Once we had passed through customs and retrieved our luggage we were told by our holiday representative to have a drink in the café outside and wait until they announced our Island at which point we would then board a speed-boat to reach our holiday destination.
The café was extremely busy and crowded and it didn’t seem like there were any vacant tables. I looked around and noticed that some people were gathering their belongings as though they were about to leave at the other end of the café. I nudged my brother and told him to follow me. I weaved my way through the crowded seating arrangements towards the nearly vacant table. The group left the table just as we got there. We sat our tired bodies down on the hard plastic chairs and waited to be served by the waiter. I was so thirsty from the air-conditioning on the plane. We ordered four bottles of Coca-Cola, one for each of us. I was really looking forward to an ice-cold beverage. The bubbles fizzed up my nose as I tilted the bottle back to drink it. The ice-cold drink I’d really been looking forward to was luke-warm, I didn’t complain, at least it was something to wet my throat with.
I could see the sea from where we were sat. It was a beautiful blue-green transparent colour, It seemed relatively calm and you could just about hear the gentle swishing noises over the chitter chatter in the café.
I heard a local call out ‘Fun Island, Fun Island’, it was time to board the speedboat and proceed on the final lap of the journey to our desired destination. I was hoping it was going to be everything I’d imagined and was feeling excited.
We made ourselves comfortable on a seat at the rear of the speedboat. I’d never been on a speedboat before so this was a new experience for me and I have to say I was quite excited. The engine roared as we sped off across the Indian Ocean. I could smell a faint whiff of diesel in the wind excreting from the boat. The boat bobbed up and down on the waves whilst the wind blew in my face cooling down my hot cheeks and my brother experienced splash back from the wavy water as he’d sat near the edge of the boat.
As we approached Fun Island I was overwhelmed as to how beautiful it was, just as you would imagine Paradise. Our Island was much bigger than the others we had passed on the speedboat. The boat pulled up along side the end of the jetty made with an iron frame and wooden planks. The steps on the speedboat had become wet from the water so I was offered a helping hand by a local to get off the boat. As we walked along the jetty towards the hotel reception we all had looked at each other in awe of this deserted island.
We walked barefoot on the beach towards the seafront. I could feel the sand sifting through my toes like a sieve. The Island itself was surrounded by soft white sandy beaches and a massive lagoon. Around the other side of the Island was a row of beach bungalows that looked like houses on stilts in the water.
During our holiday I felt brave enough to try snorkelling. I’d seen all these people, young and old, waddling along the beach like penguins in their snorkel and flippers and thought it would be fun. We rented the equipment from the diving centre. I looked like a human sized frog when I put it on. I waded into the sea, which was lovely and warm, until I was about waist height. I took a deep breath and put the snorkel into my mouth and slowly lowered my head beneath the water. It was scary at first, I found it to be claustrophobic and it took quite a lot of attempts to get used to breathing through a tube of plastic. As my confidence grew I swam towards the edge of the reef and along the way I saw the most amazing sea creatures there was a myriad of sealife below this aquamarine surface. It was like another World in the ocean, all the species of fish playing in the sea swimming here, there and everywhere. The colourful coral in different sizes and textures and shapes you would not imagine. Some coral looked like big bath sponges because of the thousands of holes they contained. I saw schools of multi-coloured fish that just let you swim through them and baby sharks that were only about 12-15 inches long but it was still scary, I looked around warily under the water and wondered where mummy and daddy shark was! The water was so clear you could see every little thing on the bottom of the ocean. I found snorkelling to be an unbelievably exciting experience. I’d had such a fabulous time on this holiday, But as they say, all good things come to an end.
