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MANTAS, DRAGONS AND A PSYCHOTIC TURTLE
Flying from Denpasar to Flores we were able to get a fantastic aerial view of the gorgeous islands of Indonesia. As we neared Komodo National Park, the beautiful blue water below had us literally on the edge of our seats. We touched down at the teeny-tiny airport and made our way to Labuan Bajo, the port town and diving capital of Flores. We stayed in a lovely little guesthouse overlooking the harbour and enjoyed both a spectacular sunset and an almighty rainstorm before joining the Live-Aboard boat the following morning.
Once safely on our Live-Aboard (along with two other couples and three crazy Italians), we set sail into the Komodo National Park to begin our 3-day diving adventure. Our first dive was a 'check dive' to make sure we were going to be okay in the notoriously strong currents of the marine park. The visibility was incredible and we were able to see lots of beautiful fish and corals making us all the more eager to get to our next dive site, Manta Point!
Manta-Rays were one of two main reasons for coming to Komodo Island and Dive #2 did not disappoint - we dropped down into the plankton-thick water and within 5 minutes two enormous mantas had glided past us on the sandy bottom of the ocean. Five minutes later, I noticed a dark shadow over our heads and glanced up to see a mammoth 5-metre manta cruising on the surface above us. Completely exhilarated, I would have screamed with excitement if it wasn't for the regulator in my mouth! Just when we thought it couldn't possibly get any better four more enormous mantas materialized over our heads to feed on the surface. These majestic creatures really are the birds of the sea, soaring gracefully with their enormous 'wings' flapping through the water - it was an amazing privilege to be able to dive with them!
Back on the boat we were stunned to spot more manta-rays right on the surface next to us so we grabbed our masks and snorkels and dived back in to spend another half an hour swimming with these remarkable animals. To top it all off, after following one fever of rays, we turned around to search for more and found ourselves face to face with a giant manta with its mammoth mouth wide open swimming right towards us! AMAZING!
We spent the next two days diving various dive sites in Komodo National Park getting to see reef sharks, turtles, cuttlefish, squid, a sea snake, more manta-rays, extraordinary tropical fish, stunning underwater topography and some of the most beautiful coral gardens we've ever seen! We had a few mishaps along the way (losing weight-belts, getting caught in the craziest current and even having an out-of-air emergency) but it all added to the adventure and we really couldn't have asked for a better Live-Aboard experience.
One of the most hilarious (and slightly scary) underwater moments was when an enormous, irate hawksbill turtle tried (for no apparent reason) to attack Ali, our instructor. Even giving it a bit of a whack with her dive-stick didn't deter this crazy turtle from snapping at us and it literally chased us right around the reef-wall!
The second reason we came to Komodo Island was of course to see the Komodo Dragons. On our last day on the Live-Aboard we took the speedboat over to Loh Buaya Bay where we spent a couple of hours wandering around the island in search of the famous lizards. The walk over the hilly countryside was very pretty but ironically we didn't see any dragons on the hills, rather they were hanging out down by the village kitchen where almost certainly they feast on discarded food-scraps (the villagers swear black and blue that they don't feed them but seven Komodo dragons sitting under your kitchen-porch suggests otherwise)! Regardless, they were still very cool to see and are yet another tick off our shrinking bucket-lists.
Back on the mainland we got together with one of the couples we met on the Live-Aboard and hired a couple of scooters to spend our last day on Flores exploring the island. We set off in search of Batu Cermin; a cave some locals had told us about that apparently reflects the sunlight on its walls. After stopping for A LOT of directions we eventually managed to find it and got taken through on a guided walk by a friendly local chap. Unfortunately the Mirror Cave only reflects the light at a very specific time of the year though so we weren't able to see the mirrored effect but we did get to venture quite deep down into the cave to see some amazing stalactites, stalagmites and rock crystals.
We worked up a bit of a sweat climbing out of the humid caverns and were all keen on finding the much-talked about Cuncha Wulang waterfall for a refreshing dip. Unfortunately our map was not particularly helpful and we ended up in the middle of nowhere out in the winding hilltops. Thankfully a random guy on the side of the road took pity on us, jumped on his motorbike and led us all the way back to the turn-off to the falls - thank goodness for friendly locals! It ended up being an off-roading marathon to get there; riding our dodgy scooters through muddy ditches, over huge boulders and down a very precarious hillside, which we almost went over the edge of at one point (sorry Mum, last time I promise)! In the end we had to leave the bikes behind and walk through a super-friendly little village before slipping and sliding down through the jungle until we finally reached the river! The challenging voyage was worth it when we saw the terraced waterfalls and the boys didn't hesitate to climb up to the highest spot on the cliff-top for a 'bomb-off'. We spent a good couple of hours swimming, jumping and sliding down the rapids before making the gruelling scooter-journey back to the city (made even more arduous when Tobias and Jenny got a puncture just 20 minutes before reaching town).
Today we boarded our second-to-last plane, Bali-bound, before our final flight back to New Zealand. With only one day left it is time now for us to pack our bags and reflect on what an exceptional journey this has been!
High: Diving with massive mantas - an amazing note to end our travels on!
Low: Knowing that our grand adventure is coming to an end.
Next Stop: Aotearoa, Land of the Long White Cloud, Godzone, New Zealand, HOME!
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