3 Days 2 Nights, A Short Story from Labuan Bajo- A Piece of Heaven on Earth – Day 1

Hello again readers! Starting from this article, I’m gonna use English to write my travel articles. It will be filled with many grammar mistakes of course since I’m an Indonesian, but as long as you get and understand what I wrote, I think it is not a problem right? For you foreign readers, this might be another option you can consider besides Bali if you want to travel to Indonesia. So, I hope you enjoy my latest trip to Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia,

Arrive at Labuan Bajo

So on 11^th of December 2021, I started my trip to Labuan Bajo. Labuan Bajo itself a town at the western side of East Nusa Tenggara region and a gateway for the islands around it (Kelor Island, the Iconic Padar Island, etc) and also to Komodo National Park, one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. From Batam, I flew to Jakarta, and the next day I flew to Labuan Bajo. I arrive at Labuan Bajo on 12^th of December 2021, and stay one night at a hotel on Labuan Bajo (which I pre-booked before) along with the other member of my private trip.

Woohoo! Arrive at Komodo Airport, Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.

Board the Ship!

FYI– so for this trip, we used a standard ship which have a maximum of capacity of 14 person (exclude the ship’s crew and the tour guide). The ship itself has 3 bedrooms, 2 bedrooms with 4 person capacity, and 1 bedroom with 6 person capacity. It also has 2 bathroom. If you decide to use the ship, you will have to sleep for 3 days and 2 nights on the ship and it cost around 20 million IDR per ship at a fixed rate, so if you are planning to go alone, you still have to pay around 20 million IDR for the ship only. It also covers for the food and drinks for 3 days and 2 nights, though I recommend to bring snacks by yourself since the crew mainly serve you main course only. Also, due to the pandemic of Covid19, all members of the group must present negative antigen or PCR test result and of course, already got two dose of vaccination, and don’t forget to bring mask also since the Komodo National Park is still implementing the health protocol. Please visit Indonesiajuaratrip for further information.

Ready to go! Oh, they’re all my family, by the way, and I am at the one at the middle at the top.

The next day, in the morning we were picked up at the hotel to board the ship which will take us around the islands in Labuan Bajo. Let’s go!

Access to board the ship at Labuan Bajo Port.

Kelor Island

So after we board our ship, our first destination is Kelor Island. It is a small island located at the western side of East Nusa Tenggara region and it took around 1 hour of sailling from Labuan Bajo Port to there. It has a great view from the top of its hill, but we have to go through a short hiking to the top, so I recommend that anyone who is planning to go, please use a suitable sandals or shoes, because there is no stairs until the top.

Next Stop : Manjarite Beach and Kalong Island

Eat! Eat! Eat! We had our lunch on top of the ship.

After taking photos and getting our breath back, we board our ship again to go to the Manjarite Beach. It is a beach located at the western side of East Nusa Tenggara island and it took around 1 hours to go there. We go for a short snorkeling there, though it isn’t the best spot for snorkeling. After a short while, we continue our journey, this time to the last destination for the 1st day, Kalong Island.

Kalong is one of the Indonesian language for “Bat” (the other being “Kelelawar”). So it was named Kalong island because it is the home for so many “Kalongs” or Bats. It took around 2 hours to reach Kalong Island from Manjarite Beach. We arrive there at around 5 PM local time, the bats itself is going to hunt for food around 6 PM, so we wait at the top of our ship for the bats to come, and it was…breathtaking.

With a little sunset light, it started with one bat, then two, then three, then…hundreds! I didn’t bother to count it anymore, and chose to just saw it, capturing everything I can with my eyes. We can see hundreds of bats, flying out from the Kalong Island. It was a breathtaking view, seeing how hundreds of the nocturnal creature flying to the same direction with the sunset as the background. My photo above doesn’t do justice to the real thing. It takes around 30 minutes to it finally ceasing to come out from the island. I close the day by capturing the sunset light from the ship, had dinner…and then we call it a day, it’s time for our first night on the ship. To be continued…