relaxing close by. After a photo session with the dragon (which was a weird enough experience anyway) we were taken to see a nest, and then told the tour was over! It wasn't quite the dragon experience we had been hoping for.

Luke voiced our disappointment and we were able to do a trek with one of the guides through the jungle to a watering hole. We were expressly told that we may not see any dragons, but after the easiest trek I've ever been on we got to the watering hole and saw a GIANT dragon just lounging there. He did not seem happy we had disturbed him, but after a burp (that sent us flying back) he relaxed again. Our guide guessed he was around 30 years old and 3 metres long.

The additional trek was only around 20 mins, and we were so surprised that no one else in our group wanted to join but apparently local tourists just like getting the photos!Read more