THE relaxed little town of Labuanbajo on the extreme western end of Flores is a principal port and the favored departure point by sea for the islands of Komodo, Rinca and Sumbawa to the west. The port also serves as the gateway to the overland trip across the island of Flores, one of Indonesias most fascinating ethnological regions little known outside obscure missionary journals.

Originally settled by the Bajo sailors (its name means port of the