Nusatengara
Komodo is first and foremost the most beautiful archipelago I've ever seen. Even without the giant varano and the terrific underwater scenery, Komodo is one of those places you'll always remember. The colours are those of a dry land, the cliffs sharp and the mountains rugged allthough small. The sea is continusly ttortured by strong currents and difficult to sail. Here and there you'll see a small fisherman village. The vegetation is primarly bushes and short trees. It's a maze of islands and rocks all looking wild and premordial. Add to this that the main inhabitant is the Komodo Dragon, a fearsom reptile that survived only on this archipelago. Much has been said about these monitor lizards and their predatory abilities. They are fast runners and good swimers. The main population is devided between Komodo island and Rinca - the second biggest island. Some are known to populate the westernmost tip of Flores. Usually they ambush their prey and inflic a painful bite as soon as the unlucky one gets close enough. Then they just follow the prey waiting until the poisonous cocktail of bacteria contained in their saliva will develope into setticemia and eventually kill the prey in a matter of few hours. They are able to melt horns and hairs so they'll just swallow a whole deer's leg, whitout even bother chewing. They are incredible creature to be trated with respect. Don't leave the trail and don't walk in the bushes unless you're with a guide - and the fellow really knows what he's doing. Of course the temptaition of getting very close is strong and sometimes you can closely approach an isolated dragon basking in the sun. But this is very dangerous as they are capable of fast move and might take you by surprise. I noticed that they behave as if there was an ideal hunting area around them. As long as you are out of it they don't pay to much attention but as soon as you enter that area they start smelling you with their toungue - close enough for a jump? The best you can do is to hire a sailingboat and spend a whole day in the archipelago. Last advice: don't go in July as this is the mating season and the dragons will be hiding on the lountains - nearly impossible to see one.
Nusatengara is a chain of islands running from Lombok to Timor. The main activity is not surprisingly fishing and reapiring a net is a common sight in the area. In some eastern islands Whale fishing is still a common activity. The whalers leave at down and the hinting last the whole day. They still use a handheld spear that the man will push deep into the body of the whale balancing with his intere body. They look out for whales, spearm whales and occcasional Whale shark that local fisherman call " stupid Shark" because - unlike whales - once speared the animal doesn't fight and can easely killed. One might condamn this activity but actually the impact on the ecosystem is not major and a little thing compared to the disaster that - say - japanese whalers can do or the dynomite fishing has done in the same area. Again rispect for the echosystem oftean bears ambiguus meanings.
Nusatengara is a remote area that doesn't offer much to the package turist. Unlike Bali, the area his not famed for temples and ricefields, unlike Jawa doesn't have anything like Borobudur and Prambanan. The only turistic settlements are Sengiggi on West Lombok and the Gilis, Maumere on Flores and Moyo - a very top end resort. To package turists it usually means one day trip to Komodo to see the dragons, one to the Kelimotu and few days on the beach in either Sengiggi/ Gili or maumere. Therefore anywhere else you'll find a nearly forgotten world where travelling is difficult and time consuming, where villages are small and accomododation basic; where people are friendly and life goes by slowly; where landscapes are breathtaking providing that you make the effort to get there. It's so good that package tours always gather to the same places...
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