English version:
I was so happy to arrive in Labuan Bajo on Flores after that long trip on the ferry. The owner of my first accommodation – the Danke Lodge – picked us up in the harbour after 1am and I couldn’t wait to fall in my bed.
Labuan Bajo is the main town in Flores island. People either fly here or take a 3 days boat trip from Bali to get here. Only the crazy ones come from Sape 🙂 And the main reason of everyone’s visit is to see the Komodo dragons on one of the neighbouring islands.
I loved Labuan Bajo as it quickly turned out to be a very awesome place. As usual I rented a bike and systematically mapped out the coolest places in town. I found a great restaurant close to the harbour, the Bajo Bay Fisherman’s Club. You can have a nice meal or just chill with a glass of wine or a pint of Bintang here. My favourite place though was a bar up the hill and close to the Bajo Bay restaurant which was called the Paradise Bar. This place is run by Indonesian rasta dudes, who always play nice music, serve cold Bintang to help you enjoy the spectacular view from their terrace. We went there almost every night to see the Sun sinking into the ocean above the harbour.
The bike also took us to the Rangko Cave what is a pure miracle. You drive about an hour to the north, mainly on bad dirt roads in the Jungle. Then arrive in a village where the locals take you on a small fishing boat to the cave. What’s so special in this cave? It’s a small one with sea water inside, so it’s a freaking natural swimming pool. The colour of the water is unbelievably blue. It’s a must visit place if you are around.
Our second accommodation was the very nice Exotic Komodo Hotel by the airport. The guys over there helped me with a lot of things. For example a trip to see the dragons. I chose not to go to Komodo island because I was told most of the time cruise ships stop there and bring hundreds of tourists which totally ruins the whole experience. I rather chose to go to Rinca island where a ranger took us on a 1 hour tour. He showed us a few dragons, their nests and explained a lot of interesting details about these ancient animals.
These lizards grow really big, they reach 3 metres and 70 kgs. They only live on 4 islands: Komodo, Rinca, Padar and Motang. These guys are on the top of the food chain in their ecosystem. Even us humans are very scared of them and they make all other animals’ lives a living hell on the islands. They eat birds, eggs, geckos, water buffalos, deers and not afraid of the cobras or vipers either. The small dragons must live on trees for a while because the bigger dragons eat them too. These lizards hunt in groups and their tactic is to bite the target and leave it to die. The saliva of these fearsome predators contains a lot of bacteria which kills the target in 1-2 days. Their bite is very strong and their teeth are razor sharp. They swim and they can also run quite fast, 20km/h for a short distance to catch their prey. The dragons occasionally attack humans too. So, this island is a not nice place at all: dragons, cobras, vipers plus 6m salt water crocodiles down in the mangroves. I would put the dragon and the croco in the ring to see who wins, but in real life they never bump into each other.
On our way back from Rinca we stopped for snorkelling and that was incredible. The water was warm, 31 degrees, crystal clear and the corals were in a very healthy condition.
Labuan Bajo is a great place. I recommend to spend there 3 – 5 days or even more. And if you need a bike, go to Pippos Bike close to the harbour. The owner is a very cool dude…
Magyar verzio:
Nagy orom volt a faraszto kompozas utan vegre megerkezni Labuan Bajoba. Elso homestay-unk – a Danke Lodge – tulajdonosa vart rank a kikotoben hajnali 1 utan, en pedig mar alig vartam, hogy agyba zuhanhassak.
Labuan Bajo Flores-sziget legjelentosebb varosa. A nepek tipikusan vagy repulnek ide vagy pedig letolnak egy 3 napos hajoutat Balirol, mig az orultek Sape felol kozelitenek 🙂 A turistak ozonenek fo celja pedig, hogy megnezzek a sarkanyokat valamelyik szomszedos szigeten.
Imadtam Labuan Bajot, amirol gyorsan kiderult hogy uber kiraly hely. Ahogy maskor es mashol is, bereltem egy robogot hogy szisztematikusan felterkepezhessem a legkiralyabb helyeket a varosban. Rabukkanunk egy nagyon jo etteremre a kikoto mellett, ami Bajo Bay Fisherman’s Club nevre hallgat. Itt egy jot ehetsz vagy csak lazithatsz egy pohar bor vagy korso Bintang mellett. A kedvenc helyem azonban egy bar volt fent a dombon a kikoto felett, kozel az elobbi etteremhez: a Paradise Bar. Ezt a bart raszta indonez sracok viszik, mindig kellemes zenevel es hideg Bintanggal, hogy a kilatas a teraszukrol meg felejthetetlenebb elmeny legyen. Majdnem minden estenket ott toltottuk, hogy megnezzuk a napot bekuszni a tengerbe a kikoto felett.
Robogonk elvitt meg egy nagyon popec helyre, a Rangko barlangba, ami egy csoda hely. Kb 1 orat kell motoroznod gaz foldutakon eszak fele a dzsungelen at. Aztan megerkezel egy kis faluba, ahol a helyiek egy kis halaszhajoval elvisznek a barlanghoz. Miert kulonleges ez a barlang? Egy pici barlang elontve tengervizzel, szoval egy termeszetes uszomedence hihetetlenul kek vizzel. Semmikepp ne hagyd ki, ha erre jarsz.
A masodik lakohelyunk a kellemes Exotic Komodo Hotel volt kozvetlen a repter mellett. Az itt dolgozo sracok sok mindenben segitettek nekem, peldaul a sarkanyura megszervezeben. Ugy dontottem, hogy nem Komodo szigetere megyunk sarkanyozni, mert azt hallottam ott gyakran kotnek ki oceanjarok tobb szaz turistat ontva magukbol, ami teljesen tonkreteszi az elmenyt. Igy a Rinca-szigetet valasztottam. A helyi park or elvitt egy 1 oras turara, ahol mutatott nehany sarkanyt, a feszkuket es elmondott sok hasznos infot ezekrol az osi gyikokrol.
Ezek a hullok bazinagyra nonek, elerhetik a 3 meters es 70 kg-ot is. Kizarolag 4 szigeten elnek: Komodo, Rinca, Padar es Motang. A sarkanyok okoszisztemajuk csucsragadozoi. Meg mi, emberek is be vagyunk tojva toluk, de minden mas allat eletet megkeseritik a szigeteken. Megesznek szinte minden madarat, a tojasaikat (a sajatjukat is), gekkokat, vizi bivalyokat, szarvasokat es meg a kobraktol es viperaktol sem csinaljak ossze magukat. A kis sarkanyok kenytelenek fakon elni eletuk elso szakaszaban, mert a nagyobb sarkanyok szivesen elropogtatjak oket is. A sarkanyok csapatban vadasznak es a takikajuk az, hogy eloszor csak egyszer megharapjak a predat, majd hagyjak 1-2 napon belul elpusztulni. Ezeknek a felelmetes ragadozoknak a nyala tobb olyan bakteriumot tartalmaz, ami a sebbe kerulve rovid idon belul megoli az aldozatot. Harapasuk brutalisan eros, fogaik pedig borotvaelesek. Szeretnek uszni es akar 20km/h sebesseggel is kepesek futni, igaz csak rovid tavon, amikor lesbol rarontanak celpontjukra. Alkalmankent emberre is tamadnak.
Szoval ezek a szigetek egyaltalan nem kellemes helyek sarkanyokkal, kobrakkal, viperakkal es 6 meteres sos vizi krokodilokkal, akik a lenti mangrove fak kozott tanyaznak. En osszeeresztenem a sarkanyt meg a krokot egy ringben es megneznem melyikuk gyoz, igazabol azonban sosem talalkoznak.
Rincarol visszafele megalltunk sznorizni egy gyonyoru helyen. A viz 31 fokos volt, kristaly tiszta es a korallok nagyon szep egeszseges allapotban voltak.
Labuan Bajo nagyon jo hely, 3 – 5 napot siman eltolt itt az ember. Ha szukseged van robogora, akkor keresd fel a Pippos Bike-ot a kikotohoz kozel. A tulaj rendes csoka…
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