Arrived in Bali and finally met up with Lynda and Mark. We had a late dinner together and spent the next 2 days relaxing. We went looking for suckling pig for lunch and every part of the pig was on the plate. We took the free shuttle to Sanur and used the five star hotel facilities at the resort. We had massages and swam in the pools. I tried paddle board for the first time and kept falling off the board. I fell on sharp rocks and cut my left foot. Bled a little but ok. Then we found another 5 star hotel and went for dinner there but before that we had many cocktails during happy hour and used their pool. The next day we took a flight to Lombok and then took the long taxi ride to bangsal harbour. Our hotel was fabulous overlooking the sea and an amazing pool. The next morning we met up with the boat crew and boarded our budget cruise to the Komodo Dragons. Our cabin was not a cabin but a box with a mattress on the floor and that's it. No showers but least two toilets. The crew were friendly enough to let us have a quick wash at the back of the boat. We left at 11 and after 7 hours we got used to the noise of the engine and also the fumes. We went for our first swim and then it was bedtime. My box was hot and stifflling and I sweated all night. I finally slept even with the loud engine noise. I woke up just before sunrise and after banana pancakes for breakfast we headed for the next island of Moyo. There was a hike to the waterfall which I skipped. Then onto Satonda for snorkeling and view of the salt Lake. We were supposed to be able to pay for a shower on this island but they ran out of water. Poor lynda was mid conditioner when the water ran out. The crew allowed her to wash her hair at the back of the boat. 18 hours to the next island.There was another stop at gili baba for a hike up a hill which I skipped. I tried to swim instead but too many jellyfish. We saw dolphins on the way to red beach. We swam to the beach. Great snorkeling saw nemo fish. Then sailed to manta point and saw amazing manta rays. Everyone jumped into the sea to swim with them. I saw 4 swim beneath me. Awesome experience. Tried to swim back to the boat but the current was strong so one of the crew threw ma a rope and pulled me in as I was knackered. The crew were fishing but they caught a small pretty fish so I saved it. It fell out of my hands and swam through the small holes in the boatbut it escaped. In the evening we did some fishing off the boat. I fished for 2 minutes and caught a fish unexpectedly. Lynda did it for 90 minutes and finally caught a beautiful fish. The crew cooked them and we tried them at dinner. During dinner we saw flying foxes. Finally on our way to see the Komodo Dragons. 1 minute into our 90 minutes walk and I spotted our first dragon. Majestic and awesome. The most bizarre is their tongue...exactly like a snake...long and thin with two prongs. Their saliva is poisonous and can kill humans also they can be cannibals. We saw 3 on the first island and then 8 on Rinca. Again a minute into. 2 hour trek we saw 1 and then 2 minutes later we saw 7 basking in the shade. Then off to Kanawa island for our last snorkel. On our way to Labuan Bajo we hit coral nearly getting stuck. Finally reaching Flores island and after disembarking and crawling through 3 other boats we walked to our hotel. For our final meal we went to the night market for amazing seafood but lynda had chicken fried rice. We talked the night away and all left in separate directions the next morning.
