Bajawa & Labuhanbajo
It was still a little tense the next morning as we didn't
really have a clear pick up time, name or confirmed price for our taxi to
Bajawa but as 10am had been mentioned that's what we aimed for. Sure enough at
10 past 10 a car arrives with a smiley Indonesian guy and says he's there to
take us on our journey.
For some reason the taxi took us back along the same
road the bus had come in on from Ende, which looks longer on the map but I can
only assume the other road is not usable. Eventually we arrived at the Happy Happy Hotel in Bajawa and thankfully the price was the agreed 700k rph.
Our
difficulties didn't end there though as the hotel we were dropped at was fully
booked and as the taxi had now left we had to walk back into town. After
looking at a couple of rooms in 2 other hotels, which were filthy and not very
nice, we decided to walk to the further away Bajawa Roo hotel as it’s not on
the main road.
It was a hot dusty walk but just as we got close a friendly lady
on a scooter drove past said she owned the hotel and could take one of our bags for us. She
only had the 1 room left at the slightly over budget price of 400k but we were
reaching the end of our patience so took it without question. The owner was
very friendly and bought us coffee whilst we settled in and said she could cook
us dinner that evening of a sweet and sour chicken with rice, which after 2
nights of seafood sounded good.
We then had to make a choice of what to do next on Flores.
Should we go straight through to Labuhanbajo by bus tomorrow which would be
cheap, take 7hs+ but we’d miss seeing Bajawa, or should we split up the journey
even though there wasn’t much else we wanted to see and it would take longer.
Our host overheard our quandary and said why would you take a long bus journey
when you can fly in 35mins from the airport in the neighbouring town. We didn’t
think about it for too long as the cost of flying was only about £10 more than
the bus and it meant we could spend the extra night in Bajawa but still get to
Komodo quickly.
With the extra night at Bajawa Roo hotel being 400k, 2 flights
from Soa to Labuhanbajo for 512k rph and 2 scooters rented for the following
day for 300k we’d spent a fair bit already so had dinner and an early night.
The next morning, we had a simple breakfast upstairs and
then got informed that the room we were in had been booked online yesterday
evening and so we’d have to vacate it before mid-day! After a bit of a panic
and a few words with the manager it was agreed that they hadn’t removed the
room from a booking site correctly and as we’d secured the room first we
wouldn’t be expected to move.
Still feeling a little wound up we set off on our
bikes for a day of traditional villages and mountain views.
The stunning views as you drive around quickly make you
forget any issues you’ve had and you fall in love with this island afresh every
day. With no set agenda we headed out towards Bena Traditional Village, on a
winding but good sealed road. Bena village is probably the most famous old
traditional village and is geared up for tourists with a signed carpark and
clear place to buy your entrance ticket. Here you sign a book and pay 25k each
and get given a scarf to have round your neck – just what you want on a hot
humid day, you are then free to wander round as you like.
We didn’t have a
guide for our visit so missed out on knowing what half the traditional customs
and meanings of things were, but it was fascinating looking around. The village
itself is immaculate and it can feel a bit staged and fake but equally you can
see signs that families do live there and are beginning to utilise modern
infrastructures like electricity and satellite tv whilst keeping older customs
alive.
Back on the bikes we drove around little roads visiting
another couple of villages that were less geared for tourists and didn’t ask
entry fees and stopping to admire the views of the nearby Mt Inerie. Nearby
Bena there is a beautiful natural hot spring that combines an ice-cold stream
and piping hot stream to make a fully controllable bathing experience. It’s not
easy to find as we drove past it the first time and the sign for it is
literally a tiny bit of wood balanced on a pile of dirt but once found you walk
down to a natural pool, pay the 10k entrance and you can paddle or bathe in the
clear water. There is even a changing room and toilet for you to use. We didn’t
bring swimming costumes but paddled about a bit before hitting the road again.
Paul had been using google maps to navigate us about these
back roads and they hadn’t let us down so far but as the road we rode on became
more and more unmade we started to wonder if it was about to. We turned a
corner to find the road we hoped to take undergoing major roadworks, well
really just a pile of rubble with about 30 men working on it.
We pointed down
it and then to the map to where we wanted to go and they shook their heads but
gestured that we could go back the way we came a bit then turn off right. Half
of them are chuckling and the other half seem quite eager to help so we thought
we’d take their advice, go back a bit then take what looked like a single pathway
off into the woods.
We bumped along the single footpath for ages, passing
farmers and cows who all looked at us like we were crazy to be out there on
motorbikes. Eventually the single path became a dirt road that cars or tractors
had obviously been along and then again after what felt like miles it became a
tarmac road and we were back in a little town.
We’d come quite a fair distance
east from Bajawa to find the old village of Wogo, which is now represented by
standing stones and sounded like an interesting stop. Unfortunately, as we
didn’t have a guide and it isn’t marked on the map we couldn’t find it and
after driving around for 20mins or so we gave up and just visited the new
village site. We were pounced on by an English-speaking villager as soon as we
arrived and she appointed herself our guide around the village, introduced us
to her children and even made us a cup of coffee in her house…. all for a
suggested donation obviously. After signing the visitor book and making another
donation this time noted in the official register we left and headed back along
the main road to Bajawa.
That night we walked to a little local café for dinner and
had cold beers, Nasi Gorang and Gado for dinner, which was cheap and hit the
spot perfectly. We both wished we’d had more time to base ourselves in Bajawa
as there was probably at least another days’ worth of driving around that we
could have done but it was time to get excited about Labuhanbajo and exploring
Komodo National Park.
The hotel had arranged for a taxi to take us to Soa airport
at the price of 50k each and took about 30mins. Soa airport is tiny but quite
busy as all local flights stop here as they go up and down the island but the
terminal is just a small outbuilding with a few chairs, a desk and luggage
scanner. After a small delay we were up in the air and as it was just a small
prop plane we were flying at a great altitude for seeing the rest of the island
below us.
Labuhanbajo
We arrived in Labuhanbjo mid-afternoon and as we were
staying in a hotel near the airport were able to walk the 10mins to it without
paying extortionate taxi fares. Our accommodation for 1 night was the Green
Prundi hotel, which we booked as it was cheap and we couldn’t get 3 nights at
the place we wanted to in town. It was basic and some of the reviews on Trip
Advisor weren’t glowing but for £15 a night inc breakfast it was ok. As with a
lot of places it needs some TLC but the gardens were well maintained and the
bed was comfortable.
Late afternoon we walked the 20mins to the main street in
town where all the tour operators, restaurants and bars are. Labuhanbajo
although a major tourist gateway to Komodo national park is on first glance a
run down, dirty, dusty town that looks on the brink of major change. There is
one main road and the pavement is still being constructed, or maybe it’s being
dug up again it’s not quite clear and no-one was working on it whilst we were
there.
In-between finished hotels, tour operators and shops are busy
construction sites and interspersed in-between them are local kids all with a boat
or a tour that they want to sell you. We wandered along the street collecting
info and prices on snorkelling and dragon trips that we could do whilst there
and then went to a café to digest all the info we’d collected.
What we'd discovered was that if you didn’t dive or want to learn to dive then there aren’t
many cheap snorkelling trips, but if you knew a diver then you can tag along
with the dive boats no problem. As didn’t know any divers and not all the dive
sights are snorkel friendly, that cut our options considerably plus we were
only staying in town for 3 nights and as we were moving hotel the following day
that only really left 1 day that we could do a trip on without changing our
future plans.
There was a day tour operated by Alexandria that offered all the
top sights by speedboat for 1,200k rph which kept coming up and as we were
short on time we decided to bite the bullet and go for it. We got it all booked
in that evening and walked back to our hotel pleased with our choice.
Saturday was going to be mainly moving hotel and then we
hoped to maybe explore some more of the town, have a swim and relax a bit
before planning our route off Flores….this wasn’t to be as we got a message
mid-morning from Alexandria tour company to say that their boat had been
sabotaged and they couldn’t run the trip for the next few days!
We were gutted
as that company had brilliant reviews and didn’t really want to go with another
company, especially knowing that one of the other companies might have been
responsible for the damage. We couldn’t really afford to stay longer as
Labuhanbajo as although still being developed has already got quite a hefty
tourism price tag on most things, so we hit the internet and emailed a few
companies that offered the same tour at similar costs, then packed up our stuff
to move down into the dusty heart of the town.
Our next accommodation was at Le
Pirate which offers small cute beach hut style cabins with ensuite bathrooms
for a mid-range price tag of £32 a night inc breakfast, it’s all about the
location with this place as they are right on the main street, have a small
pool, rooftop bar and large restaurant.
We finally found another tour operator, Alba Cruise, that
were doing the same speedboat tour around Komodo but the reviews they had
recently had on trip advisor weren’t exactly glowing. As we were running out of
options we decided to risk it and took 2 of the last tickets available for the
tour the next day. Pickup would be at 5:30am from the hotel and we would visit
at least 5 of the top tourist locations in the national park before being
returned to our hotel around 5pm.
The next morning, we struggled out of bed, were given the
poorest excuse of a breakfast box by Le Pirate (2 slices of bread, 1 pot of
marg, 1 banana) and then collected from the roadside by Alba cruise. We got
dropped off at a fancy resort called Laprima where we and around 20 other
people waited for the signal to head to the private jetty.
The speedboat itself
was ok but the only proper seating is inside an enclosed cabin, where the
aircon froze the people in the front row and didn’t circulate any air by the
time it got to the back. I perched on a slightly wet seat by the engines and
although the diesel smell was strong I was outside and could see the horizon so
was happy.
First stop is Padar Island and the 30-min hike to the top
for stunning views. The climb is relatively easy and you get 1.5 hrs there so
can take it quite slowly which is good as you are stopping every 10 steps or so
to take photos. The most famous picture that you see of Padar is the view from
near the top of the 3 different coloured beaches (black, white and pink) but
the views all around are breath-taking.
Paul clambered a bit further up the
hill that I did and some other people were carrying on down and up to different
viewpoints but the views would have been very similar.
Our next stop was the island of Komodo where we would join a
ranger to hunt for some dragons, which I was really excited about. Just before
we arrived on the island the boat crew went around asking for the Komodo
entrance money, which was 350k, we’d heard that it’s better to buy your tickets
directly from the ranger station so said we would do that and the boat crew just
shrugged like it made no difference. Whilst we were buying our tickets we saw
that the boat crew only officially paid for around 15 tickets, when there was
definitely more than that on the cruise and later on we saw more money change
hands that hadn’t gone through any books so there is some sort of back handers
going on there, but I guess that’s the norm.
Sadly, we hadn’t realised that June, July and August were
mating season and the dragons are notoriously hard to spot in these months so
during the briefing we were warned not to get our hopes up too much, and after
a few words on how dangerous they can be we set off as a huge group.
It was
probably because it was already getting hot and we were such a large group of
mixed ages and fitness levels that the route we took didn’t resemble any of the
trails listed on the huge map we saw at the start and as they had received word
that there was one nearby the rangers huts we headed there first.
Sure enough
lying in the dappled shade just off the walking path was a medium sized male
Komodo Dragon. It seemed to just be quite happy having a nap but was clearly
used to people as we got quite close without freaking him out. Here the ranger
told us a bit more about them and they were able to stage a few photos so it
looked like we were crouched right next to him. It was a typical tourist set up
and I’m sceptical about how he was just conveniently lying there but it meant
we did get to see at least one whilst we were there.
The rest of the short walk
through the scrubland didn’t show us any more dragons but we saw an old nest
site and talked a bit more about their habitat and the islands before heading
back to the boat.
We weren’t scheduled to stop there but the crew let us spend
30 mins snorkelling on Pink Beach, which is just round the corner on Komodo
Island and is caused by the sand being made up of red coral. It’s quite subtle
and very pretty and the coral reefs just off the beach made for some nice
snorkelling time.
After we left here we were given our lunch boxes, which consisted
of a bit of rice, some vegetables and a tiny bit of fried chicken. It was a
meagre lunch but we’d bought some crisps and biscuits to supplement it and
there was a limitless supply of water bottles for you to drink.
The 4th stop was Manta Point, where the Manta Rays can
sometimes be seen. They are quite hard to spot and so you normally stay in the
boat until the driver or spotter sees one and then you can all pile in, this is
done straight from the boat side in very deep water and not surprisingly not
everyone was eager to get in. We had heard the best time to see the Mantas was
in the morning and as this was now early afternoon we just had our fingers
crossed that they would still be about.
Although we did get the ‘Manta Manta’
shout from the driver by the time we’d got in the water he was long gone, and
as it’s such a deep spot the visibility through the blue haze is quite hard. We
did see the most amazing huge school of blue fish that surrounded us and
switched directions and then Paul excitedly points out that
just below us and under the fish was a Hawksbill Turtle swimming off into the
blue. I tried to follow but she was very quick and by now the boat had drifted
a fair way from us so we turned back towards safety. It took a fair amount of
effort to fight the currents and get back to the boat and I suspect the crew
didn’t fancy doing all that again so once we were all onboard we set off to the
next location on the list.
Taka Makassar is a tiny island / bar of sand in the middle
of the ocean, which has very shallow water all around it. This makes it quite
good for snorkelling and as the water is shallow only a few smaller boats can
get there, although it’s so small that by the time everyone gets out of your
boat it can feel quite crowded. If you can get a picture without anyone else in
it the turquoise of the water and white sand make a stunning backdrop. We spent
about 40 mins here, which was just long enough and then we headed off to our
last stop for the day, Kanawa Island.
I think everyone on the boat was shattered by now as we all
drifted off to sleep on the short trip across the water to this small but
inhabited island. We headed straight to the café on the beach when we arrived
for a cool beer and I was honestly thinking I’d skip the last snorkel session
and just read my book for the last half hour or so. Paul managed to convince me
that the water looked good straight off the pier next to the boat, so we dumped
out stuff and just jumped straight in. I’m so glad that I didn’t skip this
snorkel as the water if possible was even clearer here and there was thousands
of fish and a very healthy coral reef with drop off. Paul had to go back for
the underwater camera as we didn’t want to miss getting this on film. Under the
jetty we had a school of big yellow angel fish just hanging about and as I swam
along the drop off edge I saw a Lion Fish, with all his spikey frilly fins.
20mins went by too quickly and we soon had to get back on the boat for our trip
back to the mainland.
I’m sure if you had a lot more money and time that there are
many hidden gems in Komodo National Park, and I think the chances of seeing
Komodo Dragons are slightly higher on Rinca island but I felt we had seen some
of the best bits for quite a reasonable price and was happy to move on the next
day.
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