KOMODO (ISLAND), INDONESIA (Port No. 16, 3/5/12)

∙ GEOGRAPHY 101
          ∙ Land Mass/Continent: Part of the Malay Archipelago/Maritime Southeast Asia (Asia being Continent No. 5 on our tour)
          ∙ About Komodo: Komodo (Island) is one of the 17,508 islands that make up the Republic of Indonesia, a country in Southeast Asia (app. 6,000 of the islands are inhabited)
                 ∙ Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of countries south of China, east of India and north of Australia; it has two geographic regions: Maritime Southeast Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia

INDONESIA

                    ∙ Maritime Southeast Asia (aka Malay Archipelago) includes these destinations on our cruise: Indonesia and Singapore; it is the largest archipelago in the world
                    ∙ Mainland Southeast Asia (aka Indochina) includes these destinations on our cruise: Thailand and Vietnam
          ∙ Estimated Population: Over 2,000
          ∙ Distance From Home (San Diego, CA): 8,462 miles
          ∙ The Water That Got Us Here: Sumba Strait; Strait of Lintah; Slawi Bay

∙ ITS PLACE IN HISTORY/INTERESTING FACTS
          ∙ Currency:  Indonesian rupiah (IDR)
          ∙ Official Language:  Indonesian (aka Bahasa Indonesian); most Indonesians are also fluent in another language, such as Javanese, Dutch and/or English
          ∙ Local time: 
          ∙ The inhabitants of Komodo are descendants of former convicts who were exiled to the island
          ∙ The population is primarily Muslim, but there are Christian and Hindu minorities too
          ∙ Komodo forms part of the Komodo National Park (the park includes 3 larger islands and 26 smaller ones), which was founded in 1980 to protect the Komodo dragon; in 1991, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site
          ∙ The Komodo “dragon” isn’t a dragon at all – it’s the world’s largest lizard (a "monitor" lizard:  large and carnivorous)

THE KOMODO DRAGON

          ∙ The dragons can smell blood miles away, so no woman expecting her monthly menstrual cycle can go ashore (they can smell up to 5 km away)
          ∙ There are app. 1,200+ Komodo dragons on Komodo Island and another 1,300+ on the nearby Rinca Island (and more on two other islands); the largest ones are on Komodo
           ∙ A Komodo dragon can live up to about 50 years
           ∙ Many of our ship's crew are from Indonesia and will be seeing their families for the first time in up to a year

∙ HIGHLIGHTS/THINGS TO SEE
          ∙ Komodo dragons - duh!
          ∙ Komodo is also a popular destination for scuba diving

FINALLY, WE GET TO MEET OUR DISTANT COUSINS!