Komodo National Park – Day 7: The Final Descent
KOMODO NATIONAL PARK
Day 7: The Final Descent
May 21, 2023
PART I
Last diving day in Komodo – and anywhere near a coral reef for the foreseeable future, for that matter. I have to admit, as excited as I was about rediscovering Malta in a new way by exploring its seas, it still felt like a punch to the gut.
We’d be having two early morning dives, given most of us would be flying out the next day. Our first would be at a familiar site – Batu Bolong. Knowing how great that dive was, none of us had any complaints about revisiting the same site instead of discovering another one. It was basically a rehash of the first one – meaning we were nothing but ecstatic by the end of the dive. We also got to see a school of rainbow runners and African pompanos – the first I’d ever seen. At the end, during the safety stop, I also got a chance to explore a ridge that cut through the island, something I had really wanted to do the first-time round.
Pengah Kecil
After, we started making our way back to Flores, with the next dive site being Pengah Kecil; a coral-covered sea mount in Central Komodo.
Being my very last dive here, I tried to take it all in – more so than I usually do. All the coral, tubeworms, tunicates, and algae covering the reef. All the marine creatures I had gotten so used to. Suddenly, titan triggerfish were not scary as I looked at them fondly, knowing I’d probably not see one again for a long while. Moray eels were once again a source of awe and wonder. All the shoals of anthias and damselfish were as magical as the first time I’d ever seen one.
That said, there were a couple of highlights specific to this dive. Like the five mantis shrimps we spotted scuttling about. Or the school of black durgons and redtoothed triggerfish. Or, the MVP; a black Commerson’s frogfish. The latter stood still, perched on a rock, opening its huge mouth threateningly the second we approached. Then, startled by… yes, of course, Anurag’s camera, it started to walk away, using its stubby pectoral fins to move about clumsily.
And just like that, my tropical diving adventures were over. God only knew when I’d be diving in such places again, but the way I saw it was that I’d now get to dive around different seascapes. Perhaps duller ones, sure, but different nonetheless.
PART II
The Screeching Skies of Kalong Island
Our diving adventures might have been over, but we still had something quite exciting to look forward to. At the first sign of sunset, the damned bell summoned us to the uppermost deck. Here, apart from getting to watch one last glorious tropical sunset, there was something else in store for us.
As the sky turned pink and a blanket of darkness started to cover the island in front of us, something eerie seemed to be going on. The calm and serenity that night brings along with it soon faded as a thousand screeches and whistles brought to life the entire area surrounding our ship. At first we could see nothing but one black silhouette soaring above the treetops. This was quickly joined by another, and then another – until suddenly the entire sky was saturated by these beings. It was the nightly migration of the flying foxes, otherwise known as fruit bats.
Every night, these gorgeous beasts leave the refuge of their island to go out in search of fruit and sustenance on the mainland, enjoying a nightly feast of bananas, snake fruit, and rambutans. Hearing about it and seeing it in front of your very eyes is something else though, as thousands of them swarmed the sky above us in unison, each individual shadow a huge mass, with a wingspan of some 1.5 metres. As sinister as they might seem, especially when superimposed with the night sky and the moon in the background, these bats are not only completely harmless to humans, but they actually help our environment by dispersing the seeds of the fruit they eat.
Standing on the ship, with a group I had come to consider yet another family, whilst basking in the glory of such spectacles, once again, made me realise the privilege of it all. Man was I gonna miss these things. The getting to bond with complete strangers on such experiences. The getting to dive in such an underwater paradise. The getting to sail on a majestic ship around a gorgeous archipelago in the middle of nowhere. All the sunrises, all the sunsets, and everything in between.
Traditional Songs and Melodramatic Finales
That night was simply perfect. After the show, we went down to the second deck where we all lay huddled around in a circle, with some of the staff bringing out their guitars and drums. With a couple of beers in our hands, we got to enjoy a rendition of some traditional Indonesian songs, before we were invited to join into the festivities ourselves as we danced and sang the night away.
They’d ask us to choose a song, and when they would inevitably tell us they didn’t know it, we’d go back to singing the two same songs all over – What’s Up? by 4 Non Blondes and Three Little Birds by Bob Marley. It felt so good to be surrounded by such good people, the merriment and inebriety taking over, making me feel more alive than ever.
And, to finish off the perfect cruise and my trip in Indonesia, there was the cherry on top of the cake waiting for me – the Grey’s Anatomy season 19 finale! I finally got to watch it – Anurag’s chewing still audible despite my noise-cancelling headphones. That said, I still got to enjoy it and cried myself to sleep. So much drama!