Maldives Day 3 - Where is the Sun?

July 28, 2021

I wake up at 6 a.m. and can't fall back asleep. At 6:30, I take a walk outside around the island. I'm the only one out there.

Only crabs, hermit crabs, lizards, and budgerigars are active at the moment

Empty coconut shells are hanging everywhere in the trees as breeding places for the budgerigars.

According to yesterday's employee, most of the budgerigars flew to other islands when the new superior water bungalows were built in 2020. The noise must have been too loud for the birds. However, they are now trying to establish a new colony. Since there are always a lot of budgerigars to be heard from the island's interior, where the nursery, island technology, etc. are located behind tall trees and walls, I assume that there is a large aviary where they are bred.
(Edit: when the gate was open, we could actually see a large aviary full of budgies!)
Some of them have already returned to the island and prefer to sit on the two trees in front of the restaurant, not far from the millet feeding station, where a green budgie is having breakfast.

There is actually a budgie looking out of a nesting coconut next to the tree.

The beach bar is still closed in the morning.

Near the beach bar, I stand in front of a gate with a sign indicating that this property is off-limits. Strange. It looks like there are still 2 bungalows/villas with their own pool hidden here. But I can't really tell. It also doesn't look occupied.

In the middle of the island is the soccer field where some employees played yesterday evening.

The sea has calmed down a bit, but the sun still refuses to show. Nevertheless, the contrast of the turquoise water is amazing!

It takes about 10 minutes to walk around the island, but I take my time and it takes about 35 minutes.

We try to wake up the kids twice, no chance. They don't want to have breakfast, they prefer to sleep 🤷🏻 OK, it's vacation. At 13 and 17 years old, they should be aware of the consequences when they have to wait hungry for lunch.

So we go to breakfast alone. Besides various cakes and pastries, there is yogurt, milk (the good German 'Oldenburger'), cereal and cornflakes, bread and rolls with cold cuts (meat/cheese), pancakes, waffles, french toast, sausages, fries, beans, salads, etc.

In addition to fruit: watermelon, honeydew melon, pineapple, and papaya.

I decide to go to the omelet station along with watermelon. Here you can choose how many eggs you want in your omelet and what you want with it (ham, onions, spinach, tomatoes, cheese, mushrooms, chili). I choose a 2-egg omelet with tomatoes, cheese, spinach, and onions.

After breakfast, we relax on the beautiful loungers on our terrace. They are really comfortable.

At 11:30, we finally kick the teenagers out of bed. 12 hours of beauty sleep should be enough, we want to go snorkeling!

We dare to go snorkeling for the first time. However, it is very disappointing. We don't see much in the turbulent sea, and there is a coral desert beyond the lagoon. Getting to the reef proves to be a real challenge. We also have no idea where exactly the entry point to the reef is, so we give up after a while. Due to the low tide, we definitely can't get over the reef (even though some tourists just walk over it 🤬). At least we saw a giant triggerfish and some Picassos triggers in the lagoon. One of them was very cheeky and kept grabbing my camera. I was probably too close to its cave...

Furthermore, the sky is getting darker, and it looks like a storm is coming. We just make it out of the water before the heavens open. I'm standing under the outdoor shower when not only water comes from the shower above...

However, this rain shower is just like the ones we know from Thailand & Co: 10 minutes of rain, wind, then dry again and a little sun.

Since the wind continues, my husband decides to go surfing. The water station is operated by a German expat couple (Dagmar & Paul), who we quickly strike up a conversation with.
They confirm that there are currently a lot of Russians on the island. However, mostly mothers with daughters. They don't know where the men are. However, the Russian women are only noticeable for their selfie-Insta-posing addiction. There are also surprisingly many Americans here. For them, this must be a real trip around the world. Allegedly, there are so many Americans here because the Caribbean is still 'closed' due to COVID (and most of them only stay for 5-6 days!).

Crazy...

Indians and most Asians still have a ban on entry, so the guest ratio on the island is about 50% Russians, 30% Germans, and 20% 'Others' (Italians, French, Scandinavians, etc.).

After an hour of surfing, my husband is exhausted but happy. The sun still refuses to show. OK, it's probably better for our sun-sensitive skin during the first few days.

On the way back to the bungalow, we see some 'little dragons' sitting on palm trees.

The island bunny is waiting for us at the bungalow and nibbling on the few blades of grass that grow here in the sand.

From the bungalow, we watch the sunset and are amused by the many selfie stars who now gather on the beach with their phones and pose in the most adventurous poses against the sunset.

After dinner, we sit in the sand bar again and end the evening with cocktails and card games. All at about 28 degrees and a little wind, very pleasant 🥰