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Stepping Into Paradise: The Maldives

Maldives islands, sandbanks and reefs

The Maldives. Paradise. It seems fruitless to carry on writing as this single word best describes what the Maldives offers as a holiday destination. But that would be a very short blog post and I sure have a lot to say about this little slice of heaven.

For me, the fact that 99 per cent of Maldivian territory lies below sea level and that more than three quarters of the world’s reef-fish species can be found here means I was sold on the idea of a week here. Add into that the crystal clear warm waters, the white sandy beach and the year round sunshine, it was a no brainer. After a short stop off in Dubai, we landed at Male – a unique experience in itself. Male Airport is a single runway that fills an entire island – no room for the pilot overshooting this one, otherwise our encounters with the reef fishes would have begun rather prematurely!

Seaplane

We were warmly welcomed by our Hayes & Jarvis rep and ushered onto a bus to terminal B and a very nice private waiting lounge where we awaited our sea plane transfer. It wasn’t long before our pilot was revving up the engine and scooting along the water to take off. I was in the front row and so got a first rate view of the pilots at the controls as we shuddered into the sky (see a short film clip of the return flight take-off on our Video page). We waved goodbye to the airport and its neighbour – the capital city/island of Male. The 2km by 1km island is home to some 80,000 residents and growing, although there is no more possible space to build at ground level as the entire island is covered with high rise buildings (with limits set at 8 storeys) and a few open spaces.

As we headed north the real beauty of this stunning slice of the Indian Ocean unveiled itself. A patchwork quilt of atolls and islands, reefs, lagoons, and sand-banks spread out before us in the most stunning turquoise, blues, greens, teals and yellows. The Maldivian government determines that there are 1,192 islands of which only about 200 are inhabited. However, the number can range between 1,300 and 13,000 depending on your definition of “island”.

Meedhupparu island

40 minutes later we smoothly looped around our destination Meedhupparu island, one of the 13 inhabited islands that make up the South Miladhunmadulu Atoll to the north. We landed with just a few skips into the waves and after disembarking we were immediately ushered into lunch and then to our beachside villa. Even the most basic rooms here have a first rate location as all are located directly on the beach with views of the turquoise sea and the random sprinkling of gently swaying palm trees and foliage that provide welcome shade from the hot sun. For a couple used to backpacking our way around one-roomed beach shacks with simple foam mattresses and holey mozzy nets – this place was luxury. Of course it is far from the 5* standard of some of the other resorts here, but for us that meant a slightly more relaxed experience, which was exactly what we were looking for (and could afford!). I personally needn’t ask for more and despite it being rainy season, we enjoyed a full week of sunshine with the heavy downpours coming only at night time – which was convenient!

It took us all of 5 minutes to get into the warm sea with our snorkels and then for the next six days we pretty much only came up for intervals of air and food.

Just 10 paces from our villa (on the northern side of the island, which I would recommend to any visitors as it is quietest and has better snorkelling and views) and 10 kicks from the shore, the reef rises from the white sand seabed. The reef fishes are plentiful even at this shallow depth with a collection of cheeky surgeonfish (pictured below) chasing a rainbow of parrotfish (more than 20 species of each found here) and wrasse, shoals of Moreish Idols floating about, Oriental Sweetlips hiding in the coral, and all multitudes of unicornfish, butterfly fish (30 species here) and angelfish (14 species here) busily swimming amongst the colourful clams. Some minutes later, at the edge of the reef, the level drops dramatically down some 20-30 metres and disappears into the murky depths. It was at this exact spot that we first saw a beautiful Hawksbill Turtle (to make up one of the three encounters) serenely swimming along and pecking amongst the coral. Wow. Among the other marine highlights were an octopus and a sting ray (pictured below) – who we kept a little further away from!

Powderblue Surgeonfish

Stingray

Beautiful clear water

Beach villa

Our 7 day holiday can be pretty much summed up in the lists of fishes and marine life we swam with (pictured above), interspersed with lounging on the white powdery sand and working our way through the all-inclusive cocktails list. However it is pertinent to remember that these white sandy beaches are formed by the break down of coral. And it is not only the rising tide that is breaking up these beautiful habitats – but rising temperatures and acidity of the waters (both of which kill coral) and rising the sea levels that threaten the land mass of this small island nation. The world’s environmental challenges come into sharp focus in the Maldives.

While residents of the Maldives use relatively little energy, it is the tourists who visit here that guzzle power. And it is not power provided by solar or wave power – both of which this place has aplenty. The resorts and locals alike rely heavily on diesel powered generators. While solar power would inevitably be cheaper to run, the up front cost of implementation and the willingness of tourists to fork out hefty sums for a holiday here prevent it from being widely established. Like all countries reliant on democracy – the Maldives is a victim of short term politics and there is no short term impetus to change. It’s the long game which will cause the final and irreversible damage to this little slice of paradise. However with a population of just 345,023 people, the impact the islands have on the world’s environmental issues is minimal and so like much of the world, it is reliant on the conscience of the powerhouses – ironically the same countries (USA, China, etc) that most frequent this paradise holiday destination.

The stunning coral reefs of the Maldives from the air

Male city

Saharan Morocco

We drove deeper and deeper into the arid dry landscape, leaving the towering gorges, snowcapped Atlas peaks, rolling hillsides and Berber villages behind. We spotted a few camels on the horizon and saw fewer and fewer settlements. Then, up ahead, towering like majestic mountain tops, we saw the shadowy deep burnt orange sand dunes of Erg Chebbi.

We were on the edges of the Saharan desert.

We met our camel driver at the edge of the sands, where the modern world stops and the ancient modes of transport work best (eh em, okay so the sandboards are pretty good too!). We had linked up with an American couple, Bert and Evelyn, along the many lunch and photo stops and having soon caught on to the fact that our paths were leading in the same direction, we started up a dialogue and grouped up for our overnight desert adventure.

Our four camels were driven by a man named Ali. He did not own the beasts as we were told they cost some €1,500-€2,000 each to buy. The two men in our party were to sit on the first and last camel, with us ladies on the middle two. Bert opted for the last so Jon was shotgun up front. After Bert climbed onto his camel, it jerkily raised onto its knees then her back legs straightened and she finally swung her weight upright, swinging Bert around in the process. After Evelyn had made it up safely it was my turn so I patted the thick wooly hair at my camels shoulder and flung my leg over her back. Clinging onto the saddle handle (for ‘saddle’ read ‘blankets secured with rope’), I was thrown forward and then back as she jerked to her feet/hooves. And we were up! No problem! Jon soon mounted and we were off. In reality it felt much like sitting on a horse, although I wouldn’t go so far as to describe it as riding! We traced the outlines and curves of the sand dunes and soon the road and few buildings behind us were nothing but a distant memory.

It is said that when a wealthy local family didn’t offer hospitality to a poor woman and her son, God was offended and buried them under the mounds of sand called Erg Chebbi. The shape-shifting dunes reach heights of 160m (the highest in Morocco) and glowed in stunning contrasting of shades of orange, pink and red in the afternoon sunlight.

It was a completely surreal experience swaying back and forth with the rocking walk of the camel as its hooves sunk into the soft sand. Gazing around me at the picture-perfect sand dunes – more reminiscent of a fictional story, filmset or dreamworld than real life – I could hardly believe I was there. All was quiet and serene in the desert – bar the strangest sounds coming from Jon’s lead camel in front of me; a combination of stomach grumblings, low growling, and a noise like bubbles being blown in milkshake through a straw.

We rode our camels for an hour and a half as the sun set and before long we had arrived at the desert camp. The camp consisted of just a frame with many, many carpets thrown over it to form a circle of small rooms, each containing between two and six beds. I say beds, but soon discovered they were more akin to stone slabs – youch!

We swapped the camels for a snowboard which had seen better days and climbed up a nearby dune. After recovering from the exertion of conquering the sandy peak (phew) I recalled my childhood experiences of being the default ‘safety tester’ and sent Jon down first. Having allowed him to prove the best method of using the board, I then secured it to my own feet and shuffled forward to the edge of the dune and I was away! Long after Jon had got bored and given up the exhausting sand dune climbs, I was still whizzing up and down! Brilliant fun! All too soon dinner was ready and we joined the Americans for tagine and mint tea.

Before retiring to bed, Jon and I climbed the nearest dune one last time and lay in the soft red sand gazing up at the bright moon and twinkling array of stars above us. What a night sky! It was simply stunning. Rarely have I seen so many stars in the night. Of course there was only one way down the dune so I sandboarded through the dark back to my tented room and finally fell asleep under the heavy blankets.

The next morning came quickly and at 5.30am we were again mounting the jerking camels. We rode through the darkness to meet the sunrise and watch the colours of the new day play over the twisting, rolling curving dunes of sand.

It was a very long drive back to Marrakesh on our penultimate day and finally we arrived back at our Riad, after the very best of adventures.