THE INDONESIAN ISLAND OF PADAR is about 20 miles (30 km) from Labuan Bajo, a fishing town on the westernmost part of Flores. Padar is small, but is the third largest island of Komodo National Park, and was once a stomping ground for the immense dragons that gave the reserve its name. Padar is mostly savannah-covered, surreal landscape fringed by bright green-capped mountains of fairy-tale shapes. It’s all surrounded by three turquoise bays, and curiously, each one of the bays’ beaches has different coloured sand: One is pearly white, another charcoal black, and a third is a very rare baby pink. It is a rare combination, a quirk of this unique island.
