Woke up at 5 but slept in until 6.30 when I got up for breakfast which was toast, tea and egg only omelette, it was ok, but not the best. I had a shower and washed more peeling skin off, then got my things together and paid for another night all of which made me 3 minutes late at the travel agent but the place was empty. A couple of minutes later he turned up and I paid the 50 outstanding and we walked to the harbour through a narrow shortcut with a locked gate which you can squeeze through. There was just a couple on the boat and I realised I'd left my sunscreen behind so I rushed back and arrived on the boat in time all sweaty. Everyone was there and as well as the couple there was an older American and an Asian lady. The couple were 2 people English who move around and don't live anywhere. The couple and the American lady talked about Donald Trump as the boat pulled out. After a bit the American lady called Diane came to sit next to and talked to me. She had been in Nepal as she'd worked there for the UN peace corp 13 years ago and had also been in Malawi, Sierra Leone and Morocco and had recently retired from being a nurse. We talked quite a lot on the 90 minute boat trip to Rinca and when we arrived the boat managed to make a parking space by squeezing in between 2 other boats. We all got led up to the cabin to pay park fees but there was quite a queue so I followed Diane to the toilets and saw a Komodo dragon and got a few pics. Diane came out so I pointed the Komodo out to her as it went away. Back at the cabin the English couple were saying they hadn't been told how much the fees were and didn't have enough. It was 306 per person and they had 598 (16 short) I think they got let off the difference. I paid my fees, got my tickets and we all gathered round our ranger who stood in front of a map and said there was a long, medium and short trek. The English wanted to do the long trek, I agreed, so did Diane and I don't think the Indonesian looking lady understood. We headed out and I hung back and the other lady was a bit slow so I asked her a question and she didn't understand but I did find out that she was Indonesian. We soon saw a smaller Komodo on the left but the Ranger didn't even have seemed to see it, so maybe there were loads. We carried on without really seeing much in the woods where we crossed a stream and I decided to cross at a different place as it looked less muddy and instead I went straight into the mud and almost lost a shoe. Climbing out was hard and I held onto a plant which scratched me and now I had two muddy shoes, muddy hands and scratches but was ok to carry on. The ranger came to a place amd pointed out a komodo nest to us. After we carried on and he pointed out a tree where a juvenile had been living to avoid being eaten by adults. Then we came into the open and walked along a field and up a hill. The Indonesian lady was struggling and we had to slow down. After a while the others got frustrated at walking in the heat without seeing anything so I think we changed route and joined the medium route. We saw another nest on the way and not much else, no buffalo, Komodo, monkeys, pigs and the English lady pointed out a mushroom as a result. We came back to camp and there were loads of Komodos all around the ranger hut. We all took lots of photos and some selfies before heading back and sat down before someone said we were supposed to go back to the boat which we did. The captain told us it was an hour to the snorkeling site so we all had lunch. Mine was a box with rice, aubergine, chicken and a packet of hot sauce. Diane didn't eat meat so gave me her chicken. She'd had trouble with her house a wooden shack in Massachusetts and had to go back and sort it out but for now she was letting someone look after it. The snorkel site was pretty nice with lots of fish and a fair amount of coral. There were no big highlights like Turtles or manta rays and the water only went to about 3 metres but I still tried some freediving and managed 40 seconds underwater. Getting back up the pier with flippers on I slipped and managed to scratch my left ankle so I was starting to look like I had been in the wars. We went a short distance to yellow island where we stopped and I climbed the hill where there was quite a good view. I went back down and the boat was a bit further out so I had to climb on board, then left my camera and phone and took my action cam. Getting down was difficult and I scraped my left arm above the elbow. I walked to the snorkeling area and went in taking pictures and video with the action cam. The water here was deeper as the bottom sloped and there was a smaller coral area as a result but still quite a bit to see. No real highlights, a small pufferfish, a scorpion fish and a few pipe fish. I was last back on the boat while the Indonesian lady hadn't left the boat for either island. We went back, Diane was a bit annoyed at how much she had paid for the trip (850) as the couple had paid 750 between them. Out of loyalty to the agent I didn't reveal my price. Back at Labuan Bajo we all went separate ways to return our snorkel gear and I had time for the internet before going to see sunset and went up the hill near town which was tough going as it was still hot. At the top there was a tv or radio station with a large antenna but no real viewing spot so I walked around and there were bushes in the way. I thought people had been here before and tried to follow a path to where there would be a better view but there were trees or bushes in the way. I came to a fence and wasn't sure if I was on the right or wrong side of it and it was easy to step through so I did and continued down. The route became harder with trees and bushes to walk between and in a bit I came to another fence so I was in the wrong place and went through this fence so that I would be somewhere I should (maybe) be but the route got harder with more bushes and trees.
So I thought about going back but that was quite a distance uphill now and on the map it was not so far to the road so I ploughed on through the plants and finally made it. I was sweating like crazy as it was still hot and also had bits of trees and bushes on me. I tidied up a bit and walked along the road and the sunset was not over yet so when I saw a place I could get a good view I decided to climb up. And it was a scramble which wasn't good as I was sweating and had plant itches but the view was quite decent. I stayed for a while until I got bored and thought maybe the sunrise was over although I also thought there was a good chance it would get better. I walked around to the sea and the sunset did get better but I had a good view along the water and got some more pictures. I visited the supermarket and a food stall where I got fried tempe, tofu and banana for 1,000 each, a bargain although all fried so no so healthy. I went back used the internet some more and went to bed.
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