C O M O D O

How to reach Comodo of Dragon? From Lombok or the Gilis, you can get a 3/4 day boat trip costing around 250 000 rupiahs which isn't much (13000 to the £ when I was there) and they'll take you in a wooden boat of about 15m in length to Flores stopping off at numerous reefs to scuba as well as Komodo and Rinca where the dragons live. The reef off Komodo is spectacularly colourful and the fish is abundant but be wary of the current. I would also suggest you take your own snorkel gear though they are supplied and quality can be dubious.

Excellent fun though check the boat and make sure you have agreement on the food and water as they will skimp if you do not keep an eye out and you will become very familiar with noodles and rice. The fee also includes travel back to Lombok via the ferry and buses. It is worth looking around Flores as there is Kelimuti, the 3 coloured volcanic lakes.

Komodo National Park lies in the Wallacea Region of Indonesia, identified by WWF and Conservation International as a global conservation priority area. The Park is located between the islands of Sumbawa and Flores at the border of the Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) and Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTP) provinces. It includes three major islands, Komodo, Rinca and Padar, and numerous smaller islands together totaling 603 km2 of land. The total size of Komodo National Park is presently 1,817 km2. Proposed extensions of 25 km2 of land (Banta Island) and 479 km2 of marine waters would bring the total surface area up to 2,321 km2

HISTORY :
Komodo National Park was established in 1980 and was declared a World Heritage Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1986. The park was initially established to conserve the unique Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), first discovered by the scientific world in 1911 by J.K.H. Van Steyn. Since then conservation goals have expanded to protecting its entire biodiversity, both marine and terrestrial.
The majority of the people in and around the Park are fishermen originally from Bima (Sumbawa), Manggarai, South Flores, and South Sulawesi. Those from South Sulawesi are from the Suku Bajau or Bugis ethnic groups. The Suku Bajau were originally nomadic and moved from location to location in the region of Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara and Maluku, to make their livelihoods. Descendents of the original people of Komodo, the Ata Modo, still live in Komodo, but there are no pure blood people left and their culture and language is slowly being integrated with the recent migrants.
Little is known of the early history of the Komodo islanders. They were subjects of the Sultanate of Bima, although the island’s remoteness from Bima meant its affairs were probably little troubled by the Sultanate other than by occasional demand for tribute.