Komodo National Park (KNP), the last remaining habitat of the Komodo dragon, is one of the most unique and beautiful places on the planet. It’s also widely recognized as an outstanding storehouse of globally significant terrestrial and marine biodiversity; situated as it is in the heart of an area known to scientists and conservationists as the Coral Triangle, the area of the richest coral reef biodiversity in the world.
WELCOME TO LOH LIANG!
Loh Liang on the island of Komodo is one of only two developed visitor sites in Komodo National Park. It is sometimes visited in a single day trip from Labuan Bajo but it is better to plan on several nights, sleeping on a live-aboard boat so that you can return several times.
Please remember that you are in a national park, where collecting and removing any objects is prohibited. Also realize how difficult it is to deal with trash in this remote place, and take back everything you brought (including empty bottles) to Labuan Bajo for disposal.
GUIDES ARE REQUIRED FOR ALL WALKS
For your own safety-and the protection of the park-visitors must be accompanied by park rangers or guides at all times. Meet them at the visitor reception area, where you or your own tour leader will pay park entry fees if they have not been paid in advance.
Rangers and guides are your best source of information but their English language skills are limited.
Even short walks here involve uneven rocky trails and exposure to very hot sun. Good walking shoes, a hat, shirt, sunscreen and plenty of water are essential.
Short Walking Tours: Dragons in the dry forest
Half hour 1km “short trek”
If you have only a short time, or you are not prepared, this short loop passes through a short section of dry forest before ascending Frigate hill for a memorable view over the beach. Dragon lizards are likely to be seen only near buildings in the developed area.
One and half hour 3km “medium trek”
This intermediate loop includes a long shaded section through dry forest and an artificial waterhole, where the presence of Timor deer and wild pig raise your chances of seeing dragons in the wild. The second section involves a short climb, sometimes in very hot sun, for a great view over the dry forest to Sulphurea Hill, a steep descent and final short climb over Frigate Hill.
Two and half hour 4.5km “long trek”
Of the short walks, this offers he best opportunity to see Komodo lizards and their prey. It extends the medium trek with a visit to an area where dragons were once routinely fed (at Banu Nggulung) and adds another short climb.
Note there are a few “shortcuts” not on the map which guides may choose if they feel it is appropriate.
Longer Walking Tours: Climbing high
If you have arranged to visit Loh Liang for several days, in addition to marine activities you can also chose among longer treks which wind higher and higher towards the interior. The Mt Ara route (10km/6mi) round trip may take 8hrs but can be shortened to a half day. Either option leads to spectacular views over Loh Liang and the rest of the park. The route to Poreng and Loh Sebita on Komodo’s northern shore is much longer but can be specially arranged. Any of the longer trips are rugged adventures requiring stiff climbs under very hot conditions, and are suitable for fit and well-prepared visitors. But they will provide unforgettable photographs and memories
Natural History: Komodo dragons and their home
Visiting Loh Liang over several days is a great opportunity to learn not only about the park’s namesake endangered lizard, largest (up to 70kg/154lbs) in the world, but how it has survived essentially unchanged for more than a million years. It is an effective predator as well as scavenger (eating dead meat). It is at the top of the local food chain, but being cannibalistic (eating it own kind), younger animals must be on the watch. Females lay 15-30 eggs, often in inactive nests of the rare orange footed scrub fowl and may watch over the nests for months to prevent pigs or other dragons from eating the eggs. After 7 months the eggs hatch and the tiny hatchlings must head quickly to a life in the trees, where they avoid predation by heavy adult dragons (who can’t climb), and feed on geckos and bird’s eggs.
Young dragons are colorful, making them better camouflaged in the trees, but assume their darker uniform grey brown as adults. Like all reptiles, dragons regulate their body temperature by moving from sun to shade; it takes several hours sunning in exposed locations in the morning before they are warm enough to move into the dry forest for daily hunting. At night, when it is somewhat cooler, they are comatose (nearly unconscious) and researchers can safely approach them. During their active daytime period humans must keep a safe distance and avoid being bitten since they have virulent bacteria in their saliva. In fact it is often infection which kills their prey several days after an attack which only wounds a deer or wild pig.
Lontar palms dot interior savannahs, birds like Sulfur crested cockatoos and giant green winged pigeons can be seen and heard morning and evening, and several varieties of poisonous snake may be encountered by visitors who make longer walks; nighttime “safaris” to closely and safely approach dragons can be fascinating windows into the full cycle of the island’s unique ecology.
Cultural and Social Awareness: Island residents
The national park’s boundaries include several human settlements, including its largest village called Kampung Komodo (population about 1300) located only a few kilometers west of Loh Liang. Primarily living from fishing for small squid and tiny schooling fishes (not reef-dwelling species), village residents speak their own language and have many traditional beliefs and myths about their arrival on Komodo in the relatively recent past. A Collaborative Management Initiative recently initiated seeks to involve villagers in management of the park and ensure they benefit from tourism attracted here to their home islands. Only Komodo residents are allowed to make and sell the handicrafts available in Loh Liang.
With special permission it is possible for visitors to make short excursions to the village.
The Marine Side: world class diving and snorkeling
Divers on specially-equipped live-aboard boats will be given much more information on dive sites, safety and marine activities. For snorklers there are fascinating beaches and shallow reefs which can be visited in half day trips or while returning to Labuan Bajo. Pantai Merah (Pink Beach) a few kilometers to the east has a beautiful sandy beach tinged pink with coral fragments and a reef of extraordinary diversity and color; Lusa Island in front of Komodo Village has beaches of the purest white sand imaginable; Bat Island west of the village not only hosts thousands of fruit bats milling about morning and evening but also has mangrove fringes which can be snorkeled, showing off yet another infrequently-visited component of Komodo’s uniquely rich marine resources. Trips to any of these areas can be arranged and are especially lovely early or late in the days when few if any other visitors will be encountered.
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