Taming The Brutal Kimodo Dragon . . . Sort Of
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Real adventures, I mean the utterly real, still exist. You may have to look quite hard for them, but they’re still out there. The Telegraph recently recounted a trip into the lair of the fire-breathing, man-eating lizard, the Kimodo Dragon.
At first glance, I thought this was one of those real kind of adventures. Not so. There wasn’t any fire breathing, nor any human prey. There really wasn’t any real adventure outside of battling a gin and tonic hangover. Although, I have to admit, being face-to-face with the world’s largest lizard would sure make me feel like Captain Jack Sparrow taming newfound wilds.
Dragon territory, on the Indonesian islands of Rinca and Komodo, are a part of a ten day sailing itinerary the article describes, from Bali through Komodo National Park. Although the area is known as a hot spot for diving with sharks and manta rays, the hikes through a dragon-infested rainforest, for some weird reason, appeals to me. Just imagine . . . ten-foot-long, cannibalistic lizards live in trees, under porches, and in the sea. Yeah, the 4,000 of these living in the wild — Could. Be. Anywhere.
The epic encounter went like this: “For a minute the dragons seemed docile. But then something disturbed the group. In a flash they rose up on haunches encased in folds of scales and darted forward at speed, their thick bodies switching from side to side in a manner that was alarming in something 10 feet long. Deep inside, some innate urge screamed ‘Run.'”
And run they did. Our dragon slayer ran right back to the comforts of the air conditioning, sun loungers, and well mixed G-n-T’s of the tour guide’s sailboat. It looks like taming the menacing Komodo Dragon will have to wait until the next “adventure” (read: luxury sail trip through Indonesia).