{"id":5500,"date":"2018-11-07T20:43:01","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T20:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.svenlucaworld.com\/?p=5500"},"modified":"2019-04-18T13:38:34","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T13:38:34","slug":"reisebericht-weihnachts-insel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.svenlucaworld.com\/en\/travel-report-christmas-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel report CHRISTMAS ISLAND - Home to 50 million red crabs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Visa and entry requirements Christmas Island:<\/strong>
\nPassport required
\nGerman citizens need an Australian visa to enter Christmas Island, which must be obtained before travel. A new online procedure (\u201ceVisitor\u201d) has been in effect for tourists from Germany since the end of October 2008.<\/p>\n

Information from the Foreign Office about your Christmas Island trip:<\/strong>
\nhttps:\/\/www.auswaertiges-amt.de\/de\/australiensicherheit\/213920<\/a><\/p>\n

Christmas Island is an area in the Indian Ocean with a population of around 2,500. The island is politically part of Australia and is located around 2,600 kilometers northwest of the Australian mainland and approximately 360 kilometers south of the Indonesian island of Java.<\/p>\n

The three official languages of Christmas Island are English, Malay and Chinese, and the Australian dollar is used as currency.<\/p>\n

Christmas Island is of volcanic origin, with the highest point being the 361 meter high Murray Hill. The majority of the island's surface consists of tropical rainforest, which forms a perfect habitat for around 50-60 million crabs. The red Christmas Island crabs, which are by far the most common, are also the best-known animal inhabitants of the island. This rare species of crab can only be found here and on the neighboring Cocos Islands worldwide.<\/p>\n

Christmas Island's predominantly Buddhist population consists of around 75% Chinese, 17% Europeans and 8% Malays.<\/p>\n

The economy of Christmas Island is largely based on the mining of the abundant phosphate deposits and on steadily increasing tourism.<\/p>\n

The capital of the Christmas Islands is the town of \u201cFlying Fish Cove\u201d with around 1,700 inhabitants. The small community has an international airport and a port that is mainly used for phosphate export.<\/p>\n

Christmas Island attractions include Lily Beach, Christmas Island National Park, Red Crab Cave, Visitor Center, Art Gallery, Dolly Beach, Freshwater Cave, Greta Beach, Golf Course and Ethel Beach.<\/p>\n

On March 8th, 2019 at around 2:30 p.m. I landed on Christmas Island, coming from the Cocos Islands, my last of the 248 countries. This feeling of having finally arrived at the destination of my dreams after seven years of traveling to every corner of the world was simply outstanding and indescribable.<\/p>\n

After I was picked up at the airport by my friendly private hosts, we immediately started the previously agreed island tour. First we visited the best viewpoints on the island before heading into the national park for my final photos. Even before we got there, the enormous number of red crabs could be admired everywhere. I wouldn't have expected such crowds on the streets and sidewalks.<\/p>\n

In addition to the world-famous red specimens, there are also around 15 other species of crabs on Christmas Island. The largest and most famous one, known as the palm thief or coconut crab, also ran into us a few times. The palm thief is the largest crustacean that lives on land and can grow up to 40 centimeters long. We came across a huge example of this at the last viewing point, \u201cMargaret Knoll\u201d. This crab felt so huge when I held it up and weighed probably 3 to 4 kilograms, a unique experience for me.<\/p>\n

Since my hosts and tour guides, Huiching from Taiwan and Trent from Australia, both work in crab research in the national park, they of course knew the best places where there were numerous crabs. There were such huge numbers of crabs in the national park that driving on the paths was almost impossible. We ended up finding some fantastic spots where the background and the abundance of red crabs matched absolutely perfectly.<\/p>\n

Because I had known for several years that Christmas Island would be the last country I would travel to on this planet due to my long-term and geographical travel planning, I had thought about this exact moment with the final photos hundreds of times before. Mostly on other trips beforehand, especially often on a plane, while browsing the internet or even in bed in the evening. In retrospect, things couldn't have turned out better, especially thanks to the chance acquaintance with the extremely friendly and helpful couple.<\/p>\n

It's worth visiting Christmas Island just to experience this spectacle of millions of crabs once in your life. The island is also very popular with nature lovers and diving enthusiasts and offers several cozy restaurants and bars in the capital.<\/p>\n

The next afternoon, after a 9-week trip to almost all of the Pacific islands and the final two islands in the Indian Ocean, I went back to Dubai via Jakarta.<\/p>\n

There remains a great feeling of pride, gratitude and relief as one of only 28 people in human history to have managed to travel to every single country on our planet. INCREDIBLE \u2013 I AM ONE OF THEM!!!<\/p>\n\n