Rinca Island, Beauty and The Beast

"Kalau dikejar komodo lari zig zag"

"Do a zig zag run if a komodo is after you"

"Belajar manjat pohon"

"Learn to climb a tree" 

"Tempel terus rangernya"

"Get as close as you can with the ranger"

Beberapa kalimat wejangan itu terdengar sebelum saya menyambangi salah satu "rumah" komodo di Flores, Pulau Rinca yang masuk dalam area Taman Nasional Komodo di Nusa Tenggara Timur.

Those warning and suggestions came up before I visit one of the home of komodo dragon in  Rinca Island, Komodo National Park, East Nusa Tenggara.

Am I the only one thinking that this komodo dragon is smiling? :)

Komodo dan liurnya yang berbahaya seakan jadi kombinasi mengerikan namun menarik bagi siapapun yang datang, termasuk saya. Ada 50 jenis bakteri yang terdapat di liur komodo dan yang digigit komodo akan tewas dalam waktu kurang dari 24 jam karena racun dalam darah, itu isi artikel yang saya baca.

Komodo and its saliva seemed like a horrible combination but in fact, these komodo dragons which attract people to come, including me. There are 50 types of bacteria found in the saliva of a komodo dragon. Those who got bitten will die in less than 24 hours because of toxins in the blood , that's what written in the article I read.

The "victim" of the dragon

Meski sebagian orang yang saya tahu biasanya langsung panik saat komodo mendekat, biawak terbesar ini jadi yang wajib didatangi saat menginjak Labuan Bajo, pintu masuk Taman Nasional Komodo.

Although most people I know usually panic when a komodo dragon approached suddenly, these largest lizards are must visited when you step into Labuan Bajo, the entrance to get to Komodo National Park.

The entrance

The dock at Loh Buaya, Rinca Island

Lokasi terbaik untuk melihat komodo salah satunya di Pulau Rinca, dengan pintu masuk Loh Buaya yang berarti teluk komodo dan disini anda akan langsung disambut dua patung komodo besar dengan posisi berdiri. "Kalau komodo bertarung seperti itu, mereka akan melompat dengan posisi berdiri seperti itu," ujar guide yang menemani kami.

 
One of the best location to see the dragons is in Rinca Island, with Loh Buaya which means bay of dragons as entrance. Then you will be greeted with two large komodo dragon statue in standing position. "If komodo dragons fights, they would jump in a standing position like that," said the guide who accompanied us.

Even without the komodo dragon, this place is beautiful

Namun untuk melihat komodo bertarung tentunya perlu waktu waktu tertentu dan pastinya keberuntungan. Namun saya memandang diri saya cukup beruntung dengan langsung disambut tiga komodo yang asik bersantai di bawah bangunan kayu dekat pos pertama.

 
But to see komodo dragons fighting certainly need a some specific time period and of course the luck itself. But I consider myself pretty lucky with three dragons greeted and just relaxing under the wooden building near the first post .

Ranger dengan tongkat kayunya yang bercabang di ujung memandu kami semakin memasuki jalur trekking di Pulau Rinca. Ada beberapa jalur yang dapat dipilih, mulai dari jalur pendek, menengah hingga panjang yang butuh waktu berjam jam untuk kembali.

 
The ranger holding a forked-wooden sticks and guided us trekking in Rinca Island. There are several paths to choose from, ranging from the short trek, medium-to long which took hours to get back.

Kadal terbesar di dunia ini habitat aslinya hanya di area Taman Nasional Komodo ini sehingga area Komodo dinobatkan sebagai New 7 Wonders of Nature. Bayangkan kadal dengan ukuran hingga 3 meter dan berat 90 hingga 136 kilogram, true wonders of nature!

 
These largest lizard in the world natural habitat is only at Komodo National Park and this is also the reason why this place crowned as the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Imagine a lizard with a size up to 3 meters and weigh 90 to 136 kilograms, true wonders of nature!

Komodo yang ada di pulau ini tampak cuek dengan keberadaan manusia, namun tetap kita harus waspada. Petugas atau ranger di Pulau Rinca akan memberi informasi apa yang boleh atau tidak dilakukan, serta detail detail untuk keamanan. Tapi tenang saja, saat anda berjalan dan mulai melihat lihat komodo, semua hal seram yang terbayang sebelumnya langsung menghilang dan seru memperhatikan kadal besar ini.

These komodo dragons in Rinca island seems careless to our presence, but still we gotta keep eye on. The ranger in Rinca Island will told you brief information and also the dos and don't s there all answer all your questions regarding safety. But don't worry, all those scary things running in your head will disappear in an instant when you start to feel the fun and excited seeing komodo dragons.
 

"Komodo larinya lurus dan sulit berbelok tiba tiba," ujar ranger menjelaskan kembali kenapa saya diberi wejangan untuk berlari zig zag jika dikejar komodo. Yang ada di pikiran saya mungkin kalau dikejar komodo saya sudah tidak terpikir untuk lari zig zag sangking paniknya.

 
"Komodo run in a straight line, they can't do a zig zag run," the ranger explain again why people been telling me to run zig zag if a komodo chasing me. Actually what was on my mind is I wouldn't even think about zig zag when being chased by a komodo dragon, I would be so panic.

Dig dig dig! Built a hole before spawning

Saat trekking ada beberapa tempat ranger akan berhenti dan menunjukkan, seperti di area lubang untuk bertelur. "Komodo akan menggali beberapa kali terlebih dahulu, jauh sebelum bertelur," tambah ranger yang menunjukkan komodo besar menggali pasir saat kami datang.

During trekking, there will be several places that the ranger will stop and show, like the spawning area. "Komodo will dig up couple of times, long before spawning," said the ranger while pointing at a big komodo dragon digging the sand when we came.

Biasanya musim kawin komodo di bulan Mei hingga Agustus. Satu betina dapat bertelur hingga 30 butir, namun seleksi alam mengurangi jumlah komodo penerus yang dapat bertahan hingga dewasa.

The mating seasons are usually in the May till August. One female can lay up to 30 eggs, but natural selection reduces the number of komodo dragons successor which survived until adulthood.

A bit feels like Rinjani

Dry season but the view is awesome!

Saat sudah puas melihat komodo, anda tanpa sadar sudah ada di padang rumput dengan view yang indah. Saya datang di saat daun mengering dan justru bagi saya pemandangan jadi jauh lebih indah :)

When you satisfied seeing the komodo dragons, you won't even realize you're already at the beautiful savanna. I came during dry season and for me this even make the view more beautiful than ever :)

Trying to act as a ranger, only for photo ;)

 

Beberapa titik pandang di area ini sungguh mirip dengan Rinjani saat pendakian saya tahun 2012 lalu, savana dan beberapa pohon dan bukit. 

Several places in this area are quite similar to Rinjani, I climbed it on 2012. Saw these kind of view also, savanna, few trees and hills.

Tapi ada satu lokasi yang jadi ciri khas Pulau Rinca, satu titik untuk mendapatkan view spektakuler di area Taman Nasional Komodo. Tidak perlu waktu lama, dalam perjalanan pendek pun anda akan menemukan bukit dimana anda dapat melihat birunya laut berpadu dengan kontur pulau di Taman Nasional Komodo, dan birunya langit semakin menyempurnakan pemandangan yang saya lihat saat itu.

 
But there is one location that for me became one of the iconic of Rinca Island. There is one hill where you can get the spectacular view of Komodo National Park. You don't even need a long time to get there, even in short trekking you'll find this hill, where you can see the blue sea collide beautifully with the landscape of islands in Komodo area, plus the blue sky which make the view even more perfect.

Come on tell me it's not beautiful, no?

Tell me again this ain't beautiful, no?

True beauty, combine with beast, a unique wonderful beast to be exact. The komodo dragon.

@marischkaprue - never stop finding beauties in Indonesia. 

YOU CAN ALSO SEE KOMODO IN KOMODO ISLAND, see more here 

We came to Rinca Island during Indonesia's independence day,

it's always good to see our flag in such beautiful place.