Komodo National Park Indonesia

“During our walk on Komodo Island we came upon a water hole surrounded by wild boars and deer who were all giving a wide berth to a huge dragon that was greedily lounging in the water supply. As we stopped to watch the dragon, our guide asked how many others we could see. After a closer look around, we saw four dragons that hitherto had been invisible to us. (Note: Komodo dragons are exactly the same color as the trees.)”

“Entering Komodo National Park feels a lot of like the beginning of Jurassic Park. Indeed, if there is a real-life Jurassic Park anywhere on earth, this is undoubtedly it. From the small paths that wind through the park you can see an awful lot of dead vegetation eerily strewn about, oftentimes composed of palm leaves and fallen trees that seem to be much bigger than you’d think to be normal. It was as if I had been shrunk down slightly so that everything I was seeing was a bit bigger than seemed correct. To make matters more bizarre, no matter where on the island we wandered, the maddening buzzing of a fly was never completely out of earshot.”

“At the end of day one, we retreated to our campsite where we ate fish, watched a stunning sunset and drank hot beer around a campfire. Pure bliss. At night we pulled our beds out of the tent and slept under the stars. The moon and stars were so bright, it was almost difficult to fall asleep.”