Komodo

Writing from a suddenly wet Labuan Bajo, on the (soggy) western end of the island of Flores. It's the gateway to Komodo National Park. And while the weather has been kind for four days, it's really showing us rainy season vibes now.

After a quick hop flight over from Timor, we checked into La Boheme hostel. This is a really lovely spot, very near the port, whose only downside is being right beneath a set of loudspeakers hooked up to the local mosque. It turns out that Indonesia is the only Muslim country in the world that doesn't regulate the volume of loudspeakers for the call to prayer. Which means mosques here are unbelievably noisy; the call to prayer happens five times a day, at maximum volume, and often with ululations that last up to 45 minutes. As far as we can tell, this is WAY longer and louder than anywhere else in the world. But it has been impossible for the government to regulate, because Indonesian Muslims see the volume of their loudspeakers as a part of their religious duty. We were therefore up a little late on our first full day here.

Bajo has brought out our price sensitivity very clearly. We've been outraged when meals and drinks cost twice what they did in Kupang. (This is ridiculous! They're gouging us because we're tourists! It's unacceptable!) Only to remember that we're still only paying £5 for a meal and £2.50 for a pint. Compared to Australia, everything is basically free.

With some time to explore, we decided to kayak out to Bidadari island for some snorkeling. Or, at least we thought we were going to Bidadari – in fact, we went to another island, but only realised when we got back. Chelsea continued her storied career in extremely poor kayaking technique, inverse to her enthusiasm for the sport. Good thing she can swim. However, the sheer quantity of trash in the Indonesian water is heartbreaking. Even 5kms out of the Bajo bay we were pushing plastic bags and shampoo bottles out of the way as we snorkelled over gorgeous reefs.

After a couple of days in Bajo, we moved onto our main mission: a liveaboard trip into the Komodo national park. This entailed three days and two nights living on the Apik (boat), cruising through the islands and scuba diving. We crammed in 8 dives in 2.5 days (for non-divers, FYI this is a fair bit). Our bodies are chafed, our hair feels horrible, our internal clocks are fucked, but it was totally worth it for some of the most incredible diving we've ever experienced. Manta rays and turtles galore, plus drift diving in some of the world's fastest currents. If you've seen the whirlpools on the BBC Asia nature documentary with David Attenborough from last year... that's the scenario! 🤿

Our first few dives, we also had the exciting experience of joining a couple from Hong Kong who (despite being officially qualified) didn't appear to know how to dive. We have never before seen someone actually run out of air and have to use the guide's spare supply. Or have to resurface because they were unable to cope with getting water into their mask. Or crash headfirst into a coral reef and tear half of it away. So that was a bit of extra entertainment, before we managed to move to another group with a slightly more relaxed (skilled) vibe. The team at Maika Diving were great throughout.

Lastly, we finished the tour with a short hike around Rinca Island, where we were on the hunt for Komodo Dragons. Turns out, they aren't that hard to find; they're super lazy and just lie in the sun most of the time. Extremely big and powerful, but where's the motivation? Where's the drive? Dan reckons (incorrectly) that he could "take one". Incidentally, he stayed very far away and took photos through his binoculars.

We met some lovely people on the boat, which made a nice change from the first month of the trip during the low season, where we only had each other for company (the horror, the horror). We're sure that later in the year we'll wish we could go back to that level of quiet solitude. But for now, it's been really nice to hang out with fellow travellers for a few days. Bises to our adopted dive family Bert, Maite, Hajni, Rosie and Luca.

This marks the end of the first planned section of our travels (we booked the liveaboard a couple of months ago). Now, we have no specific plans until the end of February – just a vague sense of which islands we want to visit. We've decided to head to Lombok next... further updates coming in the next few days.Læs mere