Labuan Bajo

My boat leaves in an hour so I have time for one little post from Labuanbajo, the small and quaint fishing village on the edge of the Flores Sea. These islands are a few hundred miles from Bali but a century apart. The main attractions here are Komodo Dragons, huge carnivorous lizards, and the diving. There is also the now famous cave called Flores where the possible new dwarf subspecies of genus homo was discovered a few years ago dating to the Pleistocene and earlier. The local people have lore about little people roaming the forest, but little is known beyond that. We do know that Indonesia was home to many early species of of homo (think Java-man).

The bay is idyllic and serene with great sunsets. I have only been here two days, but its kind of charming. The biggest town, Labuanbajo has a few thousand people and tourists are just discovering its charm. Yesterday I rode a motorcycle into the interior on disintegrating roads and trough mountains full of switchback curves. Last night I could hardly move from the ride; my body was beat. I saw some lovely little towns and lots of rice fields, as well a cacao groves, smiling people and tons of little kids who all greeted me with enthusiasm. Anyway, before getting on the boat here's a few pictures.







Hey, it's a boat called the KMP! Must be mine.













View from the hotel of the serene little bay






Mountains, and more.








Small kitten sleeping in my shoe at the local "bar" as it is. They have a good soundtrack and fabulous homemade ginger ale (fresh ginger, mint, lime, and mineral water.














My main form of transport and torture. Comes with helmet.







Small farming villages in the interior of Flores..... It's dry here, but they bring water from the mountains in complex hand dug canals. This looks like very hard work.


















A typical warung in this seaside town.

OK, heading for the boat. More when I get back next week....

Location:Indian Ocean