Starting out in Australia, I did some island hopping in the eastern part of Indonesia last February, hence my absence for several weeks during that time. One of the famous Lesser Sunda Islands, is Komodo island for its naturally occurring komodo dragons and the other one is Bali for its devotion to Hinduism and culture. In addition to Komodo island, these giant lizards live on a few other smaller neighboring islands and nowhere else in the world.
These giant lizards bring in tourists and with them, of course, tourist $$ and they are therefore protected. But even before that komodos that are called “land crocodiles” by locals live quite in harmony for who knows how long. They live in groups in the wild but I have seen individual lizards on that island. I saw one lounging on the beach not too far away from the walkway coming from/away from the cruise ship. Although they blend pretty well in their surrounding but their size makes them easy to spot.
Their saliva contains infectious bacteria and yes, they are drooling pretty much all the time.. Supposedly, they can out run an adult. So, when an adult komodo came charging at me while I was kneeling down to get a low angle, I got intimidated. My instinct told me to get up and to move back fast. However, the “ranger” I hired, just stood calmly next to me and assured me that everything was okay. He had a long stave with with a split end. He put that end in front of that beast and it was enough to startle that lizard. So, fortunately, I didn’t make the local evening news then . All the park rangers carry that kind of long staves. Apparently, they are quite effective in stopping or at least, slowing down the giant lizard.
There is the famous pink beach On the other side of the island. There are no komodos here but snorkeling or simply playing around in water felt good on a tropical island like this one.The pink sand color is a mixture of broken down red coral, mixed with reddish shells of foraminifiers and regular whittish shells of marine living organism..
Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to leave any comment.
LuckyStrike88 wrote:
What an adventure! Those are some neat kritters!!!
And what an ISO expanse 100 - 10,000 !!!
Thank you for posting
Terry(LuckyStrike)V
Thank you for stopping by and for your kind comment, Terry! Full adults can be over 10-foot long and they do look intimidating. Yes, inside the forest was really dark and I had to use a fairly high shutter speed to freeze the action.
Super images Joshua. I enjoyed reading the description and wandered it they are green due to tourist dollars. Having a creature charge you is scary and memorable. One can always fight them off using your lens as a club. Good thing the ranger was there. That pink sand is a sight
morris wrote:
Super images Joshua. I enjoyed reading the description and wandered it they are green due to tourist dollars. Having a creature charge you is scary and memorable. One can always fight them off using your lens as a club. Good thing the ranger was there. That pink sand is a sight
Morris
Thank you very much for stopping by and for your kind words, Morris! Komodos come in a variety of colors, including blue, orange, green and gray. I am not sure how much tourist dollars 💵 add to their green colors though .
Originally, I was in a group of about 20 people and 5-6 rangers or so. I couldn’t get too close and it was hard not to include people in the composition. So, I hired a ranger on a personal basis afterwards to guide me to see them again inside the forest. So, only the 2 of us were there and that’s when one of them charged at me. I am not sure whether it was hungry and saw me as potential food. It can devour a full-grown ox in 30 minutes, I was told. True or fiction, who knows but probably it holds true more as a group of them. That guy was about 30 feet in front of me when I felt uneasy.
Joshua - Great information. I had no idea that they were that big and could move that fast. Love the shots, the low angle is spot on. The first time I looked at them all I noticed was the saliva and the tongue. Then I looked again and I saw the massive claws. Those are intimidating ! Looks like he was locked onto you in the first three images. Really enjoyed these shots.
Super nice work Joshua. #3 & 7 are the standouts for me. Even though I have watched numerous documentaries on these critters, I enjoyed reading your narration of them.
Pink sand? I wish I could see it as it must look cool.
If it weren't for the crowd of people you described, it would of been super nice to see a animalscape shot of a dragon on a beach. But hey, I guess that's what all that new PS AI trickery stuff can be used for right.
What an excellent set of images documenting your experience with these creatures. I don't think I could have stood my ground in the face of this type of beast. And what a great looking in #9.
Superb job Joshua.
. All the park rangers carry that kind of long staves. Apparently, they are quite effective in stopping or at least, slowing down the giant lizard.
Great work.
.
I wish I could see it as it must look cool. 