No hay acceso a la red en las Maldivas, por lo tanto, actualización

Flores de arena blanca en todas partes, incluso las calles están hechas de ella.

No hay internet, por lo tanto este es un añadido.

Anclamos frente a Malé, la capital densamente poblada de las Maldivas.
Las Maldivas, compuestas por 26 atolones, 1292 islas de coral que no superan los 3 metros sobre el nivel del mar y de las cuales aproximadamente 200 están habitadas.
Independientes desde 1965, república desde 1968, con alrededor de 550,000 habitantes, siendo Malé una de las ciudades con mayor densidad poblacional del mundo.
Llegamos a la isla en un bote auxiliar y nos limitamos a explorar la ciudad a pie.
El mercado de frutas y verduras, así como el mercado de pescado. Admiramos la arquitectura de la mezquita Masjid Al-Sultan Muhammed, la futurista mezquita King Salman y la playa artificial.
Al caer la tarde, dejamos las Maldivas con rumbo a Mauricio.

Lo primero que noté fue el color del agua. No era solo azul; era todos los tonos de azul, desde suaves y pálidos cerca de la costa hasta profundos indigos hipnóticos más lejos. La isla en sí era apenas más que un tramo de arena y palmeras, un esparcido de bungalows sobre el agua y algunos senderos serpenteantes a la sombra de árboles tropicales. La vida se desaceleró en el momento en que llegué.

Los días en Thundufushi no siguen planes estrictos. El tiempo se marca por la subida y bajada de las mareas, por los amaneceres que derraman luz dorada sobre el agua y los atardeceres que pintan el cielo de rosas y morados. La mayoría de las mañanas, me despertaba con el sonido de suaves olas golpeando debajo de mi villa. Tomaba un café y me sentaba en la terraza, con los pies colgando sobre el agua, observando a las mantarrayas deslizarse como sombras en las aguas poco profundas.

Y luego, por supuesto, el buceo. Si nunca has buceado en las Maldivas, es difícil poner en palabras lo que es descender a un mundo tan lleno de vida, tan completamente intacto por las preocupaciones de la tierra seca. Cada inmersión era diferente. Una mañana, nadé junto a un banco de tiburones de arrecife, sus cuerpos esbeltos moviéndose sin esfuerzo a través del agua, completamente indiferentes a mi presencia. En otro buceo, me encontré rodeado por un torbellino de pequeños peces plateados, moviéndose como uno solo, creando formas vivas en las corrientes.

En todas partes que miraba, los arrecifes estallaban de color. Peces payaso asomándose de las anémonas, peces loro masticando el coral, morenas observándonos desde sus escondites rocosos. Las tortugas flotaban perezosamente, como almas viejas, y en una inmersión particularmente inolvidable, una manta rayada se elevó sobre mí: una criatura enorme y elegante que parecía más un espíritu que un animal.

Las tardes eran para el sol y los cócteles. Pasé horas interminables tumbado junto al agua, libro en mano y una bebida fresca al alcance. Mojitos, piña coladas, daiquiris de maracuyá: fui avanzando a través de la lista de cócteles con la misma dedicación que generalmente se reserva para cosas mucho más importantes. Y aunque pasé casi cada hora de luz bajo el sol maldivo, mi piel se negaba obstinadamente a broncearse. De alguna manera, me fui tan pálido como cuando llegué, un misterio personal dado el número de horas que pasé disfrutando del calor.

Las noches eran una especie de magia tranquila. El atardecer se deslizaba lentamente, convirtiendo todo el cielo en fuego. Me sentaba en la playa con una bebida en mano, los dedos de los pies en la arena, viendo el horizonte engullir el sol. La cena siempre era fresca: mariscos a la parrilla, frutas tropicales y curries ricos en coco y especias. El aire del mar agudizaba cada sabor, haciendo que cada bocado se sintiera como parte de la experiencia.

Una noche, después de un largo día en el agua, el personal del resort preparó una cena para nosotros en la playa. Las velas parpadeaban con la brisa, y el sonido de las olas llenaba el silencio entre las conversaciones. Era simple, hermoso, y tan alejado de la prisa de la vida cotidiana que parecía algo sacado de una historia.

Al final de mi estadía, me había sumergido en el ritmo de la isla de tal manera que la idea de marchar me resultaba extraña. La vida en Thundufushi es hermosa y sencilla. Nadar, bucear, comer, beber, descansar, repetir. Sin relojes, sin estrés, solo el latido constante de la naturaleza y tu propia respiración bajo el agua.

Mientras abordaba el hidroavión para el viaje de regreso a casa, miré hacia atrás en el pequeño tramo de arena y palmeras, sintiendo ya el dolor de partir. Thundufushi no es el tipo de lugar que visitas una vez y olvidas. Se queda contigo: en el sabor de la sal en tus labios, en la memoria de los bancos de peces moviéndose como nubes vivas, en el calor del sol que de algún modo no deja marca en tu piel.

Regresaré un día. Porque algunos lugares no son solo destinos: son pausas en la historia de tu vida. Y Thundufushi fue uno que querré volver a visitar.

Malé Maldivas: soleado 40 grados, humedad 89%

Llegamos a Malé a las 9 de la mañana y de inmediato subimos al bote auxiliar. Hoy exploramos la ciudad de Malé por nuestra cuenta. Comenzamos en el mercado de pescado, luego fuimos al mercado de frutas y verduras. Estos mercados siempre me fascinan. Continuamos por calles estrechas donde había scooters por todas partes. Aquí seguramente hay más scooters que habitantes de la isla ;-). Visitamos los diferentes parques, que lamentablemente no están bien cuidados, lo cual nos pareció muy triste. La mezquita azul fue construida entre 2018 y 2022 y puede albergar hasta 10,000 fieles. Lamentablemente, aún no está abierta, ya que el aire acondicionado no funciona, el cual costaría 6 millones de dólares. Encontramos un excelente restaurante en la playa donde una vez más comimos pescado y papas fritas y simplemente disfrutamos de la vida, y todo costó 8 dólares. Luego regresamos paseando al bote auxiliar y nos alegramos de volver a nuestra cabina con aire acondicionado. Hoy, 4 de abril, nos quedamos en el barco, ya que entre las 9 y las 11 llovió cinco veces. Los próximos 2 días estaremos de nuevo en el mar y luego llegaremos a las Seychelles.

No me he comunicado contigo en unos días. Eso se debió, entre otras cosas, a todas las cosas tan emocionantes que ocurrieron y que me tuvieron cautivado. Y también tuvimos un breve periodo sin Internet. Además, mi hermana mayor siempre me ayuda a escribir y en los últimos dos días estuvo un poco enferma. ¡Pero ahora!!

Así que, lo más importante primero: ¡Estoy realmente buceando y muy profundamente!!!

Me costó bastante superarlo. Pero como mi hermana mayor había visto cosas maravillosas bajo el agua aquí, quise vivirlo en carne y hueso.

Pero uno a la vez. La seguridad es lo primero.

Después de asegurarme de que todo en el bote era seguro, saltamos juntos al agua. Mi hermana mayor me sujetó bien de la mano para que no me perdiera.

Y en caso de que tuviera que respirar bajo el agua inesperadamente, también probamos lo que se llama el pulpo. Es básicamente un segundo respirador de aire que tienen todos los buceadores, por si alguien se queda sin aire en su botella.

Y, por supuesto, todos atendieron muy bien a mí. Principalmente mi hermana mayor, pero también Hassan, nuestro guía de buceo, y Davor, con quien mi hermana siempre buceaba.

Con Hassan me sentí muy tranquilo, ya que tiene mucha experiencia y es muy relajado. Eso fue contagioso de alguna manera.

Bueno, y luego fue simplemente emocionante ver y descubrir todo lo que se puede encontrar bajo el agua. Te digo... O sea... ¡Woooaaahhh!!

Pude observar a los buceadores moverse bajo el agua con sus grandes pies de goma. Oh, sí, les llaman aletas.

¡Hay tantos animales maravillosos para ver! Mira:

¡El momento culminante para mí fue cuando un verdadero tiburón nadó justo al lado de mí! Imagínate eso. ¡Woooaaahhh, me emocioné un poco! Aunque mi hermana mayor dijo después que era más bien pequeño y totalmente inofensivo. Pero, ¿quién sabe, verdad?

Mi hermana mayor vio tiburones tigre en el último día. Parece que son una historia totalmente diferente. Menos mal que no estaba allí.

¡Al final hice dos inmersiones! ¿No es genial?! Antes tenía mucho miedo al agua. Y ahora esto. ¡Estoy bastante orgulloso de mí mismo! Por cierto, mi hermana mayor también lo está. Y los demás del bote me elogiaron y fueron muy amables conmigo.

También Bebe, que siempre ayudó a mi hermana mayor en el bote con su equipo, me recibió muy amablemente después de bucear.

Luego, pude disfrutar de un baño. Con espuma y todo. Fue muy acogedor y un poco más cálido que el agua del mar. Aunque aquí ya tiene 29 grados. Debe ser cálido, no estoy tan familiarizado con grados.

Y para secarme, pude usar el viento del ventilador. Fue muy agradable y me hizo cosquillas.

Así que ahora soy un verdadero Buddy-Bear. Porque sabes que el buddy es prácticamente el compañero de buceo y que los buddies van juntos y se cuidan mutuamente.

En el futuro, ahora puedo hacerlo - así que bucear y ser buddy. ¡Estoy muy emocionado!

¡Al menos tanto como mi hermana mayor, porque ella vio un tiburón ballena aquí! Eso parece algo muy especial. Y aunque era aún un 'bebé', ya es bastante grande. Pero afortunadamente, como come plancton, es totalmente inofensivo.

Después de todas las experiencias maravillosas en el barco de safari de buceo, nos quedamos dos noches en una pequeña isla a solo 15 minutos en bote de Malé. Aquí estoy escribiendo este texto contigo con mi hermana mayor.

Un bonito cierre para nuestro viaje.

Te agradezco por leer mis historias con tanto interés y paciencia nuevamente.

Mañana volamos de regreso a casa con una larga escala en Abu Dhabi. Allí queremos mirar alrededor.

Te deseo todo lo mejor y estoy emocionado de contarles pronto más sobre mis emocionantes aventuras.

Con cariño, de Travis, el (ahora pescador experimentado) Buddy-Bear

Bueno, bueno, bueno, primero tuve que calmarme porque viví algo increíble. Afortunadamente, aquí hay muchas oportunidades para relajarse, me refiero a eso. Me han dicho que me balancee:

Entonces, entonces, ahora te lo cuento: ¡Fui a hacer snorkel! ¡Así es! Con mis dos grandes. Me llevaron en mi submarino y estábamos muy lejos. ¡Había de verdad arrecifes, corales y peces y esas cosas!

Pero mejor empiezo la historia desde el principio: mis grandes estaban aquí haciendo snorkel y trajeron fotos tan bonitas.

Bueno, me dio un poco de curiosidad y me dejé llevar a preguntar si yo también podía ir. Y imagina, apenas lo dije ya estábamos en camino. No tuve realmente tiempo de tener miedo. De repente, ya estaba en mi submarino y con mis grandes en el agua. Y hasta olas gigantes como las de la foto de abajo (¿las ves? ¡Allí donde está mi grande?!) las superé casi (!!) sin miedo.

Y te digo que hay tanto que ver, así bajo el agua.

Se les llama aquí peces unicornio. Unicornio como el animal. Al principio pensé en junio, el mes. Pero ellos están aquí todo el año. Sigo practicando mi inglés. Una amiga de mis grandes los llamó en cambio peces Pinocho. También me gusta ese nombre.

¡También estuvimos 'en las profundidades'! Escuché eso alguna vez cuando la gente hablaba sobre la piscina. Y ahora tengo una idea de lo que es. Donde acaba el arrecife, se va empinando hacia el profundo azul. Pero solo se puede llegar allí si uno sabe bucear de verdad.

Quién sabe si yo también lo haré algún día. Te diré un secreto: aunque a veces diga cosas como 'me deja sin aliento', en realidad no necesito respirar. Y después del viaje, mi grande me dio un baño, ¡así, sin submarino!. En realidad me pareció muy bien. ¡El agua aquí está casi tan caliente como al bañarse, ¡es de 29 grados! Así que, teóricamente, solo como una idea loca, solo un pensamiento...

...podría eventualmente, quizás, algún día en un futuro distante, ir a bucear. 🤔😯

En realidad, tengo demasiado respeto por eso. Pero ayer mis grandes volvieron del buceo y vieron un montón de mantas. O sea, rayas, no autos. Mira, ¿no es genial?

Bueno, me gustaría ver eso también. Algún día. Sobre todo porque estas mantas son totalmente inofensivas. Sin espinas venenosas ni nada. Y solo comen plancton. Mis grandes estaban casi tan impresionados como yo tras mi aventura de snorkel. Bueno, al menos...

Hasta entonces, seguiré mirando el mar y escuchando las olas. Por la mañana, el ambiente aquí es muy bonito:

Y lo discutiré tranquilamente con mis dos grandes. Veremos qué resulta. Algo así tiene que ser muy bien planeado y pensado. ¡No sea que al final pase algo! O que en el peor de los casos ¡me pierda!🥺

Quizás los pequeños y divertidos geckos aquí también tengan una opinión al respecto.

Por supuesto, te mantendré informado. En dos días nos iremos por una semana en un barco de safari de buceo. Allí habrá al menos muchas oportunidades. Si me atrevo...

Por ahora, te deseo un buen momento. Pronto volveré a saber de mí.

¡Hasta luego!

Travis, el oso amigo

Estoy de vuelta para contarte sobre mis nuevas aventuras. Yo, Travis, espero que te acuerdes de mí.

Así que: Partimos de Düsseldorf hace cuatro días. No parece que haya pasado tanto tiempo. Mis mayores dicen que eso tiene que ver con el viaje y la diferencia horaria.

Conocimos a una azafata muy amable en el vuelo. Se llama Daniella y creo que a ella también le caí bien ☺️

Hicimos una escala en Abu Dhabi. Es la capital de los Emiratos Árabes Unidos y el aeropuerto allí fue realmente impresionante.

Ah, por cierto, aún no te he dicho a dónde vamos: pensé que era Mallorca. Pero luego mi mayor dijo: ¡No, Male! Esa es la capital de muchas islas, y se llaman Maldivas.

Y como las islas están bastante alejadas entre sí - en diferentes atolones - no se puede llegar a todas en barco y hay que tomar un pequeño avión. Y imagínate, ¡puede aterrizar y despegar incluso en el agua! Por eso se llama hidroavión. Lógico, creo.

Y así volamos a 'nuestra isla'. Estuve sentado justo detrás de los pilotos y pude mirar por encima de sus hombros. ¡Woooaaahhh, cuántos botones, palancas y switches tienen!

Nuestra isla se llama Fonimagoodhoo. Los nombres de todas las islas suenan geniales, pero lamentablemente no los puedo recordar bien. Nuestro hotel se llama Reethi Beach Resort. Mira, ¿me encuentras en la foto con mis mayores?

Llegamos hace tres días y mis mayores estaban bastante cansados. Así que nos dimos un pequeño paseo, pasamos por el centro de buceo y, sobre todo, comimos y dormimos. Y también hemos estado riläxando. Así es como se llama cuando uno descansa y se relaja.

Ayer, mis mayores hicieron su primera inmersión. Por la mañana desde la playa y por la tarde salimos en barco. ¡Sí, NOSOTROS! Porque también estuve allí, ya que en primer lugar tengo mucho menos miedo al agua ahora y, en segundo lugar, por supuesto, tenía que asegurarme de que todo en el barco es seguro para mis mayores. ¡Lo es, hasta donde puedo juzgar!

Hicieron fotos de peces coloridos y cosas así. Aquí hay algunas para mostrar:

Por las noches, la atmósfera en la playa y el mar siempre es especialmente bonita, creo.

Y paseamos mucho aquí, porque desde nuestro bungalow en un extremo de la isla tenemos que caminar regularmente hasta el restaurante en el otro extremo. Es agradable y el camino va a la sombra de bonitos árboles. Aquí se va descalzo.

Hablando de restaurantes: Mis mayores están muy contentos con la comida que hay aquí. Hay mucha variedad, siempre con deliciosos platos locales. Y la gente es muy amable con nosotros.

Por último, mi mayor me fotografió en el restaurante para que pudiera mostrártelo aquí. Y luego le contó a una mujer que preguntó sobre mí y nuestra gran aventura de hace un año. Me sentí un poco orgulloso de que hablara tan bien de mí.

Más tarde, en la mesa, mi mayor le dijo que he viajado bastante, considerando que solo tengo algodón en la cabeza. ¿Fue eso un cumplido? No estoy del todo seguro... ¿Qué opinas?

Te seguiré contando sobre lo que pase aquí. Después del hotel, vamos a estar una semana en un barco de inmersión. ¡Woooaaahhh, seguro que habrá mucho más que contar! Y no tengo miedo en absoluto. ¡Te lo prometo!

Hasta muy pronto y un cordial saludo de tu Travis, el oso amigo

(Versión en inglés abajo)
Durante los últimos días de nuestra estancia, además de las habituales rondas de esnórquel en el arrecife de casa, también organizamos algunas excursiones. En una de ellas vimos un tiburón ballena, en otra un manta raya, y en la última avistamos algunos tiburones de enfermera. Sin embargo, la mayor parte del tiempo la pasamos en el arrecife de casa ...

(English)
During the last days of our stay on Vilamendhoo island we went on a few guided snorkeling tours. Amongst the highlights of these tours we were able to swim with a whale shark on one of them and on another we swam with a Manta ray. Additionally, on the last excursion we spotted a couple of Nurse sharks. However, the majority of our time was still spent snorkeling the usual tracks around our house reef...

(Versión en inglés a continuación)
Después de nuestras visitas a los tigres en el centro de la India, nos tomamos 2 días para llegar a nuestra isla favorita en las Maldivas - Vilamendhoo. Los aeropuertos de la India siguen sin ser nuestros lugares favoritos, pero ahora hemos llegado a la parte relajante de nuestras vacaciones: durante el día, sumergirnos en el agua y hacer snorkel, y después de la puesta de sol, disfrutar de uno o dos cócteles mientras leemos o jugamos.
Para el snorkel, nuestra isla tiene 10 puntos de acceso desde la playa hasta el arrecife, así que podemos ir cuando y donde queramos. Por lo general, hacemos snorkel por la parte completamente accesible del arrecife cada mañana y tarde... Puede parecer aburrido, pero siempre hay un cambio en las condiciones de luz, mareas, corrientes y, por supuesto, en los peces, y hasta ahora, no nos hemos cansado de esto. Lamentablemente, el arrecife está bastante dañado - visiblemente más dañado que en nuestra última visita - pero al menos los peces son tan coloridos como siempre ...

(English)
After we finished our tiger visit in Central India, it took us 2 days to make our way to our favourite island of the maldives - Vilamendhoo. Indian airports are still not our favourite places, but now, we got to the the lazy part of our holidays. During the day, we snorkeled along the house reef, and, after sunset, had one or two cocktails and hung out reading or playing games.
For snorkeing, Vilamendhoo has 10 access points to the reef, giving us the opportunity to start whenever and whereever we like. Usually, we snorkeled along the full accessible part of the reef each morning and afternoon... It might sound boring but there is always some change in light, tides, currents, and - of course - fish and, so far, we haven't gotton tired of this. Unfortunately, the reef is pretty heavily damaged - visibly more damaged compared to our last visit - but at least the fish are as colourful as always ...

Desde hace mucho tiempo hemos soñado con unas vacaciones en las Maldivas. Ahora hemos hecho realidad ese sueño. Desde el lunes (04.09.2023) estamos en las Maldivas y dejándonos llevar.

Aquí es indescriptiblemente hermoso. El agua cristalina, la arena blanca, las palmeras y las fantásticas playas hacen que el mundo aquí parezca sacado de un catálogo o de una película. ¡Increíblemente hermoso! Nos tomó un tiempo darnos cuenta de que realmente estamos aquí. Como estamos en una pequeña isla (Dhigura), donde viven principalmente locales, a menudo tenemos las hermosas playas solo para nosotros.

Pasamos los días nadando, buceando y relajándonos.

Desde hace 3 días tenemos lluvia, tormentas, viento, truenos,... que hacen que nuestra Waterhouse tiemble. Apenas se puede salir, para comer vamos con paraguas, pero sigue siendo divertido no hacer nada 😉

Llegada a Ihuru

La pequeña isla Angsana Ihuru, ubicada en el Atolón de Male Norte, está a solo 20 minutos del aeropuerto. Se puede llegar fácilmente en lancha rápida. En cuanto recogimos nuestras maletas, partimos en pocos minutos - el hotel se esfuerza mucho para que todo transcurra de manera rápida y fluida (desde la llegada a Male hasta el check-in en el bungalow, máximo 2 horas). Gran ventaja, sobre todo para familias.

Angsana Ihuru

La isla en sí a menudo se describe como 'La isla perfecta de Maldivas'. Con razón, ya que tiene forma ovalada, 200m de ancho y está rodeada por un hermoso arrecife de coral. Ofrece el típico equipamiento de Maldivas, es decir, un bungalow con acceso al mar, ducha al aire libre y un restaurante con buena comida. Quien busque entretenimiento, animación o fiesta, no está en el lugar indicado. En cambio, Ihuru invita a disfrutar de una hermosa playa, atardeceres románticos, un bar con buenos cócteles y excelente comida.

Clima en las Maldivas en agosto

El tema del clima en las Maldivas es muy controvertido... En agosto es la temporada de lluvias, oficialmente. Al principio tuvimos algunos días algo nublados, pero luego nos sorprendió positivamente con 10 días de sol y lluvia de 10 minutos, una o dos veces al día. Mi consejo: Agosto es genial - dicen también los lugareños - y mucho más barato que en la temporada alta.

Esnórquel y arrecife en Angsana Ihuru

Sí, la isla no es conocida por su lujo, sino por el mágico arrecife que la rodea. Y así fue realmente. A solo unos metros comienza el espectáculo - hay de todo - numerosos cardúmenes de peces, mantas, tortugas, tiburones, etc.

En Ihuru, por el lado interior, hay una zona de 'principiantes'. Esta es poco profunda, se puede casi estar de pie y es especialmente interesante para los esnorquelistas inexpertos. Para un poco más de acción, hay varios canales en el lado exterior. Se puede nadar alrededor de la isla.

Ihuru - ¿con familia?

¡Decimos SÍ! Había varias familias con niños presentes. Sin importar la edad, la isla ofrece un club infantil, así como servicios de niñera para los más pequeños. El personal es muy amable y servicial, y qué más podemos decir - ¡todo perfecto! :-)

Comparación con otras islas

En comparación con otras islas en las Maldivas, la isla en la que se puede andar descalzo, Ihuru, no ofrece superlujos con bungalows sobre el agua, piscinas privadas, cinco restaurantes u otros lujos. Sin embargo, la isla se destaca por su naturaleza y el arrecife. No me malinterpreten: el restaurante es excelente, ofrece bufé y a la carta de manera alternada y el servicio es excelente - pero solo hay uno.

Pocas otras islas son tan perfectas a la vista como Ihuru. En un rango de precios medio (hay tantas opciones más baratas como más caras). Así que si buscas las Maldivas y no solo lujo, ¡este es el lugar adecuado!

¡Mira también mis otros blogs de 'Aventuras'!

Somos una familia de 4 personas con ganas de viajar y tenemos muchas aventuras familiares en países lejanos que ofrecer - ¡nuestros últimos 3 grandes viajes están en línea :-) - ¡con las Maldivas se agregó un nuevo blog!

¡Échales un vistazo!

¡Diviértete y estaré encantado de recibir preguntas, sugerencias y comentarios!

Mis blogs:

2020: Aventura en Azores

=> estamos explorando las islas Sao Miguel, Terceira, Pico y Faial bajo condiciones de Covid-19

2019: Aventura en África

=> nuestra aventura de 3 semanas en África nos lleva a Zambia & Zimbabue para ver las Cataratas Victoria, a Sudáfrica a través de Johannesburgo a lodges de safari en los pequeños Drakensberg hasta el Parque Nacional Kruger, y luego a Ciudad del Cabo y sus alrededores

2018: aventura-down-under (Australia)

=> nuestra aventura más grande hasta ahora: 4 semanas recorriendo el continente rojo, 4 estados y 4 zonas climáticas, desde metrópolis hasta playas solitarias, llegando hasta el desierto y sintiendo el verano en el extremo norte alrededor de los parques nacionales de Darwin, seguido de una escala en Singapur

¡Un nuevo blog de aventuras está en línea!

Esta vez vamos (aunque realmente no estaba planeado) a las Maldivas!

Acompáñanos en el pequeño paraíso insular 'Thulhagiri' en el Océano Índico y descubre la última 'aventura familiar'.

Por adelantado: ¡no solo hemos estado tumbados a la sombra! ;-)

https://vakantio.de/urlaubsabenteuer

(Desafortunadamente, me quedé dormido y no cambié el enlace para que coincidiera con mis otros blogs en 'Aventura Maldivas', pero espero que también se pueda encontrar bajo 'Aventuras de vacaciones')

¡Saludos y que disfruten de nuestras vacaciones de aventura! :-)

¡Un nuevo blog de aventuras está en línea!

¡Esta vez vamos (aunque no estaba planeado) a las Maldivas!

Vengan con nosotros al pequeño paraíso insular 'Thulhagiri' en el Océano Índico y vean la más reciente 'aventura familiar'.

Por adelantado: no solo hemos estado descansando en la tumbona ;-)

https://vakantio.de/urlaubsabenteuer

(Desafortunadamente, me quedé dormido y no cambié el enlace al título correspondiente de mis otros blogs en 'Aventura Maldivas', pero espero que también se pueda encontrar bajo 'Aventuras de Vacaciones')

¡Saludos y que se diviertan con nuestras vacaciones de aventura :-)

August 10, 2021

Our alarm clock goes off at 7:15 am. We quickly get up, finish packing our suitcases, and place them by the door.

After a farewell photo on the beach, we go to have breakfast.

You can immediately tell that we're leaving: shoes, socks, some long pants, and backpacks.

My feet strongly resist socks and shoes.

Oh, how nice it was to walk around barefoot or with flip-flops for the past 2 weeks.

We sit nostalgically at our beautiful table with a view. Waiter Mohamed says goodbye to us with double the amount of ordered drinks ("for the road"), and the omelette station employee also recognizes that I'm leaving and makes me an "extra tasty omelette" as my last breakfast and says goodbye as well.

Oh yes, the staff here on the island are really great!!! Truly all of them are consistently friendly and helpful. And even waiter Mohamed, who always looks "in a bad mood," has a soft spot 😉

I quickly take some pictures by the pool

Our suitcases are taken to the jetty by a luggage trolley at 8:15 sharp, and we board the speedboat with another German couple and a family with a child.

The sea is calm today, the view is great, the sun is shining, and the sky is blue... sniff. But the island doesn't make it easy for us to say goodbye!

Well, at least the boat ride should be more relaxed today than on the day of arrival.

We nostalgically leave our little dream island Thulhagiri and head towards the airport island.

At 8:40, we stand in line at the airport and sweat. Masks are mandatory here. After a short time, I change my FFP2 mask for a surgical mask because I can hardly breathe in this humidity.

To enter the building, you actually have to have the IMUGA forms ready on your phone for scanning.

Phew, at least that worked smoothly for the departure!

After waiting in the humidity for what feels like endless minutes, we are allowed through the first security check into the building. It's a bit cooler here - at least if you stand under an air conditioning vent.

The line at the 3 Condor counters is long. So, again: WAITING!

Finally, it's our turn.

The employee checks our passports, the kids' PCR tests, and our vaccination certificates. And once again, we have a problem:

While I, as a teacher, had the privilege of being vaccinated with Biontech back in April, my husband, as a "normal person without any vaccination priority," had no chance of getting a Biontech or Moderna vaccine. Not even AstraZeneca was possible...

The only way to get a reasonably good protection before the vacation was to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Advantage: only requires 1 dose!

But now that's the problem!

It seems that he is the first traveler in the Maldives who was vaccinated with Johnson & Johnson. The employee doesn't want to issue us a ticket because the "second dose" is missing. Unfortunately, they don't believe us that there is only ONE dose with J&J.

Oh man, this can't be true!!!

The vacationers behind us in line are pretty annoyed when the employee at the counter has to call her supervisor. Then 3 employees stand next to her and search for information about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on the computer, phone, and phone calls.

After what feels like an eternity, one employee gives his OK, and our vaccinations are accepted. Phew....

No one needs this.

Next hurdle:

Since we've never paid to reserve seats before, we hope that this time we were assigned seats together.

Unfortunately, that didn't work out this time.

The system has spread the 4 of us throughout the plane!

Oh sh...... 😱

But the employee is very nice and helpful, she discusses with a colleague at the counter next to her and points to us saying "Family with children," then she prints our boarding passes with a smile.

Until the last moment, contiguous seats are kept for families, and we have now received them. That's nice 😉

Officially, our kids (13 & 17) are considered "adults" in the plane starting from age 12, so it's nice that they still get the "kids bonus" when it comes to seats.

We get Row 11, 2 window seats, and 2 middle seats - just like on the outbound flight. (We briefly considered booking similar seats from home. But it would have cost us 80 €. And it's confirmed again: seat reservations are a waste of money!)

However, this time we are sitting IN FRONT of the wing, with (hopefully) the best view when taking off from the Maldives! Maybe we'll see Thulhagiri from above!?

It's right in the flight path - as we experienced in the past 2 weeks when a plane flew directly over us 🙈

A few days ago, I found out that a friend of mine will be flying our vacation plane as the captain today 🤪

That's awesome!!! A few years ago, we were lucky enough to be on the same plane. At that time, we were flying to Egypt, and I even got to be in the cockpit during landing. It was amazing!

Due to COVID, it's not possible this time, but we agreed that we can visit the cockpit during boarding 😉

How cool! That's definitely a nice surprise at the end!

After all the security checks, we spend another hour in the duty-free area. My daughter buys a burger, then it's time to board.

We manage to get on the first bus to the plane with the "priority guests."

The cabin crew already knows that we're coming because when I say that we want to say "Hello" to the captain, we're immediately escorted to the cockpit with a smile. It's not easy because there's the captain and 2 co-pilots in the cockpit, and it gets quite crowded with us and our backpacks.

The co-pilot eventually gives up his seat for the kids, who can take turns sitting in the pilot's chair and are shown everything.

When boarding is almost complete, we have to say goodbye (with a photo of course) and we also take our seats.

Unfortunately, the plane is completely full this time!!!

ALL seats are taken, including the 3rd seat in the middle row, where my son and husband are sitting.

Well, let's hope that everyone is vaccinated and tested 🙈

We take off on time towards home and realize after a few minutes of flight:

We're sitting on the RIGHT side!!!

We fly directly past our little dream island Thulhagiri!!! Yayyy!

From above, you can also see the extent of the construction monstrosity on the neighboring island. It's worse than it looked from below. It's going to be a huge complex... terrible!

Bye Bye Thulhagiri!!!

The flight is calm this time - but it's dragging on.

Unfortunately, we can't connect any of our devices to the in-flight entertainment, so we have to take turns using the tablet to watch a saved movie. Luckily, we still have our phones and books, but 10 hours is really long....

For lunch (we're starving!), luckily there are vegetarian noodles again. We all eat them.

The time until dinner, however, feels like eternity. Fortunately, we took some mini muffins and cakes from the breakfast buffet.

That saves the afternoon above the clouds.

We land in Frankfurt at 7:11 pm, and the weather is good:

24 degrees - how pleasant!

Well, it seems like we brought the nice weather with us  🤭

Our Portugal replacement trip to the Maldives was the best thing that could have happened to us and a great consolation for the canceled Portugal vacation.

It could have been worse 😉

It was a real dream vacation!!!! I highly recommend it to everyone!

Stay tuned for our next adventure blog. We have a lot planned - surprise yourselves!

Until then, stay healthy and enjoy reading!

"Choukouriya & Vakivani!" 😉

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...

August 8, 2021

Unfortunately, the weather this morning is mixed. It's quite windy and the sun hasn't been able to break through the cloud cover yet.

After breakfast, my daughter and husband want to go sailing with Paul from the water sports station.

Since they are supposed to receive a 30-minute briefing, I decide to go to the water sports station later to take photos. Unfortunately, I find out that they have already started sailing with the catamaran. Dagmar shows me where they roughly want to sail. We walk to the pier of the Superior Bungis and see the catamaran circling behind it, then they turn towards Malé and are too far away. I decide to wait on the pier in front of the dive station until they come back.

The sky is getting threateningly dark again. After a while, Dagmar also comes to the pier and hopes that Paul is slowly heading back to the island. She wouldn't like the dark cloud cover - something bigger would be coming towards us again....

Oh no......

We can watch as the clouds move towards us in minutes and get darker and darker. On the horizon, we see the catamaran coming back. They better hurry up now, otherwise we'll all get wet...

The wind picks up, and with a stormy breeze and higher waves, Paul sails back to land with my daughter and husband.

Together, they pull the catamaran out of the water, then we run to the bungalow. The thunderstorm is coming!!!

We just manage to bring all the clothes and towels from the loungers to safety when the sky opens up.

It's pouring down (but it's still warm), so this time I jump into the sea with my husband for a "rain bath".

If the rain didn't feel like needles on my face, it would have been a pleasant experience. So we splash around for a while and then quickly leave the sea. But it was fun!

As quickly as the storm came, it is also over just as quickly this time. Only an hour later, we can lie on the beach again and bask in the sun 😉

After lunch, we attempt to snorkel, but the high waves and rising tide make it challenging. It takes us a while to even reach the first buoy, which shows the way to the reef entrance with a rope. Due to the tide, it's now so deep that none of us can even stand. It's not like our first few days of snorkeling. The water only reached our son's chest back then, and you could stand anywhere in the lagoon. That hasn't been the case for a few days now.

We are swept over by several waves until we finally reach the roof of the reef. However, the waves are so intense here that we can't see anything and can't get to the edge of the reef due to the current.

It's safe to say that snorkeling today is more challenging. We return to the beach a bit faster than usual due to the currents and being tossed around.

Instead, we prefer to jump around in the waves and splash around on the beach.

Afterwards, our son and husband play a round of table tennis and foosball, and then we organize a hermit crab race 😉 and observe the lizards that are moving around in front of our bungalow.

Today, we have our sundowner cocktail on the bungalow lounger and later sit at the front of the beach. But due to the low-hanging clouds, there is no beautiful sunset today.

After dinner, we sit in the sand bar again for some gaming.

My daughter and I briefly browse the souvenir shop and among all the 'MALDIVES' mugs, we spot one with the inscription 'Seychelles' 🤪

My husband returns from the reception and waves the key to the kids' bungalow 😉 Hooray! Someone found it and turned it in. I suspect that we left it behind during the storm when we were playing cards in the sand bar at noon.

Phew, one less worry!

Now we just wish for sun tomorrow, then everything will be perfect!!!

On the way back to the bungalow, we shine our flashlight on the path (like every evening) to avoid stepping on hermit crabs or crabs. When I quickly walk towards the bungalow terrace, I only see something "big" with many legs in the shadow of the flashlight. These moments of terror with these huge black crabs are not good for my arachnophobia....

Exactly one of them has now ended up on our terrace. Amidst the screams of the kids, my husband gently chases away the crab from the terrace. Phew. What a scare!

Our son urgently needs to use the bathroom, so he runs to the toilet before anyone can turn on the light. A scream!

My husband quickly films a huge centipede (?) - in any case, it has significantly more legs than the crab - as it runs through the bathroom in a flash and disappears under the cabinet.... Ewwwwwwwwwwwww......

I won't go into the bathroom without shoes anymore.... 🤪

August 7, 2021

The night was still stormy, but this morning at 7:30 I see the first rays of sun in the sky. The sea is very wavy, but it's no longer raining and the wind has subsided.

I lay on the beach in the morning sun and wait for the family to get ready.

A huge annoyance is that some tourists leave everything behind wherever they happen to be! And they don't care!

We have observed this all over the island. They get a lot of cocktails, but despite the nice, sometimes written request everywhere to please bring the glasses back to the bar (and we're talking about a max. 3 minutes walk on the mini island!!!), some half-full cocktails are simply left on other beach chairs. Just like this morning on the beach, on the beach chairs, including OUR beach chair with the number 118 on it !!!

The half-full glasses have fallen over due to the wind and the whole beach chair is now full of fruit juice and sticky.

PEOPLE, THIS DOESN'T HAVE TO HAPPEN!!!! BE A ROLE MODEL FOR CHILDREN LIKE MINE; WHO ALWAYS HAD TO BRING THEIR GLASSES BACK TO THE BAR!!!

After breakfast, we all jump into the sea together and have a lot of fun jumping in the waves. Some big waves are coming in. It almost feels like our vacation in the Azores last summer - but with turquoise water and double the water temperature 🤪

Surprisingly, the sea is very clear despite the waves. We can see the bottom everywhere. It has never been this clear since we've been here. Until now, the sea in the first third of the lagoon was milky and opaque, turquoise blue but not clear.

It would be good for snorkeling, but with the waves we can't even get 5 meters away from the beach.

Some snorkelers still try, but they give up quickly.

Most tourists have made themselves comfortable on their beach chairs in the sun, we almost have the sea and the waves to ourselves 🤪

Afterwards, we start another search mission: the kids haven't found their bungalow key since yesterday. It can't be gone, but we don't know where it is either. We've already searched both bungalows, all the clothes, bags, backpacks, and pants twice: gone! 😱

Damn, hopefully it turns up again, otherwise it will be expensive 😬

The mosquitoes are also annoying! I haven't figured out exactly when they like to sting. Definitely in the twilight, but they're also active in the morning and afternoon.

Autan has worked well for us, the 'milder' repellents (from Citronella to Antibrumm, etc) don't bother the bugs.

Before I think about using Autan, the bugs want to sting me (and I've collected quite a few red bumps already!). Hunting instinct - and smack - 2 fewer mosquitoes 🤪

During lunch, we're almost alone. It seems that fewer and fewer people have booked 'All Inclusive' - we already noticed that yesterday. In the first week, all vacationers seemed to have booked it without exception, and lunch was just as crowded as breakfast or dinner.

The vacationers have now been completely replaced, and since the day before yesterday we haven't seen anyone who was here when we arrived. It seems that no one else is here for 15 days except us.

I feel a little sorry for the vacationers who arrived yesterday before or after the storm (or had to leave). Hopefully the wind will calm down tomorrow. Waves are fun, but not suitable for snorkeling at all.

The sun has also hidden behind the clouds again. Too bad ...

It's still warm, but the real Maldives feeling doesn't really come up right now 😬

After lunch, I take a walk on the water bungalow jetties with my son and husband. I have been here on my own several times.

Because I wore flip flops, the hot wooden planks of the jetties didn't bother me. Since it's no longer sunny today, my boys can walk barefoot on the jetties.

The sea is very wavy, and the waves crash against the concrete walls of the islands, spraying several meters high fountains into the air at regular intervals when they hit the island wall.

So I'm a little wary of the jetties. We walk to the end of the jetties, see a few schools of fish in the turbulent water, and of course, my son has to climb down the ladders towards the water on the jetty of the Superior Bungalows. It was clear that the second wave would catch him and now he has wet pants 🤷🏻

My husband and he find it very funny. Well, as far as I'm concerned - it's warm.

So as beautiful as the water bungalows may be: they wouldn't be for me!

You can constantly hear the waves, and then the running on the jetty...

With yesterday's storm, I wouldn't have dared to leave the bungalow 😉

I also find the view rather modest. The new bungalows look out onto Malé/Airport Island or the construction site island across, the old bungalows also look towards the new bungalows or Malé. I prefer to enjoy the view of the beach with palm trees and sea view from the beach bungalow 😍

From the jetty, we see the waves crashing against the pool wall. Incredible how high the water splashes. Of course, my son can't resist and has to pose and fool around on the wet boat jetty right in front of the Thulhagiri sign. I warn him that a wave can come, he doesn't believe me...and then it's too late. We both see the wave rolling in, it turns at the wall instead of crashing against it, and it pours about 3 meters high from the side over the jetty - right over my son! The force of the wave is so strong that it almost knocks him down.

Screaming and laughing loudly, he now runs from the jetty soaked to the underwear (of course, he's not wearing swimwear). Well done 🤪

In front of the Sand Bar, there is a cart full of suitcases. It seems that many have left today and some new guests have arrived.

The island is now firmly in German hands. There are only a few exceptions, otherwise, everyone speaks German!

We spend the afternoon on the beach chairs of the bungalow terrace. Unfortunately, the sun doesn't want to show itself anymore, but the wind seems to be getting stronger.

Dagmar and Paul are out with the kites again, we chill until dinner and go on another key search.

Unfortunately, the key is still nowhere to be found...

After dinner, we sit in the Sand Bar and play cards.

Hopefully that was the end of the storm - it would be nice if the sun would come out again in the last few days...

6th August 2021

I wake up at 5 o'clock: Storm!

When I look out the window, our bungalow neighbor is fishing his bathing clothes out of the bushes, because the wind has scattered them everywhere and saves his towels that he left on the plastic loungers in front of the bungalow. I quickly go outside and collect our air mattress and the other inflatables. Luckily, they are protected behind the loungers and haven't flown away yet. Half of our bathing clothes, which were hanging on the rod to dry, have fallen down. I bring everything inside.

By now, the husband is also awake and helping me.

After another 10 minutes, we decide to bring in the cushions for the loungers as well. It's quite windy.

However, completely without rain - only wind 🤷🏻

I'm curious what it will look like tomorrow morning. I can't imagine that the storm will be over in 3 hours, but let's wait and see.

This morning at 8:30 it's still windy and cloudy, but the situation seems to have calmed down.

During breakfast at 9 o'clock, the waiters eventually roll down all the blinds and move the tables away from the windows. Since I've been waiting the longest for my omelette, the family urges me to eat quickly. Our waiter Mohamed says that a storm is coming and it will rain... 'very soon'.

We watch the snorkel guests in disbelief as they board the snorkel boat for the excursion.

Why they still allow a snorkeling trip with this black curtain of clouds and the obviously impending bad weather is a mystery to me.

We eat and drink quickly, then we go out. It's still quiet inland.

My son and I take a look at the beach in front of our bungalow, it starts drizzling lightly. Many holidaymakers are frolicking in the sea, many are lying on the beach.

Then it happens very quickly. On the horizon, we see a yacht "disappear" into the rain cloud every second, and just as quickly, the few raindrops turn into a full-blown shower with gusts of wind around 10 o'clock.

We quickly bring everything from the bungalow terrace to safety: the cushion for the loungers, all the bathing clothes, swimming gear, and towels. Most of them are already wet because it's raining at an angle.

My son puts on his swimming trunks and runs joyfully through the rain, which is probably quite refreshing.

The husband suggests jumping quickly into the warm sea!?

Well then. Both of them run through the storm into the sea and come back shortly after. There are too many waves and the rain would feel like needles. But it was fun apparently 😉

Now we are lying in bed with various entertainment electronics and watching the storm through the big panoramic window.

The idea of watching the Olympic Games on TV is destroyed by the message 'No Signal' on the screen. That figures....

Let's see how long the bad weather lasts 🤷🏻

After an hour, the rain stops, but the wind is still blowing over the island and whipping the waves up the beach slope, so that occasionally a wave splashes towards the bungalow but sinks into the sand long before.

I am sitting with the kids in Bungalow 117 and watching the spectacle through the panoramic window. Crazy weather...

At 12:30, we take advantage of the brief lull in the rain and walk to the restaurant with umbrellas.

However, shortly before we remember that because of the Friday prayer, lunch is not served until 1:15 pm, so we sit in the Sand Bar and play a round of 'Phase10'.

The waves lash against the concrete walls at the piers in front of us. One wave actually gets so high that it almost reaches the Sand Bar.

After another round of 'Lama' and mocktails 'Lime&Lemonade', we go to lunch. Here too, the view through the lowered transparent blinds is very 'stormy'.

Some people also don't dare to sit at their window seats. Some couples have asked for another table for lunch today, "away from the window".

It starts raining and storming again, so we go back to the Sand Bar and play more games.

It's really exciting to watch the waves.

When the rain subsides in the afternoon, my son and husband jump into the sea, because now there are great waves for wave jumping.

In the lagoon, Dagmar & Paul from the water sports station are speeding past us on surfboards with kites and doing cool jumps. The two of them are visibly happy about the weather 💨🌊

Today will be the first evening without a sunset drink, the sunset is missing due to the clouds and it's quite uncomfortable at the Beach Bar with the storm and occasional rain.

After dinner, we sit in the Sand Bar again and treat ourselves to the first cocktails of the day: Whiskey Fizz, Tequila Sunrise, and Black Russian 🍹

CHEERS 😇

5 de agosto de 2021

Después del desayuno, comenzamos nuestro recorrido diario de esnórquel.

La visibilidad hoy no es tan buena como la de ayer.

Entramos al arrecife nuevamente en la boya frente a nuestro bungalow (lo que también significa aquí: primero a nadar y remar bien, hasta llegar a través de la laguna hacia el arrecife).

Hoy hay una increíble cantidad de bancos de peces. Solo vemos un tiburón, mantas y mobulas se mantienen fuera de la vista hoy.

Sin embargo, también es muy genial nadar y bucear con los enormes bancos de peces.

En el centro de nuestro recorrido de esnórquel, vemos una langosta azul asomándose de su escondite. Al igual que la última langosta, se oculta cuando nos acercamos. Por lo tanto, solo vemos sus antenas y parece que nos está mirando.

Un poco más adelante vemos dos esqueletos de langosta en el borde del arrecife. ¡Vaya, alguien tenía hambre! Más tarde, Dagmar desde deportes acuáticos nos cuenta que probablemente fueron pulpos los que se dieron un festín allí.

Mientras que el esposo también nada directo a la playa después de la ronda de esnórquel, yo buceo con mi hija de regreso por el lado del arrecife de la laguna. Esperamos volver a encontrarnos con la tortuga.

Desafortunadamente, parece que está en otro lado hoy. En su lugar, vemos el pez loro gigante, una gran concha azul y muchos peces coloridos.

Cuando estamos afuera, convenzo a mi hijo para que al menos hagamos una vuelta en la laguna para esnorkelear. Justo en las paredes de hormigón en el mar, que están en dirección a los bungalows 120-130 como rompeolas, hay un montón de peces nadando – y no tiene que esnorquear lejos. El camino hacia el borde del arrecife ya es bastante largo y agotador contra la corriente.

Se rinde y entra al agua conmigo. Esnorqueamos unos pocos metros en la laguna hacia las piedras de hormigón. Hay varios pasajes, yo nado adelante y…

....¡mira directamente a un tiburón a los ojos!!!

Ohhhhhaaaaaaa… ¿tiburones tan cerca de la playa en la laguna???? Ahora sé por qué no había ninguno afuera en el arrecife. Afortunadamente, mi hijo no vio al tiburón que nadó directamente a mi lado. De lo contrario, habría retrocedido y no habría vuelto a nadar tan rápido. Esnorqueamos la pared por dentro y por fuera, vemos muchos peces coloridos, luego regresamos a la playa.

¡Ahora es hora de chapotear!

Después del almuerzo – por cierto, estamos casi solos, ya que después del cambio de huéspedes, parece que no queda casi nadie que haya reservado "Todo Incluido" – mi hijo y esposo juegan otra ronda de ping pong.

Yo me voy con mi hija a la tumbona a descansar. Ah sí, ¡las vacaciones son realmente agotadoras! 😉

Mi hijo observa los cangrejos ermitaños y el resto de la familia pasa el día chapoteando y relajándose. ¡Así de hermoso puede ser unas vacaciones!

Tomamos nuestro cóctel de atardecer alrededor de las 16:30 nuevamente en la Beach Bar. Hoy también, se está formando en el cielo una malvada torre de nubes que no presagian nada bueno, pero hoy también tenemos suerte: ¡la posible tormenta pasa de largo!

Mientras disfrutamos de nuestro cóctel de atardecer, mi hijo hace travesuras en la playa.

En algún momento no logra escapar a tiempo y una ola lo atrapa. Una vez que su pantalón y camiseta están empapados, regresamos unos metros al bungalow (¡me ENCANTA esta pequeña isla con sus caminos extremadamente cortos!). Mi hijo se quita la ropa y va a chapotear al atardecer, mientras nosotros observamos desde las tumbonas. ¡Qué hermoso es el tiempo de vacaciones!

August 4, 2021

Yesterday was "halftime", from today we are getting closer to the departure day step by step. Oops....

But we don't want to think about that now.

The sun is shining again, the sky is almost cloudless, and like most days, there is a gentle breeze blowing (without it, the humidity would be unbearable).

But what's amazing is how the wind varies on this small island. So on our side of the beach, there's often a good breeze, but a little further towards bungalows 130-140, it's almost calm. The sea is also much calmer and less wavy at the corresponding section of the beach (a few meters into the water, you can find concrete walls that make the lagoon quieter for swimming, they don't exist at bungalows 101-118).

After breakfast, we go snorkeling. Today we enter the reef at the buoy in front of our bungalow and swim (against a gentle current) to the other exit in front of the jetty, where we usually enter.

I don't know if there's a big difference in the sun / visibility, etc. The husband says the visibility is better. Well then...

There are not as many sharks as yesterday, but we see the Mobula Trio several times. They're really cool! Once, they glide past me on the roof of the reef. We used to think they only swim in deep water.

But today, they're also swimming near the surface because there's a lot of plankton in the water.

We need a little more time against the current.

The husband has had enough and swims back to the beach. I snorkel back to our bungalow with our daughter on the lagoon side of the reef. At first, it's a bit desolate snorkeling in the coral desert, but then I see a turtle in the shallow water (maybe the same one as yesterday?). It's digging around in the corals and doesn't mind us being there. How cool!

(Reminder: Unfortunately, the pictures are all a bit blurry and not optimal because we don't have a suitable underwater camera anymore - it broke on day 3). These are screenshots from videos taken with my daughter's phone and an underwater case 😊)

With this fantastic sighting, we swim back to the beach, where our son and husband are already playing in the lagoon on an inflatable mattress.

After lunch, the program only consists of relaxing and playing in the water. In the afternoon, the wind picks up again and the waves get bigger. Snorkeling would no longer make sense (even though many vacationers snorkel in the lagoon in the evening).

While we are sitting in the beach bar, we observe a huge black cloud that seems to be coming straight towards us. We are already considering whether to make ourselves comfortable on the bungalow terrace with cocktails, but we are lucky: the cloud passes by!

No rain in paradise 😉

In the evening, at the Beach Bar, we observe some newcomers with interesting T-shirts. Did they mistake Malé for "Malle" here!?

The label "Bierautomat" almost suggests so 😉

Our evening game round is a bit shorter today because, for some reason, we are all totally exhausted. It's unbelievable how tired you can get from the sun and the sea 😊

August 3, 2021

The sea is completely calm today!

First, this morning we search the entire bungalow again for the stuffed animal. It is still missing. Even the room boy has no idea where it could be.

My husband goes to the reception with our son and the 'wanted poster'. They record the case and promise to inform us as soon as they find the stuffed animal.

After breakfast, we go snorkeling right away. Unfortunately, our son still refuses to snorkel. However, he had earache after the last snorkeling session. He prefers to stay on the beach with his Nintendo. Happy Holidays...

Right at the rope that leads to the reef, we see a large turtle at the beginning of the coral roof. Cool! She eats and digs right next to the rope and is not bothered by us.

Since the sea is so calm today, we want to snorkel towards the overwater bungalows, but the visibility becomes extremely poor just a few meters in that direction, so we turn back. So we go on the familiar snorkeling route to the next rope in front of our bungalow.

Shortly afterwards, several blacktip reef sharks swim past us without paying any attention. In addition to many colorful fish, parrotfish of all sizes, and triggerfish of all sizes, we also see the two Mobulas (devil rays) again, which we initially mistook for small manta rays.

Eventually, the third nurse shark swims past us, followed by more blacktip reef sharks. There are suddenly so many that it makes me uncomfortable. And when an unusually large specimen starts circling around my daughter while she completely unabashedly records everything with her phone, we've had enough.

We swim quickly to the other rope and leave the reef for the lagoon. There, we are greeted with excellent visibility and a Picasso triggerfish defending its coral. It keeps attacking us, darting towards the camera or snorkel mask and then darting back at us. Is this the same one we saw on the first snorkeling day?

We leave the little guy alone and swim to the beach. Today we've been snorkeling for over an hour again. And it has been very exciting!

On the beach, our son comes towards us with a big smile on his face, his stuffed animal firmly in his arms. It had actually hidden itself in the sheets when the beds were stripped and now it has come out freshly washed from the laundry 🤭

Phew, the vacation is saved 😉

During lunch, we hear from our table neighbors that the two-person table in the corner by the window, overlooking the beach and sea, was completely washed over and cleared out by a wave this morning, shortly after we left.

It seems that water is still seeping under the restaurant, as there is a big puddle under our table and the table next to ours.

After lunch, our son and husband play a round of table football and table tennis, while I relax on the terrace of the bungalow with our daughter.

In the afternoon, we convince our son to go for a short snorkeling session by the edge of the reef. Unfortunately, the visibility is terrible and we can't even see the rope to the reef.

After we reach the front, we watch some fish and then turn back.

At least our son tried snorkeling again without experiencing any ear pain.

We spend the rest of the afternoon chilling and wave-hopping in the lagoon with our swimming pillows and inflatable mattress. The big waves come out of nowhere, I get washed over twice, much to the amusement of the kids 🤭

We spend the evening watching the sunset again at the beach bar with a Pina Colada and beer 🍻, later of course with the evening Black Russian

Almost only German people are sitting around us now. The alarming thing, however, is that the young Germans without exception either don't have any sunscreen with them or have underestimated the sun here to such an extent that some of them look like lobsters. One male specimen has burned the silhouette of his tank top onto his back, and for many ladies, it is the bikini that can be seen in white on their bright red backs - ouch...

That already hurts just by looking at it.

Due to the large number of clouds, the sunset today is not as spectacular as in previous days.

However, today we see 2 flying foxes directly in the trees in front of our bungalow. I have seen a flying fox flying from the sea several times in the past few days, but I have never found one in a tree. Our daughter has a talent for that and manages to film and photograph the animals.

Dinner is delicious again. Our son has fallen in love with all the chicken dishes and goes to the buffet 3 times for another schnitzel, chicken skewers, or tomatoes with cucumbers.

Just be careful with the curry - it's usually very spicy 😬

Like the past few days, every vacationer in the buffet queue has their temperature measured. Mostly during breakfast, but sometimes also during dinner. So far, we have always been on the safe side with temperatures of 36.2-36.4 👍🏻

After dinner, we go to the sand bar to play. They show a half-hour diving video, which must be over 20 years old judging by the many colorful corals and intact reef... (the format doesn't look very up-to-date either).

On the way back to the bungalow, we see a little mouse 🐁 sitting under a lamp. That's something new, we haven't seen any mice before. When a big crab approaches the mouse, it jumps up and hurries into the thickets. Very funny.

With the sound of the waves in our ears, I toss and turn for a while until I finally fall asleep on the hard mattress.

2 de agosto de 2021

Me despierto a las 7 y no puedo volver a dormir.

Me duele la espalda, el colchón es demasiado duro para mí 🙈

Tras media hora más de dar vueltas en la cama, me traslado a la tumbona en la terraza. El sol brilla y el agua está tranquila. Tengo curiosidad por ver si habrá buena visibilidad al practicar snorkel más tarde.

Hoy no hay viento y ya intuyo que será un día realmente caluroso, ya que el sol ya brilla con todo su esplendor en el cielo.

A las 9 vamos a desayunar.

Como siempre, tengo tortilla y melón para el desayuno. El chef de tortillas ya me conoce y no tengo que decirle nada más que un

1 de agosto 2021

De nuevo brilla el sol, sin embargo, hoy hace notablemente más viento que ayer.
Parece que hubo una fiesta de ermitaños frente a nuestro bungi anoche. Increíble lo que se puede ver en el rastro de huellas. Hubo mucha actividad anoche.

Un ejemplar especialmente grande todavía está sentado junto a la fuente de pie.

En el camino hacia el desayuno vemos otros dos conejos. Así que son al menos 4 conejos que viven aquí en la isla.

Después del desayuno comenzamos nuestro recorrido diario de snorkel. Hacemos snorkel desde las boyas amarillas en el muelle, alrededor del arrecife y luego a lo largo de la costa hasta la otra entrada/salida de snorkel frente a nuestros bungalows 117/118. La distancia se extiende considerablemente y estamos cada vez entre 60 y 80 minutos en el agua. Como mi hijo no quiere hacer snorkel, no tenemos que permanecer cerca de las boyas en el arrecife, sino que podemos dar la vuelta completa, mientras él se acomoda con la tablet en la hamaca. Bueno, cada uno lo suyo - ¡es vacaciones!

De nuevo vemos diversos peces coloridos, varios peces de gran tamaño que conocemos de Egipto, algún que otro tiburón y de nuevo los mobulas parecidas a mantas. Además, un langosta nos mira desde un agujero en la roca. Desafortunadamente, se retira cuando nos acercamos, dejando sólo sus antenas y ojos a la vista.

Durante el almuerzo vemos muchas caras nuevas. En las conversaciones podemos escuchar que muchos turistas han llegado con Condor.

Ahora diría que hay aproximadamente 2/3 de alemanes en la isla. Los rusos casi se han ido, en nuestra mesa hay suizos, algunos austriacos, pero apenas escuchamos a turistas hablando inglés.

Por la tarde, el viento se renueva, lo que le parece genial a mi esposo. Ahora puede salir a practicar windsurf de nuevo.
Lo observo desde el muelle mientras da vueltas en la laguna.

Después es momento de chapotear con los niños en la laguna.

En el camino hacia la cena vemos al conejo negro

Buffet

Después de la cena jugamos unas rondas de Skyjo y Lama, probamos unos cócteles y nos caemos en la cama a las 22 horas.
Vacacionar es realmente agotador. 🤭