Tuvalu

Another island nation in the South Pacific, with some 11,000 inhabitants in total. But the number of inhabitants is the only thing in common that Tuvalu might have with Nauru. Tuvalu has a much friendlier appeal, albeit not designed for lots of tourists. At least you can fly in without any problems, from Fiji. No visa required, at least not for many nations, and from the airport you can walk to the Lagoon hotel where we stayed.

The landing strip of Funafuti Airport - open to the public. And when the airplane arrives, warning signs announce the arrival, and the airfield has to be cleared.

The airport is on Funafuti, the main island, and its area takes perhaps already 20% of its total land mass. Consequently, this airport - with 5 flights arriving per week - is not shielded off from the public, it is open space, where the kids play football, or rugby, or even may spend the night in the open space, when it is too hot to sleep indoors.

In Tuvalu I got the best reception ever. After arrival, and waiting in a nearby shed until the aircraft has left again, we were welcomed by a group of local dancers. Each of us was crowned with flowers, and the dance was so beautiful and the songs so melodious, which drove me tears in my eyes. And man, how can these girls swing their hips...

Each of us was crowned this way, and we wore our flowers for the rest of the day - just like many islanders do.

The island itself is rather narrow in parts, and some of you may have head of the news that Tuvalu is a candidate of a disappearing nation, caused by the climate change and rising sea levels.

As narrow as the island can get

Placement of big sandbags, to prevent erosion

Australia entitles an annual 280 citizens of Tuvalu to emigrate to Australia. Well, while I was on the island, I did not really feel a sense of end of the world, no depressed people, they were all smiling and seemingly relaxed. Perhaps the many churches contribute to their well-being, the Tuvaluans are deeply religious, we were there on a Sunday, and you could hear the melodious songs in the churches. Downside of this very religiosity is that in a Sunday you cannot buy any alcohol, even the hotel restaurant will not sell you. So we had to supply us with our drinks on Saturday evening, and when you clandestinely sip your can of beer while having dinner, the waiters will politely overlook your sin.

Our lunch, carefully prepared on fire made of coconut shells

Driving up and down the atoll is a matter of hours, then you have seen the island. The second day we made an excursion to a neighboring island, where the staff prepared for us a delicious lunch, while the heavy rain kept us under the roof - some went for a swim in the warm ocean.

One end of Funafuti