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Water Villas - Maldives
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Ayubowan! [In Sinhalese - Wishing one for long life, typically as a greeting or a goodbye]
Our trip to the Maldives was very unique! Not only did we get to see a lot of seascapes and marine life, but we also had to travel to our destination by all the three means of transportation.
In a span of less than 12 hours, we had experienced travel by road, by air and water. As we didn't want to waste much of daylight, we planned our trip by night. Our transit was Colombo...Sipping the authentic Sri Lankan tea while we waited for our immigration check at midnight was so refreshing. The flight from Colombo to Malé has one of the most beautiful sights.
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| View of Islands as we took from Mamalagiri |
As we were getting closer to Malé, we were able to sight smaller islands underneath us, tucked away in the cleanest and serene turquoise green waters. From Malé to Mamalagiri, we had to take a smaller craft, with not more than 50 passengers. The flight was approximately 45 minutes, with beautiful landscape and rainbows amidst cotton clouds, a sight which was no less than a dream! As we reached the island, we were ferried to our destination island, ‘Sun Island, where we spent the rest of our indescribable vacation amongst dolphins, white sharks, stingrays, manta rays, starfish and other marine life and coral reefs.
Viewing Indian Ocean’s hues, and capturing the beauty was divine! We were lucky to have witnessed beautiful rains in the Maldives, where the colors of sky and water are almost merged with just a thin curved horizon. Nature did show us that the beauty of grey sky with blue water is the best combination one can look out on an island with the blazing hot sun!
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| Small white shark |
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| Dolphins in their habitat |
Well, having to spot an animal in a safari on land is definitely VERY different from spotting dolphins in the Indian Ocean. The super-smart dolphins were swimming along with us and underneath our boat. An evening well spent trying to capturing these cheeky little guys.
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| Buffet - It's just a part of the dessert section |
When you are a foodie and you have a platter like this in front of you for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you are in paradise! The multi-cuisine restaurant which could easily accommodate 1000+ guests at one time, [one of the largest I have seen] on a small island is an absolutely wait-for-food moment. With the cool breeze from the sea, no hurry to go to where ever, you are blessed to have the world’s most exotic fruits and vegetables on your plate. Thanking God a million times is something I can recall! The exotic counter of creams and cheese, loaves of bread and butter, vegetables and salad dressing, cookies and waffles, olives and greens, fruits and flavors….It's amazing how they manage their inventory, when for everything you need to fly out of the island to procure them.
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| Water Villas by night |
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| Shark feeding |
The water-villas by night is a sight to see. With huge stingrays and manta rays, visiting the shore for their dinner, and the Herons who come by to have their grub too. Shark feeding near water-villas is a sight to see. Just make sure, you have your grip tight and feet on the ground, just so, you don't lose your balance when the herd comes to munch on big chunks of meat.
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| Me, bean bag and nature! |
During the afternoons, when the sun is high up and is at his best, walking on pathway or cycling, with the cool breeze from the tall coconut and palm trees is very refreshing. Sitting on the beach chairs, sipping on lemon tea is a welcome change of landscape from the beach and water villas with the backyard open to the Indian Ocean. One of the afternoons, I remember spending time wetting my feet in the crystal clear blue water, my back against a huge lazy bag, thinking of how wonderful nature is, and how lucky I am to be here, with a wonderful family.
I might have missed snorkeling or scuba diving or jet skiing, but I am sure to have those in my bucket list, which are pending and will do it sometime, at a different place and more to come.
Until my next travel, and cheers to more key-in…… Ayubowan!