Komodo is one of those places that almost everybody’s heard about but almost nobody’s been to. It does make sense when you think about it, given that the island’s fame comes from its large population of giant man-eating lizards, a cheap thrill only attractive to a certain type of tourist…. like us, for example. The Komodo Dragon isn’t just the biggest lizard in the world (around the size of an adult human), it’s also the most poisonous. The dragon sneaks up and bites its prey, then waits for the poison to slowly kill the victim over several days before eating every morsel. There was no evidence left of the last tourist killed here, other then his camera and sunglasses.

But like many of the more exotic threats to human life (great white sharks, falling into a volcano crater, etc.) the danger is easy to avoid with a bit of prudence…. if you die from being eaten by a Komodo Dragon, it probably means you were being stupid. The truth is that the Komodo Dragon is endangered, and the Komodo National Park exists more for the protection of the lizard than for the human prey. A fork shaped stick and a keen lookout is all you need to safely explore the trails.

It’s mating season now, which often keeps the dragons busy behind the scenes, so we were lucky on our visit to find several of them strolling around and seemingly in a good mood. We were even luckier to be invited into the Komodo village a few miles away where we found dirty water wells and an opportunity to deliver clean water filter systems to each of their four main water wells. As the lucky filter couriers, we receive most of the credit from the locals, but the truth is that our mission was enabled entirely by donations from readers of this blog. We hope the pics here serve to relay the messages of thanks we received from the Komodo village and directed to the supporters of our filter mission. We provide more info below for those interested and for other visitors that may be coming through here later with more filters.

So we’ve seen enough of the Dragons, and with so much more to see and do along the 8th Parallel we’re gonna pull the anchor and just “keep on keepin’ on”. Sumbawa and Lombok are next in the chain, and what we’ll find there, we haven’t a clue.

Asia at last. And such a huge cultural change that it’s difficult to believe we were in Australia just 500 miles ago. Here in Kupang we’ve found all the obvious signs we’ve arrived back in the developing world: wooden outrigger fishing boats, busy roadside street markets, strange smells, cows and monkeys seamlessly integrated into city life, and scooters buzzing around the like swarms of bees. As westerners are a rarity in these non-touristic Indonesian cities, we get lots of attention and “hello Mister”s from curious locals asking us where we’re from and sometimes even wanting pictures – truly some of the most friendly people we’ve found anywhere. All of the chaos and activity can be intimidating for tourists new to developing countries, but the adjustment is easy to make if you keep an open mind, and often times people become addicted to this kind of more adventurous travel and no longer see the point in traveling around the boring old West.

But like most developing countries, Indonesia is affected by severe poverty, meaning problems exist here that are difficult to imagine from the vantage point of a North American or European metropolis. Malaria, poor sanitation, and a lack of any public education system are some examples. Some problems, though, are particularly easy to fix and there’s no excuse why we (humans) haven’t yet produced a universal solution. An obvious example is dirty drinking water – how can it be that we have billion dollar mega-yachts and rovers exploring on Mars, yet people in Indonesia still sick from drinking contaminated drinking water. So with the generosity of our friends, family, and blog readers, we’re here with 50 clean water drinking filters and have been visiting remote villages where clean water is a problem. The filters are invaluable for the villagers, and it’s a great experience for us too that brings a whole new dimension to our voyage. We provide a more detailed writeup below for anyone interested in our filters mission so far, including information for anyone who might be coming through here later with more water filters – the need is still huge.

We’ve been particularly lucky during our first few days in Indonesia because we’ve met an amazing crew of locals, expats, and other yachties. Frenky (our agent for guiding us through the bureaucratic mess here in Indonesia), and Richard (an Aussie expat now living here in Kupang) both volunteered, on the spur of the moment, two days of their time for helping us reach villages with the clean water problem – ‘onya mates! We’re also leaving Kupang with a solid plan for the next few weeks of sailing through the islands towards Bali, and we’ll be exploring along with Trevor and Kristy (aboard Rogue Brit), our first “buddy boat” experience since Tohora in the Galapagos and Frency Polynesia.

So with some of the greatest diving and snorkeling spots on the planet awaiting us, and 27 more water filters in need of some dirty village wells, it’s time for us to say goodbye to our new friends here in Kupang and keep moving west.