Rinca Island Indonesia

According to the Viking Daily:
Komodo National Park spans 670 miles, encompassing 26 small isles and the three larger islands of Padar, Komodo, and Rinca. Lesser known than neighboring Komodo Island, Rinca is an ideal location to see the world-famous Komodo dragon. The largest lizard in the world, these breathtaking creatures can grow up to ten feet long and typically weigh about 150 pounds. Wild pigs and water buffalos also inhabit Rinca, as well as saltwater crocodiles. (Jenni and I are fully warned and will stay OUT of the water). A visit to the mangrove forests of Loh Buaya Park provides visitors with the opportunity to view these reptiles up close.

I woke up early and caught the sunrise. Indonesia was already so hot and steamy that my camera fogged so I had to catch the sunrise on my camera.

Bob and I sat on the balcony soaking up the morning sun. We noticed how much trash there was in the water. Bob said that Indonesians place trash on barges, take the barges out to sea and dump them. It is such a shame because otherwise, our first introduction to Indonesia was breath-taking.

I stayed outside until I got so hot that I cried uncle and headed back into our "meat locker" of a stateroom.

We both went to breakfast as I received an email from the travel agent who is arranging our India trip and I wanted to chat with Jenni about his answers to our questions.

Jenni stopped by about the time that we finished breakfast. After a brief discussion, we decided to confirm our tour reservations for India. We were told that we should secure our flights from Colombo Sri Lanka to Delhi, India. So after Jenni finished breakfast, we went to our Stateroom and attempted to book flights. This is again the time that I really miss Cheri and her knowledge, efficiency and competency. I would have loved to have called her and asked her to arrange flights. Instead, I am pulling my hair out and about ready to fling my computer across the room. The Internet is so bad! We spent forever watching the computer go around and around in circles.

I was finally able to book flights for the four of us from Colombo, Sri Lanka to Delhi, India and we even got exit row seats!

After that stressful exercise, it was time for more excitement as we are going to see the carnivorous Komodo Dragons. We were warned not to shave because these Komodo Dragons have an extreme sense of smell (particularly for blood) that it is dangerous to be around them with an open wound. Their bite is deadly due to a combination of anticoagulants and bacteria in their bite.

Bob and I had a tour scheduled at 10:30 AM so we headed to the Star Theatre at around 10:20 laden with hats, cooling necklaces, and fans. It is 87 degrees with excessively high humidity. Bob said he felt like he was back in Texas.

We jumped on a steamy tender and made our way to Rinca Island. Each tour group was met with a few Park Rangers and a Guide to keep us all safe.

We saw two small Komodo Dragon before we arrived at the Ranger Station and Museum. Here, the Komodo Dragons gather because they have access to water. We observed many Komodo Dragons. The smaller Komodo Dragons were much more active than the larger ones.

We toured a museum with 2 complete skeletons of Komodo Dragons. It is unusual to find an intact skeleton because Komodo Dragons are carnivorous and usually eat fellow dragons.

Next we had a brief time to visit a gift store.

Our time pn Rinca Island was short due to the number of people that must be shown around the island. There were few complaints about heading back to the ship because the temperature was unbearable! I think that the heat was more of a death threat to us old people than the Komodo Dragons.

When Bob and I got back to the stateroom, we flopped on the bed until we stopped sweating.

We showered, listened to some lectures and headed out for dinner.

We met Lynn and Jim Scott at Manfredi's for dinner. We had lively dinner conversation and, all too soon, it was time for the evening show.

Tonight's show was: "Divas and Legends". Our cruise directors were going to be singing so we all wanted to go.

It was a wonderful show. Guess that we will have to make more of a point to attend the evening shows.Read more