Giddy as a School Girl

For an updated version of this site, go here.

January 2009 - Soooo... it is the night before my departure to Indonesia and I'm as giddy as a school girl. Well...not really but the excitement is building a bit. Not really sure what I am going to do when I get there but I'll probably figure something out. I am hoping to wrestle a Komodo Dragon and tickle an orangutan (Author’s Note: I saw both but did neither).

I have one carry-on bag. It is nothing short of a packing miracle. I am not sure how long I will be gone and I packed one pair of pants. You might think it’s crazy but they are awesome pants. Awesome.

I leave tomorrow morning (Jan 12th) and arrive on the 14th. It is going to take somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 hours to get to Bali. Half a box of Benedryl ought to help. Maybe a little sudoku to mix it up. I can't wait. Buckle up.

Komodo National Park (Indonesia)

For an updated version of this post, go here. 

April 15^th, 2009 -  Yesterday I finished a three day boat tour of Komodo National Park . It is a magnificent area. I am seriously losing track of time but I think it has been about five days since I've written anything.

I arrived in Flores (the town of Labuanbajo) at night on the 10th. Many of the cheaper places were booked so I chose to live it up for $40 a night. And now that I am used to this hotel it is difficult to go back to budget. In Labuanbajo there is crappy and really nice, but no in between. There is also the added benefit of having a safe place for the motorcycle. This hotel on the beach about 2 km out of town. The town itself has a sort of quasi-charm but is not particularly memorable.

There is a hotel employee here named Benny that exudes personality. He is extremely nice and helpful, one of those individuals that you are compelled to like. His smile is completely disarming. He keeps calling me Eric and I haven’t the heart to tell him he’s mistaken.

Luckily, I’ve found a traveling companion for this part of the trip, a Swedish guy also traveling solo. We bumped into each while waiting for the ferry from Sumbawa to Flores. It is nice for a change to have someone to help relieve the burden of decision making.

We spent most of the day of the 11th researching our Komodo trip. The day was filled with difficult Englonesian language conversations, price negotiations, and boat inspections down by the harbor. I even had appointments with potential captains at my hotel. We were all business.

In the end we went with Captain Rudy, a recommended operator listed in the Lonely Planet. He spoke almost no English whatsoever so the initial phone conversation was a real treat. I did paste together enough Indonesian to get him to my hotel so it worked out.