Visiting the Maldives

Visiting the Maldives

I have been lucky to travel to many different country and vacation destinations over the past years. My love to travel has been inherited from my parents. My family has been travelling for as long as I can remember. When asked about my best travel experience, so many occasions come into my mind. I can vividly recall my trip to Kerala in India, canoeing on the river Drava in Maribor, Slovenia as well as camping and zip lining in Costa Rica. However, there is one experience that stands above the rest, and that was my trip to the Maldives in 2017. After a family consultation, my parents decided that we should visit the Maldives. I had made little contribution to the decision, given my age of 13. The trip, however, turned out to be one of my best experiences ever.

Before getting to my travel experience, I will share some information about the Maldives so you can better understand how beautiful the place is and what makes that trip an exceptional for me to date. The beautiful Maldives is made up of 1190 tiny islands scattered across the Indian Ocean. Well, only 185 of the islands are inhabited, and the rest are used for tourism. The country, being only 1.5m above sea level, is the lowest country on earth and has a very fragile ecosystem. After doing some research on the resorts in the Maldives, we settled on Baros Resort due to its beauty, adventure, and privacy. We also decided on the islands we were going to explore during the stay at the Maldives and started preparing for the trip. Travelling light has always been my thing, and packing for me was light. Come the day of travel, we all headed to the airport in the morning, feeling good and looking forward to the beautiful journey.

No one brought books for the journey, not because we are not a reading family, but because the journey from Qatar to the Maldives only takes 6 hours at most. We decided to enjoy whatever the plane would provide during the flight instead. Taking the Qatar Airways was a perfect choice. Our Journey started in the afternoon, and we got to the beautiful exotic highlands effortlessly. We were even offered the best in-flight cuisine I have ever had. The seating was spaciously designed to make the journey stress free, and I was fast asleep a few hours into the flight. Thanks to the plane’s crew, the holiday started in the best possible way. After a beautiful journey, we landed at the Male International Airport in Male, the capital city of Maldives. The resort sent a representative with about to take us to our designated island. We were welcomed so warmly at the resort and given our butler, whose real name I do not quite recall, to guide us through our stay.

I, however, remember the butler being so friendly and I soon started calling him Loki because he looked so much like the Marvel character, Loki, to me. He gave us a detailed insight into the resort and took us to our suite. We had arrived in the evening, and I was a bit jet-lagged. We also had a water villa for ourselves which was so soothing to watch. Getting to my room, I found a note on the bed with a welcome message from the staff. We were so hungry that we ordered room service soon after unpacking and unwinding from the flight. The following morning I woke up rejuvenated and to the beautiful sound of the water below the villa. I was so excited and eager finally get to explore the beautiful Maldives Islands. I might have woken up a bit too early because it was not until almost two hours later that everyone else woke up. However, I had the chance to experience the beauty of sunrise just before everyone else woke up, or rather woken up by me.

The breakfast at the resort was epic, like all other meals. After breakfast, I was so excited to start the first of my 14 days stay at the Maldives. As I was a kid, I used most of the time to enjoy the thrilling adventures the island had to offer. My parents and all other adults seemed to prefer enjoying the peace of mind that the beautiful islands brought by mostly basking in the sun and going to spas. The dolphin cruises were especially fun, and I absolutely loved them. We even went on a dolphin cruise organized by the resort and cruised for over an hour. The experience was even better as the dolphins in this pod even played with us. I actually whistled to them, and they looked at me. I also enjoyed snorkelling in the clear waters of the Maldives and was lucky to spot a turtle. I was, however glad that there were no sharks there because my fear for them is unmatched.

Other activities that I enjoyed were sandbank swimming. The experience was surreal, with the warm water and the beauty of the setting sun, and it felt like heaven. I was also at awe with the hermit crabs and enjoyed collecting and racing them. There was not a day that passed without boat ridding.  Before the end of the trip, I had travelled on modern ferries, speed boats, small fishing dinghies, and larger fishing boats. Well, I must confess that I grew seasick more than once, but it was worth the experience. I was also lucky enough to see the construction of a ‘Safari boat.’ Other than Loki, I also got to make many friends, most of whom were kids my age. The language barrier might have been a problem, but one language that is common among kids is games and play, and this we did.

There is so much I can say about my travel to the Maldives. It was just incredible, to say the least. I might have been young, but the trip taught me the importance of getting away and relaxing with nature. I had a lot of fun, and the experience of being sounded by water was unforgettable. I would highly recommend anyone to consider a trip to the place. Hope that you get to experience this little piece of heaven soon too.