Foto: pemandangan ke sisi selatan dari ketinggian 122 mdpl. Perahu-perahu nelayan terombang-ambing tersapu angin. Sebagian orang terlihat sedang bersantai di beranda rumah. Menunggu para nelayan pulang melaut pun orang-orang yang datang dari pulau seberang. Membawa hasil tangkapannya semalam. Sementara yang lainnya sibuk mengambil ikan-ikan di perahu yang baru saja tiba. Pagi yang cukup cerah di kampung Lenteng. Sebuah kampung nelayan di bagian selatan Labuan Bajo yang menjadi incaran para investor. Kampung Lenteng dulunya dikenal karena aksesnya yang terbatas. Kondisi jalannya yang rusak parah membuat orang akan berpikir berkali-kali jika ingin bertamasya ke sana. Tetapi kini kampung itu telah menjelma menjadi aset yang terbilang mahal. Sebab, banyak investor yang meliriknya setelah semuanya 'disulap' pada masa pemerintahan Jokowi. Masihkah warga lokal dapat mengakses pantainya di kemudian hari? Ataukah hanya menjadi seorang asing di tanahnya sendiri? Pertanyaan-pertanyaan it...
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| Photo: Blue Lesser Sunda White-lipped Pitviper |
Overview
Komodo National Park is not only popular because of Komodo Dragon as the only one living lizard in the world. Beside that, the island has at least 14 spesies of snakes which can be seen on Rinca, Padar and Komodo island and also more than 100 spesies of birds included Yellow-creasted Cockatoo and Flores Hawk Eagle which is categorised as critical endemic. Here is my trip report inSeptember, 09-11th 2024 during my herping and birding trip.
Day 01: September 09th 2024
The weather was quite nice after the rain in the days before in Labuan Bajo. Unusually, there were only a few people in front of the arrival gate and a few airport officials in full uniform. On the screen, the flight route from Denpasar to Labuan Bajo was still on schedule before a melodious voice informed me that flight number 6331 had landed.
In front of the gate of Komodo Airport I waited for Alex & Sheilla - the guest who will be accompanied by me to do herping and birding in Komodo National Park. Sheilla and Henzo were from United States. They booked the herping trip with Aaranya Wildlife Odysseys. It was my first time to take care of the guests of this company. But, they trusted and worked with https://floresnaturetour.com/ as the local agency in Labuan Bajo. Sheilla worked as a zoo keeper and Henzo as photographer. From the airport, we went directly to the harbor to get our wooden boat. It took 10 minutes to get there. We used KLM Hari Ini boat for 3d/2n ahead. There were 5 crews on the boat.
We left Labuan Bajo harbor at 10:00 am to our first stop, Kelor Island. The island was not on our program, but Alex loved to take pictures of the landscape, so we stopped there. We arrived there at 10:45 a.m. We also took some pictures of Lemon-bellied White-eye perched on a tamarind tree. After that, we went to Menjerite for snorkeling. We saw two green turtles were feeding near the coral reef. We went back to the boat to have lunch and relax. Around 04.00 pm we, continued to Rinca Island to see the activity of the local people. Then to Koabe Island to see the flying foxes (Pteropus vampyrus) coming out of the mangrove forest. At 19.30 p.m after dinner, we went out for herping in this area. Julfi - the ranger park in Rinca village was our guide to explore the area. He was waiting for us in the harbor. Usually for those people who are interested in special interest (birding, herping and wildlife photography) will be accompanied by them during their activity inside Komodo National Park (KNP).
We turn on our flashlight. Trying to find the snake on the ground or in the tree, even on the beach along the path. Sometime, trying to get off the path to find it. Raking the dry leaves and palms. We took some pictures of Flat-tailed Gecko and Common House Gecko we found on the track. Then we went in to the bats cave. We only spotted Whip Spider and Western-naked-backed Fruit Bat inside the cave.
The sound of music from the village accompanied us on our way back. About 10 meters from us, Julfi called us because he saw the snake. Then we went to him and it was the Common Wolf Snake moving on the ground. I picked it up then gave it to Sheilla cause' she wanted to hold it and took some photos before we let it go. After that we went back to the boat to sleep.
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| Photo: Sheilla was holding a Common Wolf Snake |
Day 02: September, 10th 2024
Early in the morning before sunrise, we went to Loh Buaya - one of the places to see Komodo dragons in Komodo National Park. We had pancake and bread for breakfast before trekking there. The naturalist guide gave some information at the entrance before we moved to see the dragons on this island. We decided to take the normal trek because the adventure trek was not opened yet. There were six Komodo dragons lying near the station with some of the Bareed Dove still picking up the seeds on the ground and also Long-tailed Macaque on the tree. After taking some videos and photos, we continued our trekking by following the path. On the right side of the path, there was a mouth nest made by Orange-footed Megapode. But we didn't see the bird on its nest. This nest is also used by the female Komodo dragon to lay eggs after the mating season.
I tried to find the Spitting Cobra under the dry leaves near the path. Tried to find it in the bark of the dead trees because this spesies usually active in the morning for feeding, but none of them at that morning. Then we continued moving up to the small hill to see the panorama of the island. In the distance we saw a buffalo feeding on the savanna. Henzo took his camera on his back to take some pictures. We took a rest in the shelter for a few minutes to enjoy the panorama and the breeze. After that we went down and back to the boat to move to another spot.
The sea was so calm on the way to Pink Beach - our other stop for snorkeling. It took us 2 hours to get there from Rinca Island. Henzo and Suzan relaxed on the boat. I tried to identify some of the terns flying over the boat. We just took some pictures of the scenery because there were no tourists when we were there and did not do snorkeling. After that we went back to the boat for lunch before heading to Padar Island as our next stop.
We hike up to the highest point of Padar island as soon as we arrived there at 04.00 pm. We took some of the photos and video of the sunset from up there. After the sun went down, we slowly walked down to get back to the boat for having dinner before went out for herping. After having dinner, we prepared all the equipment for herping on our second night. Henzo did not come with us cause' he was really tired.
Didi - our ranger in Padar island had waited us in the post to lead us in exploring around. Our target in Padar island was the It took 30 minutes for us to find the target blue Lesser Sunda White-lipped Pitviper. Sheilla was so happy cause' she found her target spesies. We continued explore the area after took some of the photo and video. It was not quite far from there, we found another one of the blue but the size was bigger than the first. We also found 3 green White-lipped Pitviper before we decided to go back on board. Such a lucky night for us!
Day 03: September, 11th 2024
The alarm that I set up woke me up. Padar island was behind of the boat when I opened the door. The boat moved early before to Komodo island as our first stop in the last day. Beside Komodo, our main target on that island was Yellow-creasted Cockatoo. This critical endemic spesies was our main target in Komodo island. Sheilla was already on the roof top. She woke up early that me and Henzo. While enjoying my morning coffee, I took my binocular as soon as I saw the bird flying around the sea. There were more than 10 Red-necked Phalarope floating on the water.
After we had our breakfast, we went out for trekking. We decided to go in medium trek since local guide had explained about which one of the trek we would like to go and also some of the rules that must be obeyed by the visitor. Susan and Henzo were so happy to see the Yellow-creasted Cockatoo which perching on the palm tree and also Green Imperial Pigeon. Not quite far from our position, there was a pair of Green Jungle Fowl were feeding on the ground and Orange footed Scrubfowl.
As we arrived at the water hole — one of the main hunting spots of the Komodo dragon — we saw a large dragon lying near a pipe, patiently waiting for prey to come closer. Around the area, we observed several bird species including Sunda Collared-Dove, Wallacean Drongo, Helmeted Friarbird, Rusty-breasted (Tenggara) Whistler, and Black-naped Oriole. Their calls echoed loudly through the dry forest, making birdwatching both exciting and challenging.
In total, we recorded 15 bird species during our walk. For travelers interested in experiencing a professionally guided Flores birding tour and Komodo wildlife adventure, detailed itineraries and customized programs are available at https://floresnaturetour.com
After saying farewell to our naturalist guide, we returned to the boat and continued to Manta Point to observe the majestic manta rays before heading back to Labuan Bajo.
Explore and discover Komodo National Park and Flores with us and we will take you to the nature and its biodiversity.
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