Day 4:
Breakfast is served as we approach Rinca Island. The seas between the islands have been considerably calmer than the previous few days, so we arrive at the island at 8:30am. It is nice to see that Rinca Island has a jetty so we don’t have to use the dinghy to get to the island. After the relative disappointment of Komodo Island, we are not sure what to expect from Rinca. We go to meet some rangers who will take us on a walk through the park, although this time their English is better. Starting at the main camp we once again come face to face with several resident Komodos, although this time there is a lot more of them and they appear to be more active. The setting of the camp is also much nicer; in fact from the start, the whole island seems a lot more attractive than Komodo. Following the trail from the camp we are lucky enough to see several dragons on and around the path. The trail takes us through jungle and up into more open savannah like scenery. The vegetation and scenery are stunning as we climb up a hill to get a beautiful view of the island and its surrounding seas. Back at the camp we get to see some smaller dragons and as we head back to the boat we encounter one more sitting on the rocks near the jetty. Although it means longer on the boat, we are already glad that we decided to do the return journey. Rinca has been a definite highlight; apart from the name it is a surprise that Komodo remains the more famous island.
From Rinca Island we sailed to Gili Laba to do some more snorkelling. This time the dinghy wasn’t used as we could jump straight from the boat and swim to the nearby reef. We were told that there was the possibility of seeing stingrays in this area but we weren’t lucky enough to see any. Nevertheless the snorkelling was again excellent, with crystal clear waters and beautiful coral.
The rest of the day was spent sailing towards Moyo Island where we would visit a village and waterfall the next day. The only thing that marred what had been a good day was when a cockroach fell from underneath my bunk and landed on my chest while I was reading my book. A quick inspection later and more were discovered, so evacuating the room while the crew sprayed we eventually ended up with a roach free room. We did hear more complaints of cockroaches elsewhere after the spraying, so they clearly just moved on!
Day 5:
As the weather had been bad during the night, we arrived on Moyo Island a little behind schedule. After breakfast we climbed into the dinghy, this time bound for Labuan Haji village on Moyo Island. As so far we had encountered very few locals, it was really nice to see children playing on the beach and a gathering of the villagers waiting to greet us. Once we were all safely on the island we followed a local guide to a nearby waterfall and swimming area. The waterfall was equipped with a rope swing into the pool below. After a demonstration by Effendi, we are pleased to say that we were the first ones to have a go. The water was refreshingly cool and the rope swing was great fun. Once again, the return trip had started out much better than the outward one.
Returning to the village we waved goodbye to the villagers and got back on the boat heading for Keramat Island. This was to be our final stop before we reached Lombok, so we spent the next hour snorkelling around the tiny island. One of the more curious things we encountered during our snorkelling was a tiny fish that seemed quite happy to sit in our hands and hover directly in front of our masks. Tired from swimming around, we climbed back aboard the boat for the final leg of the tour. Perhaps it was because we knew that we were nearly back, but the last bit seemed to take ages. By the time we had docked, said goodbye to the crew, got our gear loaded on the bus and set off, it was already 9pm and we still had a 2 hour drive to Senggigi. It was with some relief when we finally made it back to Rajah’s Bungalows and collapsed into bed.
We must mention that the Perama boat crew were all great; they tried there best to make sure we were ok at all times. Most of what happened on the outward journey can only really be blamed on the weather. The return journey was for us much better than the outward one and if we were doing it again, we would probably fly to Flores and then take the boat back. The main problem with the trip is that the distance is too far, the boat is probably not big enough and there is no built in allowance for bad weather. One of our fellow passengers wrote a letter of complaint, and received a reply from Mr Perama himself, who rather strangely denied everything and blamed global warming! Quite how global warming overloads a dinghy, hides the life jackets and capsizes a boat, will clearly remain a mystery.
If you see this Dennis, send me a copy of the email and I will publish it.
Next: Back to Senggigi, the onwards to Yogyakarta
Breakfast is served as we approach Rinca Island. The seas between the islands have been considerably calmer than the previous few days, so we arrive at the island at 8:30am. It is nice to see that Rinca Island has a jetty so we don’t have to use the dinghy to get to the island. After the relative disappointment of Komodo Island, we are not sure what to expect from Rinca. We go to meet some rangers who will take us on a walk through the park, although this time their English is better. Starting at the main camp we once again come face to face with several resident Komodos, although this time there is a lot more of them and they appear to be more active. The setting of the camp is also much nicer; in fact from the start, the whole island seems a lot more attractive than Komodo. Following the trail from the camp we are lucky enough to see several dragons on and around the path. The trail takes us through jungle and up into more open savannah like scenery. The vegetation and scenery are stunning as we climb up a hill to get a beautiful view of the island and its surrounding seas. Back at the camp we get to see some smaller dragons and as we head back to the boat we encounter one more sitting on the rocks near the jetty. Although it means longer on the boat, we are already glad that we decided to do the return journey. Rinca has been a definite highlight; apart from the name it is a surprise that Komodo remains the more famous island.
From Rinca Island we sailed to Gili Laba to do some more snorkelling. This time the dinghy wasn’t used as we could jump straight from the boat and swim to the nearby reef. We were told that there was the possibility of seeing stingrays in this area but we weren’t lucky enough to see any. Nevertheless the snorkelling was again excellent, with crystal clear waters and beautiful coral.
The rest of the day was spent sailing towards Moyo Island where we would visit a village and waterfall the next day. The only thing that marred what had been a good day was when a cockroach fell from underneath my bunk and landed on my chest while I was reading my book. A quick inspection later and more were discovered, so evacuating the room while the crew sprayed we eventually ended up with a roach free room. We did hear more complaints of cockroaches elsewhere after the spraying, so they clearly just moved on!
Day 5:
As the weather had been bad during the night, we arrived on Moyo Island a little behind schedule. After breakfast we climbed into the dinghy, this time bound for Labuan Haji village on Moyo Island. As so far we had encountered very few locals, it was really nice to see children playing on the beach and a gathering of the villagers waiting to greet us. Once we were all safely on the island we followed a local guide to a nearby waterfall and swimming area. The waterfall was equipped with a rope swing into the pool below. After a demonstration by Effendi, we are pleased to say that we were the first ones to have a go. The water was refreshingly cool and the rope swing was great fun. Once again, the return trip had started out much better than the outward one.
Returning to the village we waved goodbye to the villagers and got back on the boat heading for Keramat Island. This was to be our final stop before we reached Lombok, so we spent the next hour snorkelling around the tiny island. One of the more curious things we encountered during our snorkelling was a tiny fish that seemed quite happy to sit in our hands and hover directly in front of our masks. Tired from swimming around, we climbed back aboard the boat for the final leg of the tour. Perhaps it was because we knew that we were nearly back, but the last bit seemed to take ages. By the time we had docked, said goodbye to the crew, got our gear loaded on the bus and set off, it was already 9pm and we still had a 2 hour drive to Senggigi. It was with some relief when we finally made it back to Rajah’s Bungalows and collapsed into bed.
We must mention that the Perama boat crew were all great; they tried there best to make sure we were ok at all times. Most of what happened on the outward journey can only really be blamed on the weather. The return journey was for us much better than the outward one and if we were doing it again, we would probably fly to Flores and then take the boat back. The main problem with the trip is that the distance is too far, the boat is probably not big enough and there is no built in allowance for bad weather. One of our fellow passengers wrote a letter of complaint, and received a reply from Mr Perama himself, who rather strangely denied everything and blamed global warming! Quite how global warming overloads a dinghy, hides the life jackets and capsizes a boat, will clearly remain a mystery.
If you see this Dennis, send me a copy of the email and I will publish it.
Next: Back to Senggigi, the onwards to Yogyakarta
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