When I wrote last, I said we were going to Darwin. That is still true, but I didn’t realize we were going to Komodo Island first. There are several hundred people living on Komodo island. They have no water filtration, sanitation, electricity, internet, or phone service. Our tour took us to see the dragons, not the village.

We saw real Komodo Dragons lazing around on the ground with nothing separating us other than a few feet of space. The guides understood dragon behavior very well and did a good job of keeping us safe. The dragons were wild in that they had to catch their own food. But the clever islanders installed a watering hole which pretty much guarantees there will be a few dragons hanging around.

It was extremely hot — 95 with a heat index of about 105. After we saw the dragons at the watering hole, we were given the option of taking a hike to see if we could find more dragons or wildlife. This was a bad move for us. We should have turned down the extra hike. We were both completely wiped by the heat and the hike. And there were no additional dragons.

We got back to the ship, drank water, and showered. Then we watched a movie because we were too tired to do anything else.

Tomorrow is a sea day. We will arrive in Darwin in two days. I hope this finds everybody doing well.