Well hay!!! Do you love nature? Want to go to an unspoiled area in Indonesia, but you have no idea where to go? Why don’t you try to head down to Labuan Bajo, a gate to Komodo National Park, an unspoiled paradise in East Nusa Tenggara which has lots of beautiful islands complete with its native animal, the one and only dragon alive in this world, the Komodo Dragon.I went to Labuan Bajo 2 months ago with Ades Indonesia, a brand of bottled mineral water under Coca Cola Company which has high attention to conservation effort in Indonesia which is realized by a program called Ades Conservacation.  Labuan Bajo can be easily reached from Denpasar and Jakarta because the airport on this two cities has some direct flights to Labuan Bajo, a port city that will be your base before exploring the Komodo National Park. And here are the details of my Awesome Sailing Trip to Padar Island,Rinca Island, and Kelor Island, check it out!!!

ARIVING AT LABUAN BAJO

Bali could be the best starting point for you to go to another paradise in Indoensia like Labuan Bajo, take a direct flight from the Island of Gods and fly to The Gate of Dragon’s den. It didn’t take much time to go to the Port City, since it only took about one and a half hours for me to get there.

Touched down at Komodo International Airport

After landed you can find ojek rider ”Taxibike” around the airport, this is the cheapest transportation that you can get right there. The city is not so far from the airport, you can ask to the Ojek Rider to take you to the hotel which has strategic location and close to the harbor, because usually the sailing trip will start in early morning and the city’s harbor will be your starting point. Being late is not a good option for this trip, it can messed up the whole trip schedule, so that’s why it is better to find hotel that is near the harbor.

SAILING TRIP

We booked the sailing trip a day before we reached Labuan Bajo, so I do also recommend you to book your trip a day before landing in Labuan Bajo or a day before the sailing trip begins.  You can go to Soekarno Hatta Street, this is where the crowds are, there are many travel agents that will offer you sailing trip packages with various prices. You can go on a sailing trip with your own group or you can just go with other travelers in an open trip, usually you have to book a private trip if you want to do it with your friend and it will cost you more money than if you do the open trip.

Just like I said before, the trip will start in the early morning before the sparrows fart, we gathered on the port at 04.00 am and started sailing at 04.30 am. What’s special during this trip was the ship, why? Because we explored the sea not by using ordinary ship, yap we used Pinisi Ship.  What the heck is Pinisi Ship dude? Well, it’s a traditional ship from Indonesia, made by Bugis and Makasar Tribes which are native to Sulawesi Island. It was used to transport goods in the past times, but today, it has turned into a cruise ship that is often used by tourists on a sailing trip in Labuan Bajo.

FIRST ISLAND: PADAR ISLAND

My first destination was the magnificent Padar Island!!! The view from the top of Padar Island will amaze you as soon as you managed to climb it up. Well, I can say that this place is one the most popular place in Indonesia, just imagine a King with his concubines, Padar Island would be the sexiest one, uwehehe.

One of the best view in Indonesia

What are you waiting for fellas? Go get your hiking shoes and get ready to climb the hill!!! You will be escorted by a guide who manages the trip, usually the guide will ask you about the level of the trek that you want to take during the hike. They have 3 kinds of level, start from the easiest one till the longest trek, I suggest you to take the easiest one because it already has stunning view, don’t need to go further because usually this trek is the most favorite trek taken by the tourists. Don’t forget to bring your sunscreen and hat, although the journey is going to be started in the early morning, it takes time to get there, about two and half until three hours to reach the island and thirty more minutes to reach the top of Padar Island, usually the sun is allready up on our head when we get there, just consider to bring those two things.

Heyho Traveler

SECOND ISLAND: RINCA ISLAND

Have you ever heard about Komodo Dragon? Yap the biggest lizard in the world, maybe some of you have seen them in the zoo, but how about seeing them in their natural habitat and not in a cage? Rinca Island is the home of this prehistoric animal, there are thousands of them roaming around the island, even they can hang around freely at the villages.

There are several islands in Komodo National Park, Rinca Island is one of those islands and has the second biggest population of Komodo Dragons after Komodo Island itself. In Rinca or Komodo island you can either take a short tour or overland tour around the island to see how Komodo lives in their natural habitat, not only the dragons, you can also see other animals inhabited the island like Water Buffalos, Deer, Wild Boars, and monitor lizards, but be aware because sometimes baby Komodo is similar with the monitor lizard. Just for your information, an adult male or female Komodo Dragon can take down Water Buffalo in a single bite with the help of thousands of bacteria that live in their mouth that can cause very bad bleeding, if they can take down water buffalo then they also can do that to human, so be careful and stay sharp, don’t forget to always do what the ranger tells you, because he’s the one who can handle the Komodo with their magic stick.

THE LAST ISLAND: KELOR ISLAND

Before getting back to Labuan Bajo, we still have one more destination, yap Kelor Island, this island is not big, just a small island near the city, it only takes about one hour to get here by boat from Labuan Bajo, usually travel agents will make this island as the closing itinerary for the one day sailing trip activities.Kelor island is uninhabited, so that is why you won’t find any facilities such like toilets or public chairs in here, you can just pie or pop in an open world and unite with mother of nature uwehehee. Though the island is not so big, but you can still do a lot of exciting activities such like snorkeling, running on the beach, and even camping. The island has become a favorite place for local and expat families, because of its unspoiled environment and the calm sea water, these two factors have made this island as a perfect place for families to hang out.

I went to this island as our last destination, the first impression that I got when I set my foot on the island’s sand was, the island was so compact and beautiful, there were several hills on the island which were not so high so that you can climb it up in less than fifteen minutes, after that you can see the dazzling view from the top of the hill that this island has. But I didn’t do that because I was too busy with my snorkeling stuff and soon as I got bored snorkeling, I realized that the view from the hill was much more beautiful than the view that I saw from the shore. Well, shit happen sometimes, uwehehe. But for those who don’t like trekking, you can just explore the shore line, since the island is not so big you can explore it in several hours, I guess, because I haven’t tried that anyway, just like I said, I was too busy with my snorkeling stuff.

Follow me on:

Instagram: heyho_traveler |Twitter: @Heyho_Traveler

Reach Me Through:

Email: [email protected] |Text/Phone: 082247986577

Don’t forget to like my Fans Page on Facebook: Heyho Traveler