Best things to do in Komodo National Park
The main attractions of these inhospitable islands are the remarkable Komodo dragons, the largest lizards in the world, and some of the best diving in the region. Here are the best things to do in Komodo National Park.
#1 Spot some dragons on Komodo
There are about 6,000 Komodo dragons on Komodo, Rinca, Gili Montang, Flores and Nusa Kode. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list of threatened species, the Komodo dragon is considered vulnerable. The greatest threat to the monitors is from deer poachers, who kill off the animals on which they feed. Male dragons can reach three metres (10ft) or more in length and weigh an average of 70kg (154lbs).
Females usually attain only two-thirds of this size and lay up to 30 eggs at a time. The reptiles are carnivores, favouring rotting meat, which they track by flicking their forked tongues into the air to identify odours. However, they can hunt when no carrion is available; by lifting their massive bodies up on muscular legs they can sprint briefly at 20kph (12mph).
#2 Snorkel at Pantai Merah (Red Beach)
For snorkellers, Pantai Merah (Red Beach) offers butterfly, parrot and triggerfish, giant clams and colourful corals at close range. The gorgeous beach is pink due to an abundance of red coral in the region. As Komodo National Park is in the transition zone described by 19th-century naturalist Sir Alfred Russel Wallace, birdwatchers will find a mixture of Asian and Australian species.
Squawking cockatoos and noisy friarbirds flock in tropical kapok and gnarled tamarind trees, disturbing green Imperial pigeons, black-naped orioles, sunbirds and flowerpeckers. On the forest floor, there are jungle fowl, the forebears of domesticated chickens, quails scratching for insects and mound-building megapodes.