Day 3 of #rflorestravelog

 Day 3 floress

Day 3 of #rflorestravelog -
We spent the night at Gili Lawa - still on the boat.
I was too lazy to wake up early to catch the sunset. Correction: I woke up early, but didn't have much desire to hike up in the dark to see the sunset from the summit.
.
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Since the tide was low, so we should use a bed boat (no, it's not Taylor's song) to get to the shore.

Late riser

We almost decided to not climb up. Thankfully, we concluded to go. It's still in the morning, so the temperature was still nice.

It's indeed a right decision to do the trekking. Although some say that the view is similar with Padar, but this is such a picturesque scenery.

(3/3) Gili Lawa. We spent the night in one of those boats.

(2/3) Gili Lawa

(1/3) Gili Lawa

We picked an alternative route on the way down back to the shore. It's longer, but less steep. .
*it's almost 2 weeks since this #rflorestravelog started, but I'm still on the first part of day 3 :�

This photo actually is only a filler. From Gili Lawa, we went to Manta Point but unfortunately couldn't find the beautiful fishes. Hence we continued to sail to the next destination. .

Next destination is Kanawa Island

(3/3) Kanawa Island.
If you want your boat to harbor in the jetty, the cost would be 50k per pax. So we decided to swim/snorkel from our boat to the beach.

(2/3) Kanawa Island.
You could easily find starfishes, corals, and fishes while snorkeling in this beach. It's such a great experience. We found some litters floating, sustainability might become an issue if it's not managed properly.

(1/3) Kanawa Island is a small beautiful tropical island, fully surrounded by white sandy beaches and coral reefs. The area of the coral reefs surrounding the island is very wide. It's indeed astonishing that you could easily snorkel right away from the beach.

Kanawa Island was our last destination on the LOB trip. Then we headed to our accommodation. On the way, I saw several boats were lining up. It's quite a view for me who doesn't see it everyday (ya iya lah..)

Getting closer to our accommodation's jetty. Kinda sad to leave the national park with countless breathtaking views. But seeing this, okay, perhaps it's not so bad. Plus, couldn't wait to take proper shower after 3 days. Lol.

Taken from "amigos" food market. Still a pretty sky though.

#rflorestravelog Day 2

Day 2 floress♥♥♥

 

The gate was opened at 7 am, and that's the time when we started trekking. Each group was accompanied by a ranger.
Then we bought tickets for us at the ticketing office. Ticket for Sunday is more expensive, that's why we tried to go to this island on non-Sunday day.
Rinca Island

We were welcomed by the dragon itself. Ok, the photobomb is kinda distracting :p

A ranger was explaining that there were 3 types of trekking route that could be chosen: short, medium, and long. We took the medium one (around 1 hour of walk)

The trekking path was started with the green forest area. It's good for you who don't like walking under direct sunlight

Komodo's mating season usually happens during June-July. During this period, female komodos dig holes and then laid their eggs inside. They not only dig one hole, but two, although the eggs only laid in one of them.
The another hole was made as a "trap" for other komodos (or even herself), wishing that they fail to find the correct hole and hence not eat the eggs

Still from Rinca Island, after green forest, welcome to savanna. For me, the landscape was so mesmerizing. Alhamdulillah, the sky was very clear that morning. Guaranteed that the weather would be sizzling hot at noon

We were at the peak of the hill, and couldn't find any other komodos. More than 1000 komodos are living in this island.

Just after we thought that we wouldn't find that rare animal anymore in the island, on the way down from the hill, we spotted a #komododragon, actively moving on that very hill. From its swift move, it seemed that he was actively hunting for food.

I think it was looking for me 😅

It's quite common to find birds of prey hunting for fishes in this national park

Let's move to the next island: Padar. Wiki said that in the past, komodos also lived in Padar, but already extinct now. .
We almost failed to go to this island, since the weather was kinda unexpected in the past few days. But luckily it turned out to good. Look at the cloudless sky.

Trekking @ Padar Island

Believe me, it was a sizzlin hot day. Couldn't complaint though. When trekking, I prefer this than a rainy one.

From the top of Padar Island

How could I not adore the view? God is the greatest

It was such a hot and shiny day. There were few minutes when I became dizzy because of sunlight (not the heat, but the ray of light), and decided to wear my shades on. So long, Padar!

Moving forward to the next destination: Pink Beach. I was so excited to visit this place, basically just to compare with another pink beach that I had visited previously in Lombok.

Left side: sand @ Lombok Pink Beach
Right side: sand @ Komodo Pink Beach

(3/3) so-called Pink Beach

(2/3) so-called Pink Beach

(1/3) so-called Pink Beach

When we look closer, we could see the pink-ish sand quite clearly. Esp the part that got "washed" by the sea water.

Pink Beach, Komodo. #nofilter

Sunset - with sun right on the valley. Too lazy to edit the photo.

(3/3) Purple-ish sky at dusk, Gili Lawa, Komodo

(2/3) Purple-ish sky at dusk, Gili Lawa, Komodo

(1/3) Purple-ish sky at dusk, Gili Lawa, Komodo

Sunset @ Gili Lawa

My very first ever of time-lapse shot. Noob mistake: focusing on the grass instead of the sun. 

#rflorestravelog Day 1

Day 1 #rflorestravelog 

4 airports in a day:
- Hasan Aroeboesman Airport, Ende
- El Tari Airport, Kupang
- Juanda Airport, Surabaya
- Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Cengkareng

And sitting could be so tiring.

I think Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo is the nicest airport in Flores Island, by far. Even by its exterior design only, which resembles the shape of Komodo, this airport is already unique. Its interior is also modern.

Rumor (actually it's my friend :p) says that there will be direct flight from Jakarta to Labuan Bajo later this year.

Tips: for flight heading to Labuan Bajo, choose the window seat on the right side. I had the left window seat, and the view wasn't as picturesque as the right one

Actually, I don't remember the name of this island. Probably Bidadari Island :p. Our first day in Labuan Bajo was a bit cloudy.

Bidadari Island is located nearby Labuan Bajo. Since it's easy to reach, usually quite many people visit this island. Plus, it offers snorkeling spot as well.

We hiked on the second island. Imho, from 3 hikes on 3 small islands in Komodo, I think this one was the steepest, altho not necessarily the highest

Unfortunately, it was cloudy that day. So we couldn't see clear sunset. But it's still a beautiful scenery.

Sunset @ Bat Island.
Then we sailed to Rinca Island to spend the night there. Ok, actually our boat was docked at the island, and we slept on the boat, not the island.
And the weather was indeed very cool and even rather cold. I didn't expect that the weather could be that cold. Since for me, there was no way tropical beach and cold could be in the same sentence. My friend even wore her winter coat that night. 

After a cloudy day, the sky at dawn looked promising. Wishing for a brighter day