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.

Deep Panic (Komodo National Park, Indonesia)

For an updated version of this post, go here.

April 17^th, 2009 - Yesterday was a bad day. It should not have been, but it was. How can someone have a bad day scuba diving in Komodo National Park, one of the best dive sites in Indonesia, if not the world? I’ve come to a realization: me, scuba diving, and strong underwater currents do not mesh. When I really exert myself while trying to breathe underwater I find my breathing becomes quite labored. 

How can I describe the feeling? Put on a snorkel and mask. Run quickly up about twelve flights of stairs. Sprinkle in a moderate to severe impending sense of doom. Breathe normally. At one point the endeavor resembled a sort of underwater rock climbing exercise, as we were moving from one rock to another against the current. That can get exhausting. But hey, I did get to see an eagle ray, a ghostpipe fish, a crocodile fish, a few rare nudibranchs, etc. Normally, I would have been ecstatic to see these things (especially the eagle ray) but at that moment my focus was on avoiding panic and a loss of bowel control.

The situation was exacerbated by the fact that there were some other more experienced divers on the trip. I was afraid that I would force everyone to surface prematurely. Luckily, our guide can breathe underwater for days on one tank. He is quite remarkable on air consumption and allowed me to utilize the spare regulator attached to his tank. So after sucking air like a crack whore fiending for a fix I was forced to basically piggy back on the divemaster (literally). I felt like a baby manatee refusing to leave the protection of its mother’s side. Awesome. My self-esteem may need an adjustment.

So my dream of becoming a divemaster has taken a hit. Looks like I will have to revisit my backup plan. Does anyone have a connection with the New York Ballet? Time to dust off my leg warmers.