Episode: Bali
Title: Komodo National Park
Broadcast: April 30th 2017
Presenter: Trevor Cochrane and Claudia Bertorello-Kell

Another day in paradise, another adventure, so off we set on a sailing trip never to be forgotten on a traditional Indonesian pinisi.

• You can hire a beautiful sailing ship from the port and sail the islands around Flores.
• The Komodo National Park has a prehistoric history equally as fascinating as that of Flores. It's a world heritage UNESCO protected national park that was established in 1980 and has been carefully protected by rangers for almost 40 years. The park is made up of 29 islands but it's Rinca Island that we're headed to today.
• The parks entire biodiversity is fascinating and it's a chance to go back in time to a very different world - one dominated by the man eating, prehistoric giant lizard, the Komodo dragon. There are other terrestrial species on the island as well like the Timor deer, which happens to be the main food source for the dragons.
• Komodo dragons usually live for up to 30 years and they are the largest species of lizard existing on the planet today. They grow up to 3 meters long and weigh up to 70 kilos. I've never seen anything quite like these guys. They are the number 1 top of line predator here so you have to either go with a ranger or a guide who's qualified. When these guys take off they can run at 18 kilometers an hour.
• All you have to do is be bitten. It doesn’t matter if you escape. The teeth have bacteria and within 24 hours you get blood poisoning and in a very short period of time after that they've hunted you down. They can smell blood from well over a couple kilometers away so they're great hunters.
• There are different tricks you can do on Rinca and Komodo Islands, depending on your time and physical condition and these include magnificent views across the islands. The giant lizards aren't the only draw card to the national park. The stunning beauty of these islands will simply astound you. The protected area features coral reefs, mangroves and bays with more than 1,000 different species of fish. There are whales, dolphins, manta rays, what more could you want right here?

For more information about visiting the places Trevor and Claudia visited in this episode, visit www.northbalialliance.com and www.atlassouthseapearl.com.au.

For hotels featured in this episode, visit Plataran Hotels and Resorts (www.plataran.com) and Sheraton Bali Kuta Resort (www.sheratonbalikuta.com).

For flights from Australia to Indonesia, visit Garuda Airlines (www.garuda-indonesia.com).

Also visit www.indonesia.travel