Today we left Vanuatu. For better or worse, the problems we’d worried about with Air Vanuatu didn’t materialized. By 8:45 we were walking out onto the runway to the small plane we’d be taking to Port Vila.

The plane wasn’t the smallest I’ve ever been on, but it was close.

For the entire flight, we could see straight into the cockpit as the pilots flew the small plane. I couldn’t help but feel a little sad looking at the Santo airport as we left the ground.

But there was a big upside to the tiny airplane. This plane had smaller engines, and the wheels didn’t retract. As a result, on our trip back to Vila we flew slower and lower than we had in the larger plane a week ago. I enjoyed looking out of the window as we flew. I was pretty excited to see an island that looked like a whale.

Then as we began our initial descent toward Vila, Lydie reached back and smacked my leg. She excitedly pointed out of the window. I looked down and saw an actual whale surfacing in the turquoise water, fins out to the side and a huge puff of watery air spraying up as it breathed. Vanuatu. Wow. Regardless of what country we’re in, it seems Lydie is our whale spotter.

We were soon on the ground. Air Vanuatu hadn’t let us down.

The rest of our day was a bit of a blur. We few to Fiji. We waited in the airport. As the sun was setting, we boarded a modern jet headed for Auckland. Back in New Zealand, we collected our stored luggage and Ubered downtown to our next AirBNB — an apartment in a huge building. Reentry was a little tough for all of us.

But looking back on Vanuatu, we couldn’t help but feel lucky to have experienced it. For all of us, Santo was riddled with superlatives.

• Prettiest beach we’ve ever visited — Champagne Beach. It wasn’t just conventionally pretty. It was our kind of pretty. Reachable only by 4×4. Natural. With jungle. And snorkeling.
• One of the best hikes of our lives — Millennium Cave. The jungle hike Julie and I did was incredible and so different from the other hikes we’ve done. With terrain that varied from jungle to cave to chasm, allowing us to experience the natural environment in so many different ways.
• Best sea kayaking of our lives — kayaking to the Matevula Blue Hole. The setting was varied and pristine, from the tropical sea lagoon to the pristine fresh-water river to the blue hole itself. The banyan tree rope swing was incredible. Along the way we’d seen amazing wildlife including sharks, fish, and sea turtles.
• Best scuba of our lives. Sure, it’s a low bar, as we’ve just started, but Santo has set the mark very high.
• Best snorkeling of our lives. This wasn’t a low bar. We’ve snorkled in some great places from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. The abundant, colorful life was enchanting.

We don’t know if we’ll ever go back, but we’re sure we’ll revisit our memories of Santo for the rest of our lives. If you have the opportunity, go. Just go.

-Will