A hike in the wild to meet the dragons

Visiting Indonesia’s Komodo National Park is like walking into a Robinson Crusoe fantasy

Visiting Indonesia’s Komodo National Park is like walking into a Robinson Crusoe fantasy

The coloured coral reef at the Komodo National Park in Indonesia(Getty Images)

An aerial view of the island 'Pulau Padar' at the Komodo National Park. (Getty Images)

The fact that Komodo National Park has been recently declared one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature, and that the dragon is a protected beast, doesn’t adequately prepare you for your first encounter with this Robinson Crusoe fantasy. So a guide must accompany every exploration. Armed with a forked staff, we walk slowly into dragon territory, along a carefully demarcated hiking trail. You can choose a trail depending on your fitness; the longer the trail, the more dragon behaviour you understand.

A Komodo Dragon, which can grow up to three metres tall, sits on its hind legs. (Shutterstock)

A flurry of camera shutters tells me a sighting has been made. Lying in a bush is the massive body, scaly back, and dagger-sharp claws of the Komodo (locally known as ora), who sticks out its forked tongue. A short walk away, a baby ora crosses our path. It looks warily around and creeps forward. “Survival of the fittest,” the guide mutters. “Mature ora are cannibalistic; so the young live in the branches of trees, usually until they grow to at least one metre in length.”

A visitor photographs nearly life-size Komodo dragon wood carvings. (AFP)

But he also wants you to see more than the Komodo. So don’t neglect the wild boar and megapodes (chicken with small heads and large feet).

A manta ray swimming through a current-swept channel. (Getty Images)

GIFT OF THE PRESENT