A dragon, A dragon
I swear I saw a dragon!
A people-eating, fire breathing MONSTER is in sight
Well, that’s not exactly true; I – personally – didn’t see a dragon. Nor will I be. Medical reasons beyond my control prevented me from getting off the ship. You see, the Komodo dragon can scent blood from miles away, and they can run surprisingly fast considering that they’re a giant lizard (you look at pictures of these things you would expect them to plod), so to – to put it delicately – the calendar dictated that it was not in the cards for me to see dragons this trip.
Something to look forward to for the next Grand Asia.
Instead, I get to enjoy a day to myself, which is a rare and precious commodity ship-side.
For safety reasons, you are only allowed to get off the ship in Komodo if you are on an escorted organized tour from our ShoreEx department. Contrary to popular belief among the guests, this isn’t because we’re looking to make more money on the tours. It’s because well…there are dragons. They are vicious. They may eat you! There is a village on the island, where the local guides live with their families, but over the years they have become accustomed to living in balance with these creatures, we on the other hand…well, we’re probably crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
I was doing research on the Komodo Dragon for my article for the shipboard newsletter, and they’re scary beasts really. They can swallow their prey whole, but then they have to lie around for hours in the sun to make sure that it digests properly so that it doesn’t poison them from the inside out. They’re also ugly little critters. They look like miniature dinosaurs. In fact, no one is really quite sure that that’s not exactly what they are.
I could have taken the tour, I could have risked it, but I didn’t want to risk putting those around me in danger for something that I will get another chance to see.
I will admit that the island itself looks beautiful from ship-side. The water is almost absolutely smooth, disturbed only by the gentle wake of the tenders ferrying our guests back and forth for their primeval encounter. The clouds are hanging low over the top of the mountains, so the whole place looks like its shrouded in prehistoric mists. The only sign of civilization over there is the few boats that are beached across the way.
Looking at a place like this, it’s easy to feel that we are so very small in the sphere of the world, we control so much and yet control so little.
We are a virus , on a very very small Marble and we are all playing for keeps.