What we wanted was both an underwater and an overwater safari that would allow us not only to understand why great 19th-century naturalists such as Alfred Wallace had sailed to these islands, but also to explore the richest marine environment on earth: waters that hold more than a third of the world’s sea life. This area forms part of the “Wallace Line”, where cool currents from the south meet the warmer ones from the north, resulting in species from both Australasia and Melanesia, from manta rays and whale sharks below the water to cockatoos and Komodo dragons above it. “Just when you think you’ve seen the most incredible creature you’ve ever imagined,” says Seery, “another one comes along. We’ve had all sorts of marine experts on these ships who’ve found things no one’s ever seen before.”

Sailing for four days around the protected islands and seas of the Komodo National Park, stopping to anchor at night in sheltered bays, we saw extraordinary creatures in abundance. It made perfect sense why Sir David Attenborough came here so early in his career – in 1956 — for his Zoo Quest series. In fact, having seen smoking volcanoes oozing molten lava, dinosaur-like lizards and swirling flocks of bats flooding the skies at night, it was hard not to believe we, too, were on a film set or had been transported into a Joseph Conrad book. If we were on earth, it was not the planet we knew, but some place more exotic, more ancient, and infinitely more primeval.