Location: Rinca Island
Imagine being woken up to some good vibes music and being told you get to go see Komodo dragons. That’s how I woke my shipmates up today, and we were all eager to get the day started. The staff graciously woke up early today to move the boat from Komodo Island to Rinca Island but let us sleep in until the usual 7 am wake up time. We excitedly got dressed and headed up on deck for breakfast, only to find out that the current was making it take longer for us to get there. As we were underway, we enjoyed a breakfast of chia seed puddin’. Nonetheless, we had breakfast, briefed the day, and got cleanup done. After that, I got ready for the first exciting moment of the day – Komodo destination presentation. As part of our leadership class, we were all tasked with creating a 3-5 minute long presentation about one of the various locations we will be visiting. Charlie and I felt brave and decided to take the first slot and present about Komodo National Park. The catch, though, is that we did not take into account the lack of cell service that we would face when attempting to research this project. We conferred with the boat library but, unfortunately, were still left with no knowledge. After a quick consultation with Allie, we were able to muster up some extremely accurate, very true facts about the islands. We practiced day and night until we felt ready for our moment – and this morning was our moment. It was our time to shine. We gathered with our shipmates in the salon, put our presentation up on the TV, and delivered our masterpiece of Komodo Island. We shared the history of the islands (inspired by the movie “How to Train Your Dragon”) and the hero that Dave is, as well as the origin story of Mrs. Kipling (from the TV show Jessie). We discussed the preferred language of the dragons in addition to their unmatched political practice, which may or may not involve a “Sexiest Dragon Alive” competition as a means of voting. Every piece of information that we shared was completely, entirely, undoubtedly, and wholeheartedly true – except for the parts that were false. After raising the excitement levels aboard, we were all eager to see some dragons. As soon as we got to Rinca island, we grabbed our cameras and, most importantly, our heeled shoes (crocs in sport mode were a popular choice). We got the dinghies in the water and hopped in them soon after. We then zoomed over to the dock as our excitement continued to grow. As we pulled in, we immediately spotted a buffalo, a monkey, and a Komodo dragon on the beach. We began our tour following wooden walkways with stops where tour guides shared some real knowledge with us regarding the dragons. This was very useful after our very accurate and totally not made up presentation about the dragons. We spotted one dragon while one of the tour guides was talking, and the attention was quickly drawn away from him. Instead, it transferred to a conversation about who would win in a fight with a Komodo dragon. Once we finished the first loop of the tour, we got to go to the cool part. You know, it’s the cool part because the tour guide brought out the Y-shaped poles. We were now entering the danger zone. Not only seeing the dragons from a distance but now walking on the same ground as them. We received a quick briefing about the dangers of the dragons and how we needed to stay far away from them (boring!), but our cameras somehow seemed to continuously drag us closer and closer to the dragons. We saw one baby Komodo dragon and one big boy that was at least 6 feet long (It was definitely Mrs. Kipling). We all took as many pictures as possible and tested what “too close” truly meant. Hannah was also sure to ask the tour guide why the dragons were scared of the letter Y (because that’s what Allie had told us), to which he returned a very confused look and made sure we understood that they were, in fact, not scared of the letter Y. After the dragon experience we continued our walk on the sandy path all the way up the hill. When we reached the top, we saw a breathtaking view of the sandy hills on one side and the water (with the beautiful S/Y Argo in sight) on the other. We were once again sure to take many pictures, and Ben was given the duty of taking pictures of all of us together, which I promise he wasn’t annoyed about. Once we walked back down, we went to the museum on the site, where we experienced the once-in-a-lifetime luxury of air conditioning. The museum was cool, too, though. We then went to the gift shop and bought souvenirs. Although, some of us consider multiple boxes of chocolate milk to be souvenirs (I am one of them). After we savored our luxurious cold drinks, we headed back to the dinghies and stopped along the way to, you guessed it, take even more pictures, but this time with the dragon statues at the entrance. Once we were back aboard Argo, we had a refreshing salad for lunch, followed by a very informative lecture from Ben about scientific writing, which will be useful in many of our classes. Some of us were then granted the freedom of study hall time, while others had training dives to complete. Amanda and I spent the next couple of hours grinding out our fish ID logbooks in the salon while listening to our own music. Philip went on a training dive and completed a skill circuit while working toward his divemaster certification. Ainsley was able to complete her open water dives, which is so exciting for her! Kiley, Travis, and Juliet went with Gabe to complete a couple more dive skills. While all of that was happening, Bodhi told us he was going to go on a nice little snorkel, and we agreed that we’d hop in the water with him once we got some work done. We quickly changed our minds when we came up on deck and realized how far away he was from the boat. We knew there was no way we would make it to him. He supposedly saw some really cool things like sharks and turtles, so I guess the swim was worth it. Those of us who were still on board decided to take ocean showers as soon as the sun started setting. Ali, Hannah, Kiley, Ava, and I were apprehensive to jump into the cold water, but we knew exactly how to remedy the situation. We put on some hype music, and almost immediately, backflips into the water ensued. We had an awesome dance and singing session (I swear we showered in there at some point, too) that completely changed our view of ocean showers. Soon after, we got changed and ready for dinner as everyone started returning to the boat. The night was coming to a close as we watched the sun set behind the gorgeous and unearthly mountains that Komodo has to offer. We enjoyed our taco bowls and held hands for a squeeze to reflect on our day and on our past selves. The open water students are taking their RDP exams, which means they are almost completely open water certified divers! We are celebrating the milestone with Allie’s special cookies consisting of the very suspicious “vanilla” extract that she forgot not to include after the cake fiasco and the attempted cover-up with powdered sugar, which may or may not happen to be baking soda. It will be interesting to see how these “cookies” turn out, but at least the gluten-free students get normal, delicious, and not suspicious brownies! Today was one of those days on Argo when it was hard to pick just one appreciation of the day. The days are jam-packed with once-in-a-lifetime memories and friendships that continue to develop, which allows our appreciation to continue to grow. We’re all so excited for what’s in store next, and I can’t wait to keep experiencing days that make choosing just one appreciation to represent the whole day a very challenging task.