Kalong: twenty guests, one deck, a sky of wings

Kalong, a mangrove islet in the gap between Komodo and Rinca, holds a daytime roost of thousands of flying foxes. At dusk they leave for the forest in one long line that takes about half an hour to pass. The first bats go a quarter of an hour after sunset, so be on deck before the sun drops.

You do not land. Kalong is a stop you watch from the boat, and that suits a group of 20: no tender runs, no beach count. Everyone sits on the sun deck or in the saloon and looks up.

It closes day one of the standard route, after Kelor and Manjarite. A long lens helps, and a camera with a full battery helps more. Still, most of the group will be happy with a phone and a clear patch of sky. The table below gives the details of the stop.

Sunset at Kalong moves with the calendar. In November it falls at 18:01; in June at 17:50. The bats leave a few minutes after that. Use the table below for your own month and call the group to the deck half an hour before.

Dusk is short here. The light goes quickly once the sun is down, and a group that arrives late on deck finds the first wave of bats already gone. Send one person round the cabins ten minutes ahead, with a firm voice.

An early sunset gives a long evening at anchor, while a late one pushes dinner back. Either way, tell the chef the sunset time you are expecting, so the plates and the bats do not compete.