Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine October 2013 | Page 138

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Travel | Rinca Island

Travel | Rinca Island
remains of a reptilian feast. (Dragon jaws are capable
of crunching the hooves and thigh bones of a buffalo.)
Suddenly from across the valley we hear the cracking
of a falling tree – roots loosened perhaps by the last of
the monsoon. Monkeys screech and jungle fowl cackle
as every living thing in the vicinity scrambles for safety.
A moment later I’m aware of the sound of more heavy
crackling in the undergrowth behind us.

Mendung tampak membayangi pulau
berbatu ini. Dari kejauhan saya melihat bukit
yang diselimuti padang rumput, mengingatkan
saya pada suasana safari Afrika. Perahu motor
kami yang kecil pun melaju melewati karang,
lajunya agak tersendat saat melewati
kumparan arus gelombang laut.

“Buffalo…?” I whisper, moving my ear closer to the
ranger’s shoulder. Surely such a ruckus could not
be caused by anything smaller than a buffalo.

Perasaan berdebar tak sabar
ingin segera sampai semakin
terasa saat perahu motor yang
saya tumpangi mendekat ke
pulau tempat komodo-komodo
tersebut berada.

A scaly back appears in the shadows. Then a pointed
face – alert and beady-eyed – probes out of the bushes.
A pink, forked tongue flickers cunningly, tasting the
wind. And Indonesia’s reptilian super-predator hauls
its mighty body into the sunlight.

Segala mitos dan cerita legenda
yang menakutkan bisa didengar
di kepulauan komodo ini.

Unlike the crocodile, the Komodo raises its body
high off the ground. It is clear that this creature is as
spectacularly adept at running as it is at swimming
(they swim from one island to another inside Komodo
National Park). So we ease back from the trail and do
our best to blend into the tree-line, ceding the mighty
dragon his right of way. We stand silently, cringing in
the bushes along with the watching monkeys.

Bahkan para penjelajah dari
benua Eropa menuliskan kata
waspada pada peta mereka “Here
be Dragons!” (daerah berbahaya
yang tak bisa dijelajahi) begitu
perahu mereka merapat ke pulau
tersebut. Sebagian ahli meyakini
bahwa kepulauan komodo ini
adalah awal lahirnya cerita
legenda mengenai naga dalam
mitologi China.

As a travel writer and photographer, I have been
fortunate to have trekked among lions, tracked jaguars
on foot, and spent tim