My Dear Diary
My dear diary,
I want to tell you my thoughts tonight.
While lying in bed, I´ve wondered what I´ll tell people back in Germany, who will ask the simplest question about our incredible trip: “How was it?” After a while, I´ve worked out two options. The first one, just answering with “Nice!” was the easiest one I could think of. The second one was quite complex, and I´ll be able to continue with my descriptions if my listeners stay interested. My idea was to tell them about some SPECIFIC highlights of our diverse journey, because otherwise I would never stop talking again.
Some ideas that came to my mind were the following:
Bioluminescence: It was a cold and windy night in the Biscay. Suddenly Julia and I spotted some light points flushing on deck with the seawater. As we got excited, we kneeled and tried to catch them with our hands, like little kids chasing beetles. That was the first time I´ve ever seen this magical glittering. Since then, at night the glowing sea always seemed to be full of fairy dust.
Sea animals: I was absorbed in my exciting book, when all of a sudden, the library’s door got opened next to me. Someone was shouting: “Come outside, there are whales passing by!”. Of course, me and all the other ones instantly dropped our books and hurried to get upstairs. Ondeck, where the bright sun was shining, we all surged onto the poop deck. And there it was: A black shadow glid threw a wave and a strong grey back surfaced on the glittering water. This was one of those incredible moments when the whole ship’s crew stood together with everyone being so overwhelmed with nature’s beauty.
Sunrises/Sunsets: The air I was breathing was still cool, but my sleeping bag was cozy what made me feel very comfortable. I was listening but couldn’t hear anything – neither the flushing sea nor the blowing wind- except for a soft voice calling my name. I’ve opened my eyes to communicate to the person who’d woken me up that he’d been successful. What I saw then, seemed to be unreal: The sky looked as it was part of a painting in which someone had colored it with the most beautiful pastel shades I could imagine. From the sea level, at which it was completely violet like flowering lilac, the shining sky faded from pink to white until it was baby blue right above me. As the sea was completely smooth like glass, it reflected the sky’s colors like a mirror. Now, I was sure that the day that was about to start would become a great one. Many days on the Atlantic ended very similar to this and some of us even saw the “Green lightning”, an exceptionally phenomenon after the sunset.
Arrival in Bequia (Caribbean): It seemed to be a completely normal day when I got up. It was very early in the morning, and I was tired as usual. After I went out of my cabin and stepped upstairs to brush my teeth, excited crew members told me to look outside. And finally, I was able to see, what I had been looking forward to for weeks: The real Caribbean. All around us there were these green islands in the middle of turquoise water. After we had successfully anchored in front of Bequia, we were allowed to swim to the beach. Me and three others were the first ones, who jumped into the transparent water with our flippers. After everyone had arrived on the beaches warm, white sand, we all hugged each other, and the mood was exuberant. We’ve crossed the whole Atlantic Ocean!
BBQ-Island: A starry night, the roaring sea, rustling palm trees and between them your hammock: One day before New Year’s Eve, when we slept on the land for the first time on the journey, we had exactly this setting around us. We’ve all spent a social evening and marveled at the beautiful stars that were so far away, while we were lying on the soft white sand right next to the wide ocean. Late at night we went into our hammocks and after enjoying the view of palmtrees and the glittering stars above us, we all fell asleep fast. Waking up the next morning in my cozy sleeping bag on this picturesque island was incredible and the fact that this day was the 31st of December made it even more special.
Returning from Panama: “I can’t wait to come home again!” was a sentence that buzzed threw my head the whole time I was sitting next to the Naso Indigenes on the boat that should drive us back to the Thor. When we had finally arrived, it was an incredible feeling. I’ve never appreciated the fact that I’ve gotten the ability to experience this journey so much as in that moment. The reunion with all my loved “parents” (adult crew), the hugs, the exchange of our stories, my clean clothes and just being somewhere familiar after all these new exciting experiences in Panama again: All of that and so much more made me feel save and I realized how lucky I was/am to have the Thor and my big family as my second home.
Expi: There are normal cows AND there are so called “battlecows” (=” Kampfkühe”). During our stay on the Azores, we went around in three groups for four days. Two adults and ten to twelve students were hiking around with their tents and cookers. On the second day of the trip, our group, which was really nice, wanted to go up a hill on the island of Pico and hike to a lake. When it was about to get dark, we just wanted to get up there fast and search for a sleeping spot. After we’ve already passed a lot of pastures and had climbed over some fences, we’ve intended to continue like that. But the big cows on the next field did not seem to be happy with us as their guests. They’ve blocked the whole way and were slowly running towards us with their heads down and an intimidated expression in their eyes. When we realized that there was no chance of getting through, we decided to walk down a little bit and sleep on the other side of the fence. Crazy things like that happened all the time and the expedition was a whole adventure, what I’ve really appreciated.
As you can clearly understand now, my last 6 ½ months were quite a big adventure. That’s why every evening, when I’m lying in bed, I think of some new stories that I want to share with people who’ll ask the question “How was it?”. It might sound simple but I’m sure that these three words sometimes will be the reason why whole evenings will be filled with thousands of words, describing my journey. I don’t know if everyone will be able to understand why specific events were my highlights. Maybe, only for me, they’ve got a deeper meaning. But still, I’ll try my best to describe everything interestingly. And maybe someday, when I’m already an old, retired grandma, I’ll tell all these stories to my beloved, excited grandchildren, who want to set off on new adventures.