Day 111, Year 3: WOW!
Date: Hari Kamis (Thursday), Bulan Agustus 28, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Beautiful Morning/Afternoon; Dark Clouds and Sprinkles Late
Latitude: 08 degrees 46.529 minutes S
Longitude: 119 degrees 39.231 minutes E
Location: Lehok Uwada Dasami, Rinca Island, Komodos, Indonesia

We keep thinking that things can’t get any better. We have seen such beauty, but today we saw even more spectacular beauty than we have experienced in our voyage to date. Wow! Our early morning walk on Rinca Island was not as good as our shorter walk yesterday afternoon. But we did see mating Komodos and another very large male and a smaller female. We also saw Timor deer, but we didn’t see any water buffalo this morning. But even though we didn’t see everything, the walk was wonderful. You get a real feel for the life here as you walk across the island.

Once we returned to Windbird, we pulled up anchor and headed for the south side of Rinca Island. Safina and Shirena came with us but we left Scot Free behind. They are going to make a bee line for a beautiful anchorage in northern Komodo and stay there for a week. They should have really good snorkeling there and we will be there in three or four days, but will only stay two days in that area. Our course led us south and the scenery was stark and beautiful. This area reminds us of the Galapagos with a little Greece thrown in. Once we reached our bay on the south side of Rinca we searched for a place to anchor. There were no other sailboats here, but there were two live-aboard dive boats on the two moorings that are here. These boats are just like the one we traveled on for five days in the Galapagos-another similarity. Once we anchored we headed to a bommie in the middle of the bay to snorkel. The water is cooler here, so we were prepared for a short snorkel. Just as we were getting in the water, a diver from California surfaced close to us and told us that we were in for a treat. He explained that the water has been a little green here the past couple of days, but that there is plenty of life to view. We got in the water and were immediately transported to a fantasy world. There were sooooooooooo many fish and the coral was just spectacular. There were more anemone fish than I have ever seen and they were so big. And there was coral that looks like an amenone but it has bright white tips. The parrot fish were huge and there were Moorish Idols, and pink fish, and orange fish, and blue fish. A new fish first observed today was the blue tang or palette surgeonfish. This dark blue fish has a bright neon blue design that looks like an artist’s palette and then a bright yellow tail. It is stunning. And the different types of corals and sponges and feather stars were just overwhelming. We saw very small lionfish, huge parrotfish, and the most beautiful and varied coral of any place we have ever snorkeled. So needless to say, we are staying another day and doing an early morning and late afternoon snorkel.

When we returned from snorkeling, we attempted to take pieces of apple to the beach to attract the monkeys. But the tide was too low and there was just too much coral. But our little side trip gave us another beautiful view of the coral just under the dinghy. We can’t snorkel here close to the island as there might be Komodo dragons in the water, so we will just have to enjoy it from the dinghy. Once back on the boat, we saw monkeys on the beach, a Timor deer, and one dragon. We had hoped for more wildlife on the beach, but we can’t complain. All in all, it was one fantastic day.

Safina is moving on tomorrow, so it will be just Shirena and Windbird will be left here to enjoy the beauty. And that we will.

080828 Day 111 Komodos, Indonesia–Lehok Buaya, Rinca Island Walk

080829 Day 111 Komodos, Indonesia–Lehok Buaya to Lehok Uwada Dasami, S Rinca Island