The islands of Komodo are one of the wildest places on Earth and I've dreamed of visiting them since I was a kid. I was fascinated with watching the komodo dragons on TV, but never imagined I would see them with my own eyes.

While in Indonesia, I knew I had to make it to Komodo. I set out to Labuan Bajo and found the docks. There, I hailed a captain who promised to take me to the islands where I embarked on a 5 day excursion by sailboat. I will remember this journey for the rest of my days.

I came face to face with komodo dragons, dodged king cobras, swam with manta rays and lived life on the sea. I had my eyes on the island in this image and knew I needed to photograph it.

My captain told me the seas were too dangerous to get to the island, but we decided to go anyways. Our boat almost capsized as we sailed the treacherous seas, but thanks to extreme dumb luck we made it in one piece.

We anchored the ship in the bay and spent the night in the safe haven of Padar Island.