Travis' first impressions of Palau

G'day!

We arrived in Palau at around 3 a.m. the night before yesterday. Everything went really smoothly and quickly at the airport. Completely in contrast to the start of the flight in Manila. But this is another story. In any case, my oldest was really stressed and loaded.

She liked it all the better here in Palau. Already upon arrival: my older ones always have to show a dark red booklet at the airport that contains, among other things, photos of them. Then a stamp goes in there. Here the stamp is a text about the fact that as a visitor you preserve and respect nature. And that is actually signed.

That's something. Because otherwise you don't actually write around in the booklet yourself. Oh yes, it’s called a passport.

Well, when we arrived it was of course dark and my older ones were pretty tired. We were even more excited when we looked out the window the next morning.

This makes breakfast even more fun. No noise, just a view...

And when I saw how calm the water is in this little bay (it's warm too - 29 degrees or so), I thought, maybe it will work here, that I'll carefully "stick a toe in". We're still here for a while.

On the first day we had to rest.

But today we went diving. I was also allowed on the boat!

And just the journey of around 45 minutes was an experience in itself. It's so beautiful here with all the little (and bigger) green ball islands! Rock Islands...

And then my older ones were in the water and dived in two places that are probably world famous among divers.

Blue Corners and Blue Holes.

You basically hang yourself in the current with a hook on a rope on the reef and then you can watch the spectacle go by like in the cinema. Lots of fish, sharks, baracudas and so on. And there was also a large, curious fish that looked at the divers up close. He has really thick lips. That's probably why it's called Napoleon Wrasse.

My oldest was a little nervous at first because she had never done anything like that before. But then it was probably quite simple and the two of them said things like “breathtaking”. I didn't even know that. And at first I looked a bit askance. Who wants to be deprived of their breath underwater? My oldest said that I shouldn't always weigh every word. There were no scales there at all. And certainly not gold.

Well, Blue Holes then anyway. There are four large openings in the reef roof and if you sink through them you end up in a huge, coral-covered grotto. Light shines in from above and the side and you can see the blue of the water outside.

And finally, before the return trip, there was a picnic on a deserted island with a white sandy beach and a great view. Pure South Sea feeling.

Tomorrow we'll go out again and maybe I'll be allowed to go again. I really liked it.

I keep you updated! See you soon and greetings from Travis the Buddy Bear