By Kieran Hanley

Even though I did not catch a GT, the trip has been amazing.

Waking up and getting in a rickshaw to one of the best beaches in Asia was a surreal experience.  The rickshaw drive was awesome because I got to see most of the island.  There was never a dull moment on the ride.  When we arrived at the beach it was crowded. A lot of people there were surprised to see us and stared.  I could tell that we were some of the first Americans to visit that beach.

We walked through a towering forest to a more private beach.  The forest looked like scenes from Jurassic Park.  When we left the forest and arrived at the next beach, we were the only ones there.  It was shocking because the beach was the nicest I have ever seen.  The views down the beach were incredible.  We had a whole reef to ourselves.

When we left the beach I noticed a sign warning us to beware of saltwater crocodiles – that was funny.

After our time on the beach, we came back to Moonlit Sands (our lodge) to hop on boats.  We were going out snorkeling.  The boat was hauling at a whopping 5 knots to the spot.  When we got to the spot we were alone again.  For the first time in my life, we were snorkeling in an amazing place without other people.  That’s when I felt how lucky we are and came to understand how special the place is.

Seeing so many amazing fish was amazing.  The coral was so colorful, with schooling fish all around it.

Coming back from snorkeling, I was exhausted.  Since it was just our first day on Havelock – our first real day of the trip – I knew the rest of the time was going to be even better!