Indonesia - Step 7.5: komodo tour - 4 days on a boat 🚤

day 1

We all met at the port in Gili Air (where I had a little fight with a stray cat) to get the first ferry to lombok.

From here the company that organized the boat trip was picking us up. Generally they would use “cimodo” which the refer as “local horse-powered train”. Luckily we could ask if they can bring us on a car or scooter instead so thats how we reached the meeting point in Lombok. Here we got introduction for the boat trip, tea and snacks and after two hours they loaded all our baggage and us on little buses.

Getting squeezed into the fully stuffed, hot bus, they told us this shuttle will take 3 hours.

Sometimes while traveling you will have circumstances and moments that are very uncomfortable in order to be in places and moments that are very enjoyable. Cuddled up between the driver and one of the other guys who worked in the adventure-organisation for 3 hours in the heat, in that van on streets with steep hills, curvy roads and potholes - I realised this is one of the very uncomfortable moments we need to go through in order to reach the upcoming blessings.

After this ride we have been put on 2 different boats - each with about 35-40 people on it. There was one “room” on the deck of the boat with matrices on the floor which was our dorm. In addition there were 3 places/roofs to chill on and an area with a roof where there was the buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

As the boat departed we had lunch which was indonesian food, thankfully with vegan options. The staff on the boat was amazing and really kind. One of them knew I am vegan and he didn’t really knew what that means but he said “I know you don’t like milk and eggs and I don't want you to die”. I love him.

Being on a boat for 4 days, also made me question beforehand how good that will be, as I know I can get seasick sometimes. So the first moments I felt like this could happen but I my friend gave me a pill for this so after that I think I also got used to it and didn't had any problems.

We arrived on a little island for sunset. It had a cute, white-sand beach and we walked up a hill to watch the sunset. You could buy beer on this island which turned out to be rare source on the next days on the boat. At this point we didn’t knew so we just had the beer for sunset.

It is one of those funny moments, standing on this hill on a tiny island, drinking beer with strangers and friends from all over the world, somewhere in Indonesia. Appreciating life and those little moments.

Back on the boat we had dinner and played never have I ever before going to sleep the first night in this dorm. For me it wasn’t that bad, as I always sleep like a stone, but apparently the waves, heat and non-comfort was giving most of the others a hard time to sleep properly.

This and also the toilet and shower-situation (you could rinse yourself on deck with a bikini but not take a proper shower) - are also these circumstances I talked of before. The price you pay willingly while traveling for all the good things to come and experience.

day 2

In the morning of the following day I woke up and as I went out of the sleeping deck, I found out we stopped in front of a fishers boat and there were whale sharks swimming around. This was the first snorkel-opportunity on the trip at 6am.

10min later, wearing the goggles, snorkel and fins - I swam very close to 3 whalesharks. They stayed there because the fishermen gave them fish, so we went into the water in groups to all see them.

The rest of this day we were just on the boat, chilling, having lunch, reading and getting sunburned - making our way to the komodo island. This was also the moment I thought my 4 beers that you could preorder for the trip, might not be enough.

Just before sunset that evening, one of our 5 yoga-teacher-girls gave us a class on deck.

day 3

This day we arrived at the komodo island in the morning. So after breakfast we all went on the island, where we got a little walk and tour. Right in the beginning we saw some komodo dragons at the beach.

The only reason I knew about komodo dragons and was so excited to see them was this video I saw on IG years ago, with a boy being interviewed about his favourite animal (the komodo dragon). https://www.instagram.com/reel/CXcB1_nvAFU/?igshid=ODhhZWM5NmIwOQ==

So this special animal is actually dangerous as if the bite you, you will die in the next hours because of the bacteria they transmit with their saliva.

We all survived and could actually get some beers on that island to continue the boat trip. The next destination lead us to the beautiful “pinkbeach”.

That place is just like paradise and we could enjoy the burning hot sun, the pink sand getting touched by crystal clear water, colourful reefs and fishes, cold beers and coconuts.

Swimming back to the boat we could jump into the water from the roof of the boat and practice backflips. At our next destination we did another little sunset hike (in my case barefoot). The view was breathtaking and we had really nice conversation about psychedelics on the top op the mountain.

The last destination was the island flores which we reached the same day in the evening. After dinner some of us had a little dance and we decided to sleep on the top of the boat. So we brought the matrices up there and lay down underneath the sky full of stars.

day 4

It was a really unique and beautiful experience to wake up outside but on the sea, starting the day with some yoga on the roof as well.

First activity of this day was snorkelling. This time we could swim with turtles and babysharks, seeing starfish and a big variety of underwater life. 🐠 🪸

We stopped at another tiny beach afterwards. Swimming here leaded to be bitten by some small white fishies.

I was snorkelling around a bit and saw fishes I didn't saw before, including a black one that someone of our group later told be is meant to be deadly. anyways it was really impressive.

This beach was the last stop, so back on the boat we needed to pack our stuff for arriving in Labuan Bajo after. We walked to our hostel in the rain and after 4 days without a proper shower, we all used the opportunity to do so.

We met some of the rest of the group from the boat in a restaurant for dinner. It was a lot of fun, beer, dancing and sweating - so over all a good ending for our boat trip.