Prehistoric Dragons
I think Vialula and LeRoy are time travelers as well as ocean travelers. We went to sleep in 2019 but we awoke in a time before time. Back to the days when big reptiles ruled their world. At least that is what it looks like from here on Komodo Island. Here the big dragons still rule the land. They are the king of their domain and not even the small group of island people can tame them. There are dragons on four different islands around here but Komodo, by far, has the largest population of them. It is difficult to determine the true count but it is estimated that there are about 3 to 4 thousand of them in the wild. Some zoos display and keep dragons but they don't do well in a zoo and only live about 5 years in captivity.
Komodo Island looks like a picture out of Jurassic Park. The topography is very mountainous with everything covered in a light green vegetation. The hills are serrated with what looks like waves of green. Nothing except the coast escapes the green covering. The dragons live up on the tops of the mountains, down on the coastal areas and everywhere in between.
A little bit about the world's largest lizard....Komodo males get up to 8.5 feet long. They can weigh up to 200 pounds or so. The females usually come in around 160 pounds and about 7 feet long. Komodos can run up to 13 miles an hour. I have no idea how fast I can run but I am pretty sure I would be in trouble. Of course, if I was being chased by one of these things, it's no telling what kind of speed I could reach. The good thing is that all I have to do is run faster than Vialula!! Shhh. Don't tell her I said that. They eat meat. That's it. And they don't care what kind. On the island they have their choice of wild boars, deer, water buffalo, chickens, and anything the local islanders would have as livestock, They eat their own eggs, their own young and have even eaten other komodos. They can swim fairly well and are often down on the shore or along the beaches. The young, when born, climb into the trees for safety. They come down when they are large enough to stand on their own. They eat meat in mass quantity. Up to 80% of their weight at a time. In fact it has been seen where a dragon has only eaten 12 times in a year because they consume so much at one time. And they can chase and bring down deer and water buffalo. Komodo dragons are solitary lizards that only come together when a food source is available or for mating. Watering holes seem to be attractive to them too.
Komodos kill with a one-two punch. They bite their prey and if it gets away they don't worry. It will be dead within a day or two even if it isn't that severe a bite. For many years, it was thought that their bite contained some very nasty and deadly germs that festered in their victim and eventually killed them but it is now deemed that they are, in fact, venomous. We saw this first hand as there was a deer on the shore where we all tendered in. It was not running away from us and in fact the locals said that it had been bitten and would be dead soon. The komodo will wait for it to drop and then come and finish the job and eat it dead or alive. They basically tear large hunks of whatever they are eating and swallow it hole, much like a snake. They have serrated teeth and they eat bones, hoofs and horns and all! Their system allows it to regurgitate the unwanted parts back out. Yum!
We tendered over to the island. The entire island is a designated national park so only approved tours are allowed and every tour has rangers from the park as guides ... one in front and one in back and they keep an eye out for us. This is to show us the dragons and to protect us from the dragons. And what would you expect their protection to be? A 12 gauge shotgun, a stick of dynamite? a small nuclear device? Nope. They carry a stick. About 6 or 7 feet long and usually with a fork on the end. So you can imagine how safe we felt when we were no more than 10 or 12 feet away from some very hungry looking lizards. After seeing these monsters, I have no doubt that should they wish to they could grab the stick and eat it right along with whatever guide was unlucky enough to have not let it go. A human hasn't been consumed since 2009 when a local was attacked when he fell out of a tree picking fruit. As late as 2017 a tourist was attacked on Komodo island (got too close trying to take a better picture) but he survived and was only severely injured. The dragons are the stars of the show and the reason for tourism. The small native village here has learned to coexist with their island neighbors and have total respect for it. They fish for a living and when they get visited by the various cruise lines, they come over to the tender ports which is rudimentary at best and they set up their tables to sell their wares. The women sell their jewelry and the men sell their wood carvings made from hibiscus wood.
Vialula and I were not disappointed in our time here. We saw four of the dragons, a wild boar and some deer. The water was so clear that we could see the fish, coral and sponges, too, just by looking at it. We got close enough for some good pictures and made it back to the boat with all of our arms and legs so we feel pretty lucky.
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| Komodo Island |
Komodo Island looks like a picture out of Jurassic Park. The topography is very mountainous with everything covered in a light green vegetation. The hills are serrated with what looks like waves of green. Nothing except the coast escapes the green covering. The dragons live up on the tops of the mountains, down on the coastal areas and everywhere in between.
A little bit about the world's largest lizard....Komodo males get up to 8.5 feet long. They can weigh up to 200 pounds or so. The females usually come in around 160 pounds and about 7 feet long. Komodos can run up to 13 miles an hour. I have no idea how fast I can run but I am pretty sure I would be in trouble. Of course, if I was being chased by one of these things, it's no telling what kind of speed I could reach. The good thing is that all I have to do is run faster than Vialula!! Shhh. Don't tell her I said that. They eat meat. That's it. And they don't care what kind. On the island they have their choice of wild boars, deer, water buffalo, chickens, and anything the local islanders would have as livestock, They eat their own eggs, their own young and have even eaten other komodos. They can swim fairly well and are often down on the shore or along the beaches. The young, when born, climb into the trees for safety. They come down when they are large enough to stand on their own. They eat meat in mass quantity. Up to 80% of their weight at a time. In fact it has been seen where a dragon has only eaten 12 times in a year because they consume so much at one time. And they can chase and bring down deer and water buffalo. Komodo dragons are solitary lizards that only come together when a food source is available or for mating. Watering holes seem to be attractive to them too.
Komodos kill with a one-two punch. They bite their prey and if it gets away they don't worry. It will be dead within a day or two even if it isn't that severe a bite. For many years, it was thought that their bite contained some very nasty and deadly germs that festered in their victim and eventually killed them but it is now deemed that they are, in fact, venomous. We saw this first hand as there was a deer on the shore where we all tendered in. It was not running away from us and in fact the locals said that it had been bitten and would be dead soon. The komodo will wait for it to drop and then come and finish the job and eat it dead or alive. They basically tear large hunks of whatever they are eating and swallow it hole, much like a snake. They have serrated teeth and they eat bones, hoofs and horns and all! Their system allows it to regurgitate the unwanted parts back out. Yum!
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| Our guides! |
Thanks for following us around the world. The adventure continues as we are off to Bali, Indonesia next. Hope to see you there!
LeRoy
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