Luis--+Sulawesi


 * MY STORY IN SULAWES****I**

It was four years ago that took one of the best trips of my life. The fascinating place I visited was an island called Sulawesi, located In the Pacific Ocean. This is one of the biggest island in Indonesia archipelago and a fantastic place to spend the holidays. We arrived at the island in July and stayed there for two weeks. The weather was as I had expected: hot, sunny and humid. The sceneries were amazing, just as we had imagined, with white sandy beaches, lush forests, palm trees and so on. However, the local people left me with the most positive impression, as they were extremely kind and funny. We immediately discovered that Sulawesi is not the typical touristic place with big hotels and thousands of tourists roaming through the streets. One of the goals of the trip was to dive. We had been told that this island was one of the best places to go diving in the world, and after this trip I can confirm this statement. It is incredible, fascinating and unforgettable.

The story I am going to tell you happened ten days after our arrival during one dive. Previously, we were a bit frustrated because we had not been able to see the hammerhead shark. For that reason, the dive master and captain of the ship changed the plan and decided to take us a different island where was located what he considered the best dive he had ever done. By the moment we arrived, the captain explained (as he usually did) the route, the depth and the animals we could see during the dive. He also warned us that the current was usually strong and in some occasions, there were dangerous whirlpools that we had to avoid. In spite of my initial hesitation, my experienced sister diver convinced me to go diving in few minutes. She told me that she would stay close to me and those words made me feel more confident.

The Zodiac took us the place of the dive and we jumped out quickly because the current moved the boat out of the right position. Later on, we swam speedily at the bottom as we had been indicated [told?] in spite that current was stronger than usual. Then, I suffered the first incident during the rapid descent: I had forgotten to compensate the air into the mask which caused me a burst blood vessel in my right eye. We dragged ourselves along the ground with our hands fighting against the current and tried to get by the rock where it was supposed to be less strong. Unfortunately, things did not change so much and my sister and I looked each other a bit frightened, feeling the strength of the current and breathing deeply. Only twenty five minutes after beginning our dive and forty five meters deep, we had consumed nearly all the tank and the dive master had to cancel the dive. We went toward the surface moving our legs as strong as we were able. However, a violent whirlpool stopped us from getting to the target as quick as we would have desired. Finally, some endless minutes later we were at the surface, floating among big waves far away the point where the boat had to take us. Fortunately, in twenty minutes the crew found our location and we were rescued.

This was my little adventure in that marvellous island during my holidays. Fortunately, I only suffered a little wound in my eye, which was red during one month. After all, despite the incident, I only can tell you positive things about this place and its people and strongly recommend you to visit it.