Maldives Dies 15 - Ultima insula dies & poltergeist!?

August 9, 2021

I'm already sleeping poorly because the bed is too hard for me and the sound of the sea is not really calming me down.

We wake up at midnight. Did someone knock on the door and shake it? Something is making strange noises here.

After the giant crab outside the door and the not-so-small centipede in the bathroom, I sit up straight in bed.

The husband is also listening. What was that? Now we hear scratching and banging directly above us. Light on! Something seems to be sitting and running around in the roof. But what on earth fits under the palm roof and makes so much noise?

It becomes more and more clear. Something is running or chasing on the roof. Not on the palm roof outside, but between the palm roof and the ceiling. The daughter next door has also woken up and expresses her discomfort via WhatsApp.

The husband knocks loudly with his snorkeling fins against the ceiling to scare away whatever is up there.

It is quiet for about 10 minutes, we turn off the light and want to sleep, then there is a real hunt in the attic. Scratching, knocking, running....

Something is chasing up there. But what could it be!?

We try to reach the reception by phone, but the phone is dead. What!? Somehow everything is happening at once. We turn on the light on the terrace, hoping to scare away the thing in the attic. Without success.

I manage to record a few audio clips. Let's see what the reception says about it later. After knocking several times against the ceiling, the husband gives up. It doesn't help anyway. Then he puts earplugs in his ears and falls asleep. I chat with the daughter next door until 1:30 am, who also can't sleep because of the noise. Then it is quiet at some point.

I wake up at 7:30 am feeling exhausted. The night was not restful, but: the sun is shining! Yeah!

There is low tide outside. I take a walk along the beach. The concrete walls/wave breakers in front of Bungalows 120+ are already visible, and the coral net wave breaker is almost completely exposed.

The sea is quite smooth and for the first time really clear and not 'milky'.

Today we MUST go snorkeling!!!

New insta-stars have arrived. They contort themselves in skimpy bikinis in the most unnatural poses in front of the turquoise dream.

Quite embarrassing... but well, clearly not my age group anymore.

After breakfast, the husband goes to the reception and tells them about the incidents during the night. They promise to send someone and don't seem particularly surprised by our report. But we don't find out what is living under the roof 😱🤷🏻

I take a walk with my daughter on the Superior Bungalows pier and take some farewell photos in the sunshine. Unfortunately, we have to go home tomorrow morning

Now we also know what the many troughs with ladles are for, which are standing every few meters on the pier:

You either clean your sandy feet with the water or you cool them down when the wooden planks are too hot due to the sun.

My daughter takes every other opportunity to cool her feet, I wear flip flops

The snorkeling boat drives by in front of us.

My condolences 🤭

Well, at least the weather is nice 🤷🏻

After the storm a few days ago, we had real 'break edges' on the beach where parts of the beach were washed away.

The pier at the water sports/diving station was several centimeters above the beach, the concrete edge appeared at our big umbrella on the beach in front of Bungalows 117-118, and the wave breaker was exposed.

It is all the more astonishing how other currents and weather have completely changed the island in just a few days!

Today, the pier is almost buried in the sand - where just a few days ago there were big drop-offs towards the sea, there is now only sand!

It is again a gently sloping beach, just like at our umbrella. No drop-off in sight, you can only see a gently sloping beach.

Crazy!

There are even weeks in the year when the beach is 'gone' up to the white concrete pillars. Unbelievable - hard to imagine...

The sandbank in front of the Beach Bar also changes weekly. Sometimes the water reaches the tables, and then at high tide it is several meters away. Depending on the season, weather, wind, and moon phase. Crazy!

We have experienced it live in the last few days!

Every day it looked different.

Today we have to go to lunch a little later because the kids need to go for a PCR test at 1 pm.

Both, especially the son, are extremely enthusiastic... (irony mode on!)

Shortly before 1 pm, we are at the reception, where we are taken to the first bungalow (150) by the pool after a short wait.

Bungalows 149 & 150 are vacant. 150 was converted into a "doctor's bungalow". Here you will only find 3 chairs, a wheelchair, and various medical equipment. A young doctor (?) is already waiting for us.

There are already some samples and test tubes on the table. As expected, the son acts like a "diva" for a moment, but then endures the nose-throat-swab action with a lot of good talk.

I'm actually quite glad I don't have to do that too 🤭

It goes faster with the daughter. She had already gone through it last summer during our vacation in the Azores (https://vakantio.de/abenteuer-azoren). We were tested multiple times there, and they really went high up in the nose with their swabs.

At that time, the son was still under 12 years old, so he was spared the testing procedure - but now he has to go through it.

After all that is over, we go to lunch.

I quickly take some pictures of the pool across.

After lunch, we want to go snorkeling again in this beautiful weather. Unfortunately, the tide is coming in again and the wind has picked up, so it's very wavy. As we approach the beach next to the dive boat pier and the snorkel buoys, we see several onlookers on the beach pointing to something big and black not far from the shore in shallow water.

We believe it's a ray or a turtle and hurry to get into the water.

As I am about to put on my snorkel mask as the first one:

a huge jellyfish!!!!

Really huge! It's pulsating and swimming through the water, with a cleaner fish on its jellyfish body. I immediately look for tentacles, since I'm really close.

It has tentacles, but they are very short. Nevertheless, I keep my distance and observe the giant creature from a safe distance. Incredible!!! It's bigger than the turtle 😱

We observe the creature for a while from a safe distance and then swim to the edge of the reef. It is quite a struggle against the incoming current.

Unfortunately, the visibility is very poor in the direction of the lagoon at the edge of the reef. We stay there for a few minutes, but then retreat. It wasn't meant to be, the last snorkeling session for this vacation ends here!

But: we had this incredible jellyfish sighting! Yes!

When we are back at the pier, the jellyfish is gone. We swim in the lagoon again, and I look from the pier to see if I can spot it anywhere, but it remains hidden.

Strange - where did it swim to in such a short time???

Well, now it's time to go into the lagoon with my son!

Afterwards, we lie in the sun and relax.

Last day - sniff...

Afterwards, I grab my camera and shoot some final videos of our little island paradise.

The crab's empire is next to the pool....

The critters even climb trees...

From the beach of Bungalows 140, you can see the neighboring island(s), a major project where the original island / sandbank has allegedly been heavily filled and enlarged. The islands (there is another one behind) are supposed to be connected by piers, and then a luxury resort with a whopping 900 rooms is planned there!!!

OMG - no one needs something like that!

A complete architectural monstrosity (and unfortunately also the view that the water bungalows have...)!

The architectural monstrosities zoomed in to the max

Really creepy....

In the 15 days we have been here, I have only seen a father with his little daughter in the small pool at the restaurant once.

Before we enjoy our sundowners, our favorite online form "IMUGA" is waiting for us. We have to register for departure...

Well, I'm now an expert in filling it out...

Calmly (this time nobody is rushing us), we fill out the form for the four of us. Same procedure, upload photos, swipe for minutes for the date of birth, and then we get our well-deserved cocktails with a sunset at the Beach Bar 😊

New Russians seem to have arrived today. Several couples are standing by the sea, taking posed photos. Very funny.

The island spoils us with a great sunset, we enjoy it with a Black Russian (or two!?) 😉

The wind has picked up again, which Dagmar and Paul from the water sports center don't want to miss. They take turns going out with their kites

For dinner, the 17-year-old daughter is allowed to toast with us - appropriately with a glass of wine 😉

Our waiter Mohamed is actually quite talkative on the last evening. He briefly chats with us, wishes us a safe journey home tomorrow, and then changes his collected €20 in coins into a €20 bill (of course, he has also received tips from us - as have our room boy and the Beach Bar waiter 😊 ).

(PS: Coins are useless for the staff! They can't change them...)

We spend our last evening again at the Sand Bar. A bit melancholic with a card game and a Black Russian. This last Black Russian is really something - and we still have to pack our suitcases...