Day 1:
As Rajah’s Bungalows turned out to be quite close to a mosque, there was no chance of oversleeping as we were woken up by the call to prayer. A refreshingly cold wake up shower later and we set off for the Perama office to join the tour. We loaded our gear on the bus and climbed on board for the short trip to Mataram (Lombok’s capital city), where we would pick up some more people and rather confusingly collect what sounded like ‘a nice dessert!’ The nice dessert turned out to be a nice T-shirt, which on seeing, we would rather it had been a nice desert! After about 30 minutes of hanging around the Mataram office we set off again, this time to visit a shopping mall. The purpose of visiting the shopping mall remained a mystery to us all, although I did manage to get an Indonesian sim card for my phone. Our first proper stop was to Masbagik pottery village, where were treated to a demonstration of traditional pottery by one of the local ladies. Apparently barring two men, all of the potters are women and while not from the village, our guide Effendi’s attempt at pottery gave a good demonstration of why this is true.
From the pottery village we made a brief stop to get some Bantal cakes (pillow cakes); a local snack made of rice and banana wrapped in a vine leaf. It is always good to try new things, but we can’t say that we would rush to have Bantal cakes again; it is not that they are horrid, just bland! Our next stop was at Perama docking, to see where the boats were built and to get a better idea of the route we would be taking. From the docking it was a short trip to Labuan Lombok harbour, where we got on board our boat.
Once everyone was on board we were taken to what turned out to be the world’s smallest cabin. We are so glad we had left our big bags behind; anyone claustrophobic would be better off sleeping on deck, or at the very least avoiding the very tight bottom bunk. With everyone’s gear stowed away we were served a cold buffet lunch and set sail for Perama Island (anyone noticing a pattern here?). Perama Island is tiny; you can walk around the outside in about 15 minutes. It is not actually owned by the Perama Company, but they have maintained it and have introduced a coral replanting program, so have been given care of it by the Indonesian government. Unfortunately when we arrived the currents surrounding the island were very strong, so we were only able to do a little snorkelling; nevertheless what we could see was stunning.
Later that evening we enjoyed a BBQ on the beach and we were then treated to a not always tuneful sing-along, led by the crew. It was when they played the company song that things started to take a turn for the strange. The song lyrics, conjured up images of Mr Perama as either a genius bond villain living in an island retreat or as some kind of evangelical figure. The company dance that followed, complete with a carefully choreographed dance routine just added to the strangeness. After a short demonstration, we were all invited to join in the dance, with hilarious results. In the end, the evening was great fun, but it would be better if the dance only lasted for a few verses instead of the overlong ten. Very few of us were still dancing by the end and even some of the crew had dropped out.
At about 9pm the dinghy carried us back to the boat and we all settled in for the night as the boat set sail for Satonda Island.
Day 2:
The plan was to visit a salt water lake on Satonda Island and then get back on the boat for breakfast before heading off to a small village for a visit. The sea had been quite rough during the night and the waves were still quite large as the small dinghy carried us six at a time to the island. Safely on the island we had a short walk to the salt lake and enjoyed a morning swim. It was on the return journey that things started to go wrong. Debs and I were on the first dinghy trip back to the boat and although we got very wet, we made it safely back to the boat and settled down to breakfast. Unfortunately the next group of people had to swim for the boat when the clearly overloaded dinghy started to sink in the rough water. Obviously not expecting the boat to capsize and not wanting to leave their gear unattended on the boat this ended up in a few destroyed cameras, mp3 players, phones etc. The dinghy was recovered, but the engine would not restart, leaving the rest of the passengers stranded on the beach. Using our dry bags, two of the people who made it to the boat on the first trip, swam back with some breakfast for the starving people on the beach. After a lengthy delay the engine finally started and everyone was slowly delivered back to the boat, so we could finally get underway. The sad thing is that the whole thing could have been avoided if they didn’t insist on overloading the boat; life jackets would be nice as well. The worst thing about the incident was that the crew really didn’t seem to have any idea what to do. It was the passengers who got food to the others and in one instance dived in to assist a struggling crew member.
The delay ended any further stops for the day, so the rest of the time was spent travelling towards Komodo in quite rough seas. Good job we had books with us!
Day 3:
Breakfast first today! Today was to be one of the highlights of the trip as we would hopefully get to see Komodo dragons in the wild. Getting to the island involved getting in the dinghy again, but mysteriously this time they only took four people at a time! The dinghy was then joined by a larger boat so we were all safely on the island in double quick time. Having been warned by our guides that we may not see any Komodo dragons, we kept our fingers crossed and went to meet the rangers who would do their best to find some for us. Starting in the main camp area, amazingly, we came face to face with two fully grown Komodo Dragons! Why park rangers feel the need to pretend that you may not see anything, when they know that there will always be at least two near the camp hoping to be fed, is completely beyond us. It doesn’t build up suspense; it just makes you feel cheated. Having seen the dragons asleep in the camp we hoped to see some more on the 5 km walk through the island. The trek set off at a breakneck pace with information given to the closest people only, by an incomprehensible guide. On route we came across some deer and wild boar but as yet no Komodo dragons. The trail eventually led us to a dried up river bed where Komodo Dragons used to be fed for the tourists. We were then informed that they don’t come here anymore, so the reason for going there escapes me, unless you want to read the sign telling you about what you aren’t going to see!
Back at the camp we were lucky enough to see a juvenile dragon running through the trees (while they are young, they resemble the smaller monitor lizards). After a few more photos of the sleeping dragons we got back on the boat headed for Red beach.
Red beach lived up to its name and was indeed red, and the waters surrounding it had some beautiful coral and fish. We spent an hour resting and snorkelling, glad to be off the boat after the epic journey yesterday.
The rough seas had delayed our journey by several hours, so instead of arriving in Flores at around 3:30pm we actually got there at about 7pm. It was time to say goodbye to the people leaving the trip and for those doing the return leg, we were told that we should be back on board by 7:30pm for dinner! With a bit of persuasion the crew agreed to pick us up at 9:00pm and a group of us got in the dinghy to be taken to Labuan Bajo. While we understand that the Perama Company has no permanent mooring in Flores, there has to be somewhere better to drop off their passengers than at the slippery rocked, poorly lit, garbage and cockroach infested bit of land that they use. Feeling completely like smugglers, we set off to find a restaurant in what is clearly not a particularly bustling town. Whether it was just the fact that the food was hot, or that the drinks were cold, the restaurant that we found, produced one of the nicest meals we have had for a while. Feeling better, we met the dinghy and got back on the boat to meet the new passengers who would join us on the return leg. Fortunately we were just in time to see the company dance again!
With no sailing tonight we settled in for the quietest night on the boat yet. Tomorrow was to be our second chance to see Komodo dragons; this time on Rinca Island.
Next: Peramatour, Flores to Lombok
As Rajah’s Bungalows turned out to be quite close to a mosque, there was no chance of oversleeping as we were woken up by the call to prayer. A refreshingly cold wake up shower later and we set off for the Perama office to join the tour. We loaded our gear on the bus and climbed on board for the short trip to Mataram (Lombok’s capital city), where we would pick up some more people and rather confusingly collect what sounded like ‘a nice dessert!’ The nice dessert turned out to be a nice T-shirt, which on seeing, we would rather it had been a nice desert! After about 30 minutes of hanging around the Mataram office we set off again, this time to visit a shopping mall. The purpose of visiting the shopping mall remained a mystery to us all, although I did manage to get an Indonesian sim card for my phone. Our first proper stop was to Masbagik pottery village, where were treated to a demonstration of traditional pottery by one of the local ladies. Apparently barring two men, all of the potters are women and while not from the village, our guide Effendi’s attempt at pottery gave a good demonstration of why this is true.
From the pottery village we made a brief stop to get some Bantal cakes (pillow cakes); a local snack made of rice and banana wrapped in a vine leaf. It is always good to try new things, but we can’t say that we would rush to have Bantal cakes again; it is not that they are horrid, just bland! Our next stop was at Perama docking, to see where the boats were built and to get a better idea of the route we would be taking. From the docking it was a short trip to Labuan Lombok harbour, where we got on board our boat.
Once everyone was on board we were taken to what turned out to be the world’s smallest cabin. We are so glad we had left our big bags behind; anyone claustrophobic would be better off sleeping on deck, or at the very least avoiding the very tight bottom bunk. With everyone’s gear stowed away we were served a cold buffet lunch and set sail for Perama Island (anyone noticing a pattern here?). Perama Island is tiny; you can walk around the outside in about 15 minutes. It is not actually owned by the Perama Company, but they have maintained it and have introduced a coral replanting program, so have been given care of it by the Indonesian government. Unfortunately when we arrived the currents surrounding the island were very strong, so we were only able to do a little snorkelling; nevertheless what we could see was stunning.
Later that evening we enjoyed a BBQ on the beach and we were then treated to a not always tuneful sing-along, led by the crew. It was when they played the company song that things started to take a turn for the strange. The song lyrics, conjured up images of Mr Perama as either a genius bond villain living in an island retreat or as some kind of evangelical figure. The company dance that followed, complete with a carefully choreographed dance routine just added to the strangeness. After a short demonstration, we were all invited to join in the dance, with hilarious results. In the end, the evening was great fun, but it would be better if the dance only lasted for a few verses instead of the overlong ten. Very few of us were still dancing by the end and even some of the crew had dropped out.
At about 9pm the dinghy carried us back to the boat and we all settled in for the night as the boat set sail for Satonda Island.
Day 2:
The plan was to visit a salt water lake on Satonda Island and then get back on the boat for breakfast before heading off to a small village for a visit. The sea had been quite rough during the night and the waves were still quite large as the small dinghy carried us six at a time to the island. Safely on the island we had a short walk to the salt lake and enjoyed a morning swim. It was on the return journey that things started to go wrong. Debs and I were on the first dinghy trip back to the boat and although we got very wet, we made it safely back to the boat and settled down to breakfast. Unfortunately the next group of people had to swim for the boat when the clearly overloaded dinghy started to sink in the rough water. Obviously not expecting the boat to capsize and not wanting to leave their gear unattended on the boat this ended up in a few destroyed cameras, mp3 players, phones etc. The dinghy was recovered, but the engine would not restart, leaving the rest of the passengers stranded on the beach. Using our dry bags, two of the people who made it to the boat on the first trip, swam back with some breakfast for the starving people on the beach. After a lengthy delay the engine finally started and everyone was slowly delivered back to the boat, so we could finally get underway. The sad thing is that the whole thing could have been avoided if they didn’t insist on overloading the boat; life jackets would be nice as well. The worst thing about the incident was that the crew really didn’t seem to have any idea what to do. It was the passengers who got food to the others and in one instance dived in to assist a struggling crew member.
The delay ended any further stops for the day, so the rest of the time was spent travelling towards Komodo in quite rough seas. Good job we had books with us!
Day 3:
Breakfast first today! Today was to be one of the highlights of the trip as we would hopefully get to see Komodo dragons in the wild. Getting to the island involved getting in the dinghy again, but mysteriously this time they only took four people at a time! The dinghy was then joined by a larger boat so we were all safely on the island in double quick time. Having been warned by our guides that we may not see any Komodo dragons, we kept our fingers crossed and went to meet the rangers who would do their best to find some for us. Starting in the main camp area, amazingly, we came face to face with two fully grown Komodo Dragons! Why park rangers feel the need to pretend that you may not see anything, when they know that there will always be at least two near the camp hoping to be fed, is completely beyond us. It doesn’t build up suspense; it just makes you feel cheated. Having seen the dragons asleep in the camp we hoped to see some more on the 5 km walk through the island. The trek set off at a breakneck pace with information given to the closest people only, by an incomprehensible guide. On route we came across some deer and wild boar but as yet no Komodo dragons. The trail eventually led us to a dried up river bed where Komodo Dragons used to be fed for the tourists. We were then informed that they don’t come here anymore, so the reason for going there escapes me, unless you want to read the sign telling you about what you aren’t going to see!
Back at the camp we were lucky enough to see a juvenile dragon running through the trees (while they are young, they resemble the smaller monitor lizards). After a few more photos of the sleeping dragons we got back on the boat headed for Red beach.
Red beach lived up to its name and was indeed red, and the waters surrounding it had some beautiful coral and fish. We spent an hour resting and snorkelling, glad to be off the boat after the epic journey yesterday.
The rough seas had delayed our journey by several hours, so instead of arriving in Flores at around 3:30pm we actually got there at about 7pm. It was time to say goodbye to the people leaving the trip and for those doing the return leg, we were told that we should be back on board by 7:30pm for dinner! With a bit of persuasion the crew agreed to pick us up at 9:00pm and a group of us got in the dinghy to be taken to Labuan Bajo. While we understand that the Perama Company has no permanent mooring in Flores, there has to be somewhere better to drop off their passengers than at the slippery rocked, poorly lit, garbage and cockroach infested bit of land that they use. Feeling completely like smugglers, we set off to find a restaurant in what is clearly not a particularly bustling town. Whether it was just the fact that the food was hot, or that the drinks were cold, the restaurant that we found, produced one of the nicest meals we have had for a while. Feeling better, we met the dinghy and got back on the boat to meet the new passengers who would join us on the return leg. Fortunately we were just in time to see the company dance again!
With no sailing tonight we settled in for the quietest night on the boat yet. Tomorrow was to be our second chance to see Komodo dragons; this time on Rinca Island.
Next: Peramatour, Flores to Lombok
1 comment:
Thanks for your journal, it really useful for me. I plan to take the same trip with Perama tour in 2 weeks but now I change my mind, I think I better take a plane from Bali to Labuhan Bajo directly then organize a local tour to Rinca, Komodo and Kelimutu. Once again thank you. Patrick from Bali.
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