indonesia
Our Indonesian herpetological tours immerse you in the maritime paradise of central Indonesia, its islands and oceans, its plant, animal and marine life, its people and culture. You will be guided by some of the leading herpetologists and naturalists the region offers, enabling you to find and photograph the greatest percentage of the region’s fauna diversity in the least amount of time.
Your itinerary is meticulously planned using local knowledge and the insights of specialists to give you optimal exposure to what Komodo National Park and Bali Island has to offer.
Komodo National Park
Aaranya's Land of Dragons Tour
Komodo NP is a major focus of Aaranya tours and we organise multi-day live-on-board trips departing from Labuan Bajo in the island of Flores. The tours are packed with day time trekking, night time spotlighting, diving (optional) and snorkelling, birdwatching and caving.
Declared in 1980, the Komodo National Park is located within the Lesser Sunda Islands in the border region between the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara of Indonesia. The park is 1,817 km2 in size of which 603 km2 is land, and the rest marine habitats. This includes three larger islands (Komodo, Padar and Rinca) and 26 smaller islands. Due to its unique value, mainly as the home range of the iconic Komodo Dragon, the park was declared a World Heritage Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1986. The park is also within the ‘Coral Triangle’, a region with some of the richest marine biodiversity on Earth.
Recent surveys conducted by Aaranya in collaboration with the Komodo National Park Authority recorded 4 species of amphibians, 20 species of lizards, 2 species of marine turtles, 1 species of crocodile and 16 species of non-hydrophiine snakes (Read More).
Bali Island
Aaranya's Land of Gods Tour
Bali is a popular tourist destination within Indonesia but has a surprisingly high diversity of herpetofauna in hidden pockets within the island. Our Bali tours are packed with day time trekking, night time spotlighting, diving (optional) and snorkelling, birdwatching and caving.
Bali is a humid tropical island at the easternmost end of the Greater Sundas Islands group of Indonesia within the Indian Ocean. It is 5,577km2 in size and located between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Several volcanic mountain peaks more than 2,000m high lie from the centre to the eastern side across Bali. Three small islands, Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan, two much smaller satellite islands (Pulau Serangan and Pulau Menjangan) and several tiny islets are located closer to Bali.
Recent surveys conducted by Aaranya members and collaborators recorded 15 species of amphibians, 10 species of turtles, 25 species of lizards, 1 species of crocodile and 43 species of non-hydrophiine snakes (Read More).