The start of our day came at 4:50am when the alarm notice went off throughout the entire ship for a fire on deck six. Holy cow….this was not a drill. For some unknown reason, we were already awake and could hardly believe what we were hearing. Located midship, the cabins in that area on both decks six and seven were evacuated. Deck five was also included but that was mostly shops that were closed for the evening. The staging area was the deck six elevator lobby which is down the hall from us. Luckily, we are more forward and did not have to leave our room. Friends told us later in the day that they had loud knocking on their doors and they had to put on robes or whatever and head for the Lido. Smoke was spreading rapidly and it wasn't long before we could smell it. Electrical for sure, the Captain came on the speakers several times to explain it was an element in a dishwasher on deck six that malfunctioned. Other friends of ours on deck three went out on the promenade deck to see black smoke billowing from above. Scary for sure, the crew went into their practiced drill mode and contained the fire quickly. Good thing for those frequent drills they have. The evacuees were allowed back to their rooms by 5:20am, with the exception of the deck six folks who had to wait for the hoses to be cleared out in the elevator lobby and hallway. We doubt the hoses were used with water, since an electrical fire would be put out with chemicals instead. Captain Rens could not apologize more than he did from the beginning to the end of this event. Truly one that we hope never to experience again. Come to think of it, this same type of fire happened when Captain Mercer was onboard, only it was 3am and was due to a defective mini- refrigerator in someone's cabin. Anyway, the smell of the smoke lingered all day and into the following morning. On an amusing note, Captain Rens paid a visit to the folks held in the Lido and asked if there were volunteers to wash dishes this morning. The same request was made to the guests in the World Stage waiting for their tours to commence. Sort of lightened up the event somewhat.
We have entered a new country which is Indonesia and the port of call for today is Slawi Bay, Komodo Island. And in our humble opinion, there is no other like it in the world. Maybe that is because it is home to the world's largest and most lethal lizards named appropriately Komodo dragons. But more about that later.
The population of Indonesia is 255 million people (or more) that live on 8,000 of the 17,000 islands in the archipelago. And it is the fourth largest population in the world. The capital is Jakarta on the island of Java, and the language is Bahasa Indonesian. There are over 300 dialects of this language. Many of those locals who work in the travel industry also speak English. This country is spread across 5000 kilometers on and around the Equator, and the reason for the hot and sultry weather almost year-round. It is a land of many cultures, peoples, animals, religions, customs, artwork, plants and foods. Especially the foods.
And if we have not mentioned it already, we happen to be here close to their major Hindu festival called Nyepi. It is their celebration of the new year which has a definite impact on two days of our visit. On March 18th, this holiday begins with a night and day of very noisy celebrations that include scary mask-wearing and noisy activities. It is thought to scare away the bad demons. The following day is called the Silent Day, where everything stops. There is no electricity, cooking fires, school or work allowed. No talking. No one is allowed outside at all, not even guests staying in the resort areas. The hotels will have power, we understand. The whole point is to trick the demons that anyone lives there. Like hiding. At 6am on March 20th life resumes as usual.
This holiday impacted us for the arrival to Bali on March 20th by delaying our docking time by one hour or so. All of tours had to be adjusted, which was not a huge problem since the ship will be overnighting there.
One of the few places we stop on a world voyage, Komodo Island is one that no one is allowed off of the ship unless you book a HAL tour or have proof of an independent excursion. This is a rule of the Indonesian Central Government and the National Park, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A detailed letter was sent to everyone well ahead of time so we all understood more about this tour. It came with a strong warning regarding the tender pier access with non-ADA compliant stairs. What they have is a narrow steep flight of cement stairs to reach the ground level. It can vary depending on the tide. The heat and hydration advisory was spelled out in plain English stressing the need for adequate hydration. They recommended bringing water, wear a hat, and lightweight clothing. And if we felt signs of heat exhaustion, notify your guide immediately. Well, do you think everyone read this letter? This is one place we know from experience that if you are in doubt of your abilities, it is a place to stay onboard the ship.
With all that said, this is the first time in all the visits we have made, that we saw so many people needing wheelchairs to be taken back to the tender landing. The tours were no longer than 2 to 3 hours if you chose to see the dragons. One excursion did a short version of the dragons, then took the guests to a nearby island with a pink sand beach for snorkeling. At least these folks cooled off in the warm waters.
Before we left the ship, we did get some pictures of several Timor deer laying on the sandy beach. We have seen this on prior stops and figured the deer will stay out in an open area so they can see dragons coming their way. And yes, these deer are on the dragon's menu. One nasty bite will infect the deer, making it sick, then the dragons dine when the animal is incapacitated. Horrible, but that is nature at work. Even without the deer present, we have spotted dragons on these same beaches from the ship. Nice to have a good camera that can focus that far away.
Our excursion began by meeting in the World Stage at 7:45am. By the time our group was called, tendered to shore, and joined another group with our guides, it was 8:30am. By then, the temperature was 83 degrees, humidity was 78%, and the winds were about 13mph. The skies were cloudy, but when the sun came through it was darned HOT. We joined two groups of #13 "sticky people", of which we were part of today. We had one guide, one park ranger and one guy with a long-forked stick to keep the dragons away from everyone. We pretty much know this tour by heart, but it is a good chance to take some photos of these lethal monsters. The first thing the guide offered besides some simple information, were bottles of water. Some took them, some did not.
The walk began slowly to put some distance to the tour ahead of us. There must have been several groups for this shorter tour, so they spread us out as much as they could. We learned about the dragons and the trees where the young ones climb when they hatch. There were a few birds we heard then saw flying into the palm trees. Our guide did not know what they were. From the noise they made, they were obviously the Sulphur-rested cockatoos and a few green doves perhaps. Guess he wasn't into the birding aspect. The highlight of this walk was a pond-like pit where the dragons congregate or are attracted there for the tourist to see. We saw the largest number of lizards we have ever seen. There were six large males, one may have been a female, and one younger one. The males can weigh up to 200 pounds, while the females are about 75 pounds. The young one was brave because males tend to kill them from hatchlings to mid-size. They spend most of their time high in the trees for safety.
Of course, this is the most photographed spot in the park area with about 60 to 80 people trying to get the best photos. The guides will take cell phone pictures for the guests who want to pose behind the dragons, giving the impression of being much closer than you are. All it takes is one person in your group to start the picture line, giving the rest of us time to move around and see more of the dragons. At one point, a large dragon came out of the low-growth forest and tackled another male. First time ever we saw a fight in progress. Most times these lizards are motionless, but not so today. The attacker left the scene as fast as he appeared. It was time for us to move along.
Yesterday one of our favorite beverage servers asked us if it was true that the dragons prefer eating white people. No we had not heard that before, but he said he was told people taste like chicken. Jokingly, we said no, we think people tend to taste like pork. We all got a laugh out of that one.
From experience, we knew we would not see any more dragons as we made a full circle to the beginning of the hike. About halfway into the walk, one of elderly ladies began to feel faint and overheated. She had to sit with one of the guides and drink water. They had no choice but to continue with our group and get us out of the sun. Of course, they had cell phones and called for a wheelchair. By the time they came with the wheelchair, she had recovered enough to continue with the group. However, another older lady plopped in the chair and had to be wheeled back through the sandy trail. It took three or more local guys to push her. Sure hoped she tipped them.
We ended the hike near an dilatated temple and a restroom where most everyone stopped. There was another dragon on the sandy bank where one of the guides tried to draw a group of people to take pictures. We have to add there is a large long green-tented area with souvenir tables before you exit the trail. The guides tried to entice people to go to their tables where the wife and kids were selling things from t-shirts to wood carvings, magnets, some costume jewelry, and carved dragons of all sizes. Since we have most of the items they were hawking, we did not buy anything. The place was closed up so tight, we had a fine time trying to get back out of it. Like being trapped.
There were no more photos to be taken, so we headed back to the pier. Last year, we had bought a nice-looking pearl drop pendant, not real, but acceptable. The only place we saw them was where the tenders were pulling alongside. Today we found four more in various colors and bought them for a good price. The chains were nice as well. Happy with our day, we were equally happy to get back onboard in the air-conditioning. It was only 11am, when we got back to our room, but it felt like we had been up all day. But then, we had been up a long time with that unexpected fire event.
Captain Rens came on the speakers at 1:50pm after the all aboard time of 1:30pm. We had expected the usual up-to-date info, but it wasn't. In fact, he sounded quite angry and for good reason. There were some of the local kids in the longboats begging for money from the passengers who must have been on the promenade deck. Obviously, people were tossing stuff to these kids and the Captain demanded them to stop….it was dangerous and illegal. Later he came on with the usual info telling us we had 275 nautical miles to reach the island of Bali tomorrow. He would open the bow for an 8am sail into the harbor, weather-permitting.
Leaving the area of Komodo Island, there was an exciting display of jumping dolphins. One of us missed it while in the bathroom. Within minutes they were left in the turbulence of the ship's wake. However, the photographer among us was quick and caught them in action. Luck of the draw and being out on the veranda at the right time worked today.
Working on photos and reports kept us busy the rest of the afternoon. We were graced with another nice sunset before heading for dinner. Tonight's meal was basically Indonesian with some good appetizers of soup and pork sate. Both of us had a different type of chicken dinner with rice pilaf and some veggies. Dessert was watermelon slices and a cake of some kind.
The show was the Grand World Voyage Band with Shine On – a Pink Floyd Experience. We are not even sure who Pink Floyd is……..
Looking forward to another visit to Bali, where we will stay overnight.
Bill & Mary Ann
