Travelog for: Godnatt nalle

After the rich breakfast we took a walk.
I just love this little café by the shore.

In the photos you can see the boardwalk to the little harbour and some nice italien restaurant as well as to the dive centre and the most incredible snorkeling place.

To be honest, I got a little jealous at my hosts.
They went snorkeling every day, even they got a really bad sunburn on their calves (no, I am truely no jealous about that!), but later they showed us some pictures, they took under water. Amazing how many beautiful, colourfull, funny fishes they saw down there....

I wish, I could have seen that live.....

But this paradise is in serious troubles!

Due to global warming over the last century, sea levels have risen about 20 centimetres (8 in); further rises of the ocean could threaten the existence of Maldives.

However, around 1970 the sea level there dropped 20-30 cm.In November 2008, President Mohamed Nasheed announced plans to look into purchasing new land in India, Sri Lanka, and Australia, due to his concerns about global warming and the possibility of much of the islands being inundated with water from rising sea levels. Current estimates place sea level rise at 59 cm by the year 2100. The purchase of land will be made from a fund generated by tourism. The President has explained his intentions, saying "We do not want to leave the Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate refugees living in tents for decades".

And because the water gets warmer and warmer, many corals and ocean life died and is dying still.

You can still see the damages under water that were caused on 26 December 2004, following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, the Maldives were devastated by a tsunami.

Only nine islands were reported to have escaped any flooding, while fifty-seven islands faced serious damage to critical infrastructure, fourteen islands had to be totally evacuated, and six islands were decimated.

A further twenty-one resort islands were forced to shut down due to serious damage. The total damage was estimated at over 400 million dollars or some 62% of the GDP.

A total of 108 people, including six foreigners, reportedly died in the tsunami. The destructive impact of the waves on the low-lying islands was mitigated by the fact there was no continental shelf or land mass upon which the waves could gain height. The tallest waves were reported 14 feet (4.3 m) high.

By the way, we also had a look at the pool area here.

Yes, it IS beautifull, but if you have such an ocean around to drop in, who would choose the pool??? ;-)

We took a really nice long walk around the island, though my hots were searching for another nice spot to snorkel....

Did I say, that I just adore this beautifull ocean view?

And after the long walk, we hang out in the sea breaze.... uuuuhhhh, that's life!

Tonight we went to one point of the island, where the locals feed stingrays every night. So they come very near to the beach, you can actually pet them.

In the beginning I was a little scared, but they were sooo friendly, so I tought them as well. I felt a little bit like toughing a wet shitake mushroom. :-)

It was really incredible!

It seems, every good thing comes to an end and so this vacation does sadly. ....sick....

We had to leave today, so we said good bye, took the boat to the sea plane and went off....

I do hope soooooooo much, to return one day to this beautifull place, maybe with you?!

Hello my friends at home....

uuuhh.... where to start?
Maybe, I should tell you, where I am right now, so you don't have to worry anymore.

I am not lost, I am now in Aachen, Germany.
My host left India and moved back home to Germany some time ago and of cause I came along.

To be honest, I am quiet happy, because sadly the mail system in India is not the best and sometimes packages got lost in the mail there. But from Germany I will surely have a save journey, when I will go on.

What I did all these weeks?
Well, there were a lot to do. I helped Mona to organize the move, in Germany we visited a lot of her friends and family, made some renovations in their home in Aachen, bought a car,  and we stood some weeks with her parents, because her father got a new hip and they needed help in their everyday life.

I am really sorry that I didn' make any updates during this time, but it was just too busy.

And then there came a new member into the host's family.
His name is Hugo and he's a puppy. Now he is 5 months old, he was 3 month, when he arrived.
Hugo's daddy is a Beagle and his mommy a French Bulldog.
I really like him, cause he's sooooo cute, but I have to be carefull, he always wants to play with me, in a very rough way.

These days I will show you a little bit of Aachen, and I hope, that soon my voyages will go on. I am ready to visit a new host. Is there anyone out there who likes to take me arround? :-)