Komodo Island

Our orientation, before leaving the ship, warns that anyone with an open wound is prohibited from going ashore.  The dragons can smell blood from two miles away and they can move pretty fast when they want to.  The venom can be deadly.

Here's the stats, according to Google:

• In 2001, a Komodo dragon attacked Phil Bronstein, an investigative journalist and former husband of actress Sharon Stone, in the Los Angeles Zoo.
• In 2007, a Komodo dragon killed an 8-year-old boy on Komodo Island.
• In 2008, a group of five scuba divers were stranded on the beach of Rinca island, and were attacked by Komodo dragons. After two days, the divers' ordeal ended when they were picked up by an Indonesian rescue boat.
• In 2009, Muhamad Anwar, a 31-year-old Komodo Island local, was killed by two dragons after he fell from a tree when he was picking sugar apples.
• In 2009, Maen, a national park guide stationed on Rinca Island, was ambushed and bitten by a Komodo dragon which had walked into his office and lay under his desk. Despite suffering some injuries, the guide survived.
• In May 2017, Lon Lee Alle, a 50-year-old Singaporean tourist, was attacked by a Komodo dragon on Komodo Island. The victim survived the attack, but his left leg was severely injured. 

Sharon Stone's "former" husband?  Did that have anything to do with the dragon or was it irreconcilable differences?


Our guide was armed with a forked branch.  Not too reassuring, although his name was Lucky.

We’re separated into groups of 25 and head out on the trail.  Almost immediately there’s a dragon blocking the path.  I think this guy gets an extra wild goat every week to lie here all day at the beginning of the trail.

Bob encourages me to "back up" so he can get a photo of me with the dragons.  I'm reluctant to follow his instructions and become a "former" wife.

 After trekking for a couple of miles, seen one komodo dragon, seen 'em all...

Had to run a gauntlet of souvenir hawkers in order to exit the island and get back on the tender.

Later that night, as we sipped our cocktails and sailed away, the sky was spectacular.