Next up in Flores was our 2D1N sailing trip! Some tourists may not have sufficient time to do the land tour and opt only for the sailing tour. There are many diving schools in Labuan Bajo itself. We engaged a private boat with 3 bed rooms and a simple toilet. There were 6 other crew members, including the guide himself.
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| Our boat for 2 days |
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| Toilet with simple showering facilities |
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| One of the rooms (comes with AC and Fan) |
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| View from the upper deck |
We departed at about 7.30am. First stop was
Padar Island, which was about 2.5 hours away by sailing from Labuan Bajo. It was nice to chill and bask in the morning sun. Do bring portable speakers along to blast some music on board~~
The hike up Padar Island was sandy and a little steep but the views from the top were beautiful. Despite the scorching weather, we spent one good hour snapping photos.
Lunch was served after we returned to the boat. A standard meal consists of 3 dishes, rice, soup and fruits, which was filling enough.
The guide will usually know where are the good snorkeling and swimming spots and will dock accordingly. We swam and snorkeled near Namo Beach. It is supposed to be pink but I didn't manage to capture it on camera. Snorkeling wasn't very fantastic though. We only saw a few fish and corals.
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| Clear waters but sadly littered with quite some thrash |
In the late afternoon, we finally arrived at Komodo National Park to see the dragons, one of the main highlights of this trip! We were kind of nervous yet excited at the same time. There are 2 places to see Komodo dragons, the national park we visited or Rinca Island, which was less commercialised and which dragons are said to be less tamed.
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| The dragons are best spotted at the water hole area. |
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| Each dragon can live up to 50 years old, and its saliva contains about 53 types of bacteria, enough to leave its prey dead. |
An entrance fee of about USD 30 will be collected and all tourists are accompanied by a ranger, who will carry a stick to ward off any danger. There are about 1,300 of these giant lizards in the national park. They are not fed as there are wild boars and deer free to roam and serve as the dragons' source of food. Tourists should not go wandering alone without a ranger. A Singaporean tourist recently got bitten while snapping photos.
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/sporean-tourist-bitten-by-komodo-dragon-was-trying-to-snap-photos
We docked at Kalong for the night, where it was peaceful with few boats around. If you are lucky you will be able to spot some bats.
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| Beautiful sunset colors at Kalong |
Day 2 - We awoke to realise we were sailing through pristine clear waters near Gusung Island! We went down for a dip and swam to the island from our boat. There were not many fish and corals for snorkeling though.
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| Gusung Island - Due to global warming and rising sea levels, the island is disappearing unfortunately. |
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| Lots of sea urchins - be careful not to step on them |
We then sailed on to Manta Point. The manta rays here were huge and graceful. It was nice watching them so up close. Swimming or snorkeling there was not advisable though due to plankton in the area.
Last stop of the trip was Gili Lawa. We arrived at 1pm and starting hiking. The sun was excruciatingly hot (no joke), and as our skin was rather burnt by then we applied thick layers of sun block and covered exposed areas as much as possble. Almost got a heat stroke and it was way too hot for us to appreciate the view. Best time to visit will probably be during sunset. Never come during mid-day!
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| A panoramic shot of Gili Lawa |
As we sailed back to the port, we showered and watched the sunset, which marks the end of our 2D1N unforgettable sailing trip.
