In An Octopus’ Garden

Our cottage
see all photos »

By Christina

The 16th of January was a sad day for us: we said goodbye to my mom and we left the continent of Africa. The good news was we were flying out of Tanzania (not Kenya) and we were headed to the Maldives, reputed to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. Our journey was a long one – we took five separate flights (the last being a seaplane to our island/resort) and traveled for nearly twenty-four hours. The kids loved the Air Emirates plane with its personal entertainment center allowing them access to a ton of video games, movies and radio channels, not to mention camera images from the bottom and front of the plane. The strangest part of our travels was a short stop in Dubai in the middle of the night. It amazed us how busy and crazy the Dubai airport was at 1 a.m. There were people everywhere: shopping, eating and sleeping by the dozens on the floor, and there were tons of flights coming and going. With Abby asleep in my lap, I had a lot of time for some great people watching.

see all photos »

Prior to our departure for the Maldives, and at the height of our “Escape from Nairobi” angst, my brother Kasey sent us this very funny AP news article with the subject line, “What is it about the places you are about to go and Presidents?”

January 09, 2008

The Associated Press

The President of the Maldives was saved from assassination yesterday when a

Kuredu Island Resort
see all photos »

Boy Scout grabbed the knife of an attacker who jumped out of a crowd. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was not hurt, but his shirt was ripped when the attacker tried to stab him before the 15-year-old and security guards intervened during an event on the small island of Horafushi. The scout, who had lined up to welcome Gayoom, was taken to hospital for injuries to his hand. He received stitches but later complained he could not move some of his fingers. Gayoom has ruled the Indian Ocean atoll of 1,190 coral islands since 1978 and helped turn it into a major destination for tourists. But opposition to his rule has grown in recent years. There have also been concerns about increased militancy in the Muslim nation.

see all photos »

I am not sure Kasey thought the article was funny, but we thought it was hilarious and joked for days about boy scouts and how you never know when one might come in handy. Truthfully, the biggest danger we faced during our time in the Maldives was a coconut falling on our head. It was so isolated and peaceful that, in some ways, we felt like we were in this weird “no man’s land” that wasn’t even really a country. That probably doesn’t make sense, but what I am trying to say is our time there was more about relaxation than culture.

see all photos »

As I mentioned, our last leg was on a seaplane from the capital of Male (where I had two rather expensive cappuccinos in the departure lounge) to our island/resort. I write “island/resort” because the resort was the island, or vice versa. As you fly above the Maldives you can see below that that pretty much is the story everywhere – there are little islands with resorts on each scattered throughout the most incredible aqua blue water I have ever seen.

Somehow the colors seem to be richer in the Maldives. When we got off the plane at Kuredu (our resort), we were nearly blinded by the white sandy beach, and the combination of blue sky and blue water with white sand sandwiched between, was incredibly beautiful. So was our cottage on the beach with its hardwood floors and crisp linens (Luxury Boy was very happy). At one point I asked Dan if he thought this would be the nicest place we stayed on the entire trip, and he replied “This may be the nicest place we stay our entire lives”.

Our seaplane
see all photos »

Our time each day was spent kayaking, beachcombing, eating/drinking (we opted for the full board and beverage plan which added to the lethargy), and snorkeling. Without question, this was the best snorkeling we have ever done. Not only was everything in Technicolor, but there was tons and tons of stuff to see just yards away from our cottage. Twice a day, the four of us would wade into the ocean and make our way to the coral reef “wall” about 200 yards offshore. On the way, we saw tropical fish of every variety you can imagine, eels (including nasty garden eels, of which there seemed to be hundreds!), star fish, urchins, and clams. Once at the wall, we would swim with huge schools of bright blue and orange fish, some of which clumped together like in the book “Swimmy” that I used read to the kids when they were little. Without fail, we would see turtles, and it was a blast swimming with them and “petting” them (ever so gently). One day we discovered a sunken boat in the deep area just past the wall. Another day we spent 10 minutes watching stingrays glide through the sea.

see all photos »

On our second morning at the resort, the kids met a brother and sister from England – Max who was 12, and his 9-year old sister Maisy. The boys had a lot of fun kayaking and playing ping pong, while the girls enjoyed swimming and comparing Nintendo games. I think it was nice for them to have time with their peers, since that is a rare event these days, and they get tired of us old folks. The rest of the clientele at the resort seemed to be Europeans desperate to escape the nasty winter back home. I saw a lot of very sun burned people and even with my base, I stayed out of the sun as much as possible. (For those at home keeping tabs on our exact whereabouts, we were about 5 degrees north of the equator, so the sun was wicked strong).

The time passed too quickly. On two separate mornings, Grayson and I walked within a foot of a baby black tipped reef shark hanging out by the shore. One night we went “night fishing” and caught few fish, but did see the largest manta rays (10 foot wingspan) I have ever seen. We loved skinny dipping at night under the full moon, looking for sting rays at the end of the pier in floodlit water, watching enormous fruit bats frolicking in the palm trees, and playing chess with the two feet high chess pieces outside the rec room. At one point Dan said to me, “You know, I haven’t worn shoes since we got here” and I replied, “Well, I haven’t worn any underwear.” Who needs resort-wear when you can live in your swimsuit or go commando under your kikoi?

I would like to think that I will be back in the Maldives some day, but I just don’t know if that is realistic. Plus, they may not be here. Apparently, with the seas rising due to global warming, the Maldives (highest point is 6 feet above sea level) will be under water some day. That, my friend, is a crying shame.