By K&P 
A day like any other in Labuan Bajo, tourists are aimlessly wandering along the main street with shops, scooters are making noise, time is passing slowly and lazily. A young girl in the shade of an umbrella in front of a small travel agency is offering trips to Komodo, fifty meters away another mini agency, guys are encouraging you to visit Rinca island sitting by a fan. On the street behind the bend there is a billboard “Komodo or Rinca” dates tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, whenever you prefer. There is no sign of 17 islands, no one remembers this nature park here, maybe it is too far from this tourist center Flores.
The trip seems endless, among the mountains for 6 hours, there were a few supposedly tourist spots but without tourists. The surface seems to be getting worse and worse. At the crossroads go right, then just wing it couse the GPS keeps losing signal. A large hole in the middle filled with water from yesterday’s rain, old cracked asphalt alternating with packed brownish sand. “You have reached your destination”, a small village, local cottages and a restaurant with doors like a saloon from a western. The locals driving slowly raise a lot of dust, it has a great vibe in the low afternoon sun.
To the port straight I guess, the road from potholed has become very potholed. At the end you can see a concrete pier and small local boats. Under the shelter, three guys are sitting, staring while greedily puffing on thair smokes. Their faces show curiosity about the newcomers. On the booth it is difficult but possible to read “17 island national park”. The inscription has faded from the sun and the rest has chipped off from age, the guys stay silent like they’re under a spell, just waiting to see how things play out.
He walks confidently, dust rises rhythmically from under his old green flip-flops. The savior and rescuer came out of a wooden building right by the sea, black as tar or maybe it is just the shadow of his hat. Cigarette in his teeth, he would make a solid gunslinger, the look on his face fits the part. A little in English, the rest in Indonesian, the subject roughly agreed, tomorrow he will drop us off at the islands.
The morning was fresh only for a moment and now it is a standard frying pan. The port does not resemble itself from yesterday, the ebb has taken the water and left the boats on a clayey brown slimy bottom, only the captain looks the same standing in worn shorts on the pier. He consciously parked the boat further knowing what’s in the air. Large, wooden with a large diesel engine below the deck, different from the boats you usually see here. Flat deck level with the sides, steering wheel like from a tractor right on it and no stabilizing floats on the sides of the boat. The helmsman’s place is pretty original too – sitting cross-legged on the sight of the boat, it looks kinda funny. On the other side, a helper with a wild hair, quiet and thoughtful after smelling exhaust fumes while starting an old diesel engine. A black cloud is still stretching from below the deck, the noise and strong vibrations give the impression of great power.
17 Islands National Park is located near the port in Riung. To get here, you have to cover about 250 km from Labuan Bajo, which is the main tourist point of Flores with an airport and a large port. It is also a base for trips to Komodo and Rinca Island, which attract many tourists with large lizards not seen anywhere else. Trips to Rinca and Komodo dominate, no one mentions 17 Islands National Park. You have to go to the small village of Riung by the park in the somewhat forgotten central part of Flores on your own. On site – unlike Labuan and Komodo – peace and quiet, nature itself without tourists. In reality, there are more islands than the name of the park, supposedly 24, but several of them are small rocky points. The first islands are already next to Riung and the furthest are a few kilometers away.
One of the first is Pulau Ontoloe called fox island, it is very large and shaped like a bat. It lies right next to Flores, covered with trees that look dry. Flat elevations or rather hills and millions of large bats hanging on the branches. Fruit bats have faces like small foxes and quite a large wing span approaching 90 cm, in the evenings they rise and fly to feed at night on the coast of Flores. They can be admired from a boat because entering this nature reserve is not allowed.
Nusa Tembang island is about 150 m long and slightly less wide. A white beach in the shape of a protruding spike, further on the flat part a partially wooded spot, suitable for tents, sheltered from the east by low grassy hills.
The next one is Nusa Tembaga, similar to Tembang not only in name but also in appearance. Next is Nusa Wire, which is partly covered with mangrove forest for a change.
Nusa Rutong has a lovely long white beach, which is no exception because all the islands in this park have beaches in the typical tropical white color. It is distinguished by a steep rocky cliff with a viewpoint. It is not easily accessible because the path leads through bushy areas and is quite steep at times. You can feel the mint smell from the nearby meadows. At the top there is a small shelter from which the view stretches in all directions. The water from this point looks delightful, taking on a celadon color with dark spots in places where coral reefs occur.
Between the islands there are many spots great for snorkeling or diving. Shallow water and a protected area favor the development of a rich coral reef. You can spot whole schools of colorful fish, many different forms of plants and rare species such as moray eels.
Getting to the 17 islands park requires time and determination, this is a place for people traveling without haste and who value peace. The town of Riung is tiny but there are a few small guesthouses and one restaurant with doors resembling a saloon from a western. This is the real Flores, completely different from the areas of crowded, bustling Labuan Bajo.