After months of dynamic and challenging travel in Africa and India, we couldn’t have been more giddy to be jetting off to the luxurious and exotic Maldives for some forced R&R. We were also fortunate to be able to schedule a rendezvous with Greg’s parents, Larry and Grace. The Maldives is a collection of a whopping isolated 1,190 coral islands and atolls (all but 200 uninhabited) 2000 km off the coast of southern India.
With all those islands, any one of which could easily be considered “paradise”, making our choice was beyond difficult. After a lot of planning, we settled on the island of Dharavandhoo, which is one of the few islands “big enough” to have a domestic airport. (For the record, by big, we mean 800 people and 1.3 km long and .4 km wide.) Dharavandhoo also seemed liked the easiest way to link up with the parents as well. After their departure, we regrettably planned to return to our budget traveling lifestyle…hopping to a different island by public ferry. Unfortunately, as we found out, the Maldives is island destination where ‘island hopping’ is not as easy as it should seem.
The breathtaking view of the islands flying into Male, the capital. It’s incredible how this span of islands, which are all coral formations, just pop up out of the middle of the Indian Ocean. They spread north to south a whopping 510 miles (820 kilometers).
As we descended into Male, it’s an odd sight to see such a decent sized city with tall buildings perched like tinker toys on the edge of a what seemed a Lilly pad floating in the open ocean.
Upon landing, we were blasted with a delicious blast of warm, sticky air, and immediate cravings of flips flops and shorts. (Not too skimpy now, Greg, this is a strict Islamic country!)
The only thing to eat on a budget at the airport. Mandy fortunately wasn’t very hungry after her recent tummy incidences In India. So between a large fry for her and a chicken burger for Greg, we gasped at the $11 price we got hit with. No, we were not in India anymore indeed…
We had entered Hoo-ville. Everywhere in the Maldives ends in “Hoo” or occasionally “Doo.” Try organizing a trip here. The names are enough to make any independent traveler go mad ?
The Flyme flight attendant on the 20-minute jaunt from Male to Dharavandohoo. We were floored when they brought us cold towels to wipe off with, as well as mints. What service! Especially for such a short flight!
The baggage “carousel” when we arrived at tiny Dharavandohoo airport.
We got to Dharavandhoo just in time to celebrate Grace’s birthday. The staff at the resort presented her with a birthday cake which the chef had made himself earlier, of a house marked “sold” having learned she’s a real estate agent. So incredibly kind.
Kiha Beach Resort
Thank you Larry and Grace for significantly upping our budget backpacker living standards!! Kiha Beach was by far the poshest place we’ve stayed in a very long time. Kiha Beach had a divine infinity pool, beachfront access (with snorkeling right from the beach!), an exceedingly helpful and friendly staff and an included Maldivian buffet breakfast. ($125/night)
After two days of solid rain, on our third night we got a tropical treat by experiencing our first cyclone! It pummeled little Dharavandhoo starting around 10 pm, and just as we were about to drift off to sleep, we were jolted awake by a massive clap of thunder. Nope… wait. That wasn’t thunder.
That would be the ceiling from our balcony right outside our room crashing down due to the weight of water on the rooftop.
Flipping on the light, and muttering several WTF’s, we found a firehose of water rushing into our room from under the door. Greg frantically stuffed some towels under the door in an effort to hold back the water (ha!) while Mandy ran down the hall like a chicken manically looking for help. But it was useless. In no time, the water had become about 6-8” deep in our room.
Next door, Larry, like his son, was also trying to fight back the water rushing under his door by running buckets of water to the bathroom while Grace was screaming at him to “Pack your shit! We gotta get the hell out of here!!” ?
Eventually a guy from the hotel ran in to help with…a solitary squeegee…shouting “oh no!! Big problem!”
Within a few minutes a team of about eight guys came with more squeegees, (no clue where they all came from!) while the storm continued to whip and crash around us and the squeegee team efficiently got the water out of the rooms. Within an hour the staff had moved us into new alternate (bone dry) rooms. Fat chance of us getting any sleep though, adrenaline coursed through us as the storm continued to rage on for a few more hours. Ah, don’t you just love paradise?
The flooding and tree damage the next morning. We were shocked it wasn’t worse.
While the storm whipped on, we couldn’t help but think of all of those people on the resort islands across the water paying $500-$10,000 a night for over-the-water bungalows. This night it paid not to be rich, for sure. Who knows what kind of fun they went through!
A before and after shot from the storm of a swing right on the beach. You can see the massive beach erosion that took place, which is completely gone under the swing. Going through the cyclone, it’s impossible not to appreciate the vulnerability that the people who live here have. The highest point on Dharavandhoo is less than 1.5 meters (4 feet) above sea level. The highest point in the entire nation of the Maldives is just 2.4 meters (7.8 feet!) It is terrifying to think how very threatened by climate change and rising sea levels the nation of the Maldives and their way of life is.
We had another day of gloomy weather after the storm and then finally, by the third day the sun began punching its way through the clouds bringing the heavenly aquamarine water surrounding the island out for a jaw dropping display.
Yay! With the storm behind us, beach time was on. Just don’t linger too far from your “bikini beach” at your hotel in those skimpy clothes, or you might get slapped with a fine.
Island Life
This said, we partly chose Dharavandhoo island because we wanted to be on an island that would give us a good sense of what a Maldivian community is like and hopefully allow us the chance to meet real locals and experience something closer to authentic island.
Well, the locals were all smiles, almost everyone in the streets and in the shops were very friendly, and welcoming. It was truly fascinating for us to walk among the houses and sand streets to see people going about their daily lives on this 1.5km x 400m island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. They seemed to live a simple, carefree island life. Living as they likely have for centuries, resourcefully carving out a sustainable life where they can by growing their own fruits and vegetables, collecting rainwater, and catching their own fish, building minimally, and dealing with waste and recycling or repurposing. All on this small island in the ocean.
Part of that life is hammocks and “traditional Maldivian hammock chairs.” They are made for Island life. In fact, nearly every evening everyone hangs out outside their homes sitting in these chairs saying hello as people walk by! In many Islamic countries we’ve visited, the women prefer not to have their pictures taken, so it was a pleasure in Maldives to be allowed to capture these special moments. Thanks also to Grace for sharing some of her photos.
Everyone we asked was happy to pose for photos, especially the kids, and most didn’t mind trying to communicate with us in English, even though they have their own language, Dhivehi, which is closely related to Sinhalese (also spoken in Sri Lanka). We also noticed, Dhivehi seemed to have some vague similarities to Arabic. In fact, Maldivian culture is heavily shaped by Indian, Sri Lankan, Malaysia, Arab, Persian, Indonesian and even African influences.
This local looks like he had a hard day at work.
We caught these young lads playing “army” in their backyard. Can you see them?!
With a predominately Islamic faith practiced here, Maldivians are quite conservative and typically wear traditional dress. Getting around is easy on an island just 1.4km long…bikes, scooters, or on foot. And there is NO TRAFFIC.
Thursday. 4:01 pm. Houses are basic on Dharavandhoo, made of the readily available materials. Usually coral stones, concrete, corrugated roofing, and some locally sourced wood.
Mandy and Grace even snagged a selfie with these wonderful women!
Island wildlife…a chameleon, a huge dead octopus that washed ashore, and fruit bat. When the fruit bats weren’t getting into in-flight battles with the crows, they were found trying to snag from fruit from the trees. In many cases the locals had gotten crafty and outsmarted the bats by covering their fruit trees with netting, or even nesting each individual fruit inside a plastic bottle.
Speaking of plastic bottles, we were thrilled to see the island actually collected/recycled them. Especially considering they are absolutely everywhere here and hard to avoid.
- A typical Maldivian meal consists of fish (often tuna), coconut based curries, and other Asian influenced dishes. The food in the resort was incredibly overpriced ($25/person for a buffet), so we often encouraged Larry and Grace to go offsite to local restaurants where all four of us could eat for around the same price or less.
- Our waiter holds up a bottle of garlic chili sauce, which is pretty much dumped on everything. Ketchup is also served with everything, especially noodle dishes. Yuck. Speaking of this waiter, Grace commented on his physique and asked him what he did to keep in shape on the island. ? A valid question considering there’s not too many LA Fitnesses on little Dharavandhoo. His response was, among other things, using five liter water bottles as weights. Yes, what a way to improvise!
- Greg wants you all to be clear this is a mango lassi, not a foo-foo fruity cocktail, despite how the glass looks. Mine was watermelon juice. Unfortunately neither have alcohol. In fact, alcohol is totally forbidden to consume in the Maldives (minus the resort islands, which no locals visit and cost thousands to stay at.) It was torture.
The Baa Atoll School. The murals outside were so cute. Apparently kids from all over the atoll (island grouping) come to this school. Can’t imagine the commute they deal with! Wow…
The primary school. Everything is so colorful and inviting!
Grace took multiple pictures of the owner’s son with their tabby cat. Hard to resist a cute guy with a cute cat.
Oh…that water
When we weren’t meeting locals, (and it wasn’t pouring rain), you could find us on the beach, or snorkeling in the sublime fish filled tropical waters. And it was the best kind of snorkeling…right off the beach from where we stayed!
Although the reef was sadly very damaged, the marine life was spectacular. In a short time snorkeling we saw schools vibrantly colored fish alongside brilliant parrotfish, angelfish, squid, a sea cucumber, and so many unidentifiable fish of every color combination of the rainbow.
Mandy was a little skeptical about snorkeling in these waters without water shoes because of a drop off, and the coral rocks under foot. It didn’t help that she had also read up about the ubiquitous stonefish, which attach themselves to shallow coral rocks, are completely camouflaged, and whose spines can be 100% lethal if you come into contact with them. So, after Greg braves the waters first and returns bragging about the phenomenal snorkeling Mandy decides she should also go. The storyboard below shows the sequence of events Mandy followed… (thanks to Grace for our storyboard!)
- Greg tries to encourage Mandy to go
- Mandy reluctantly decides it would be worthwhile to snorkel as Greg outfits her with the mask
- She flops face down in the water immediately feeling claustrophobic from the narrow water entry point, but pushing onward through the channel into the open drop off. Once she got out, it was easy and she realized it was totally worth battling through her irrational stonefish fears. The (non-stonefish) fish were the brightest, most numerous and most exotic she’d ever seen. While under the water, she debated whether or not to tell Greg that he was right.
- Coming back in was equally as challenging fighting the undertow and drop off and she had to be rescued by the know-it-all.
- We both laughed as Mandy rolls ungracefully onto the shore.
- Greg prepares to head out again and show us all how it’s done.
- And then this happened….?
Grace was not even the least bit interested in taking the plunge!
Time with the family
But the real reason we loved being in the Maldives is that we got to spend some much needed time with Larry and Grace.
This is Mandy’s annual obligatory photo shoot with Grace, who feels more like a big sister to her than a mother-in-law. She’s so much fun; full of energy and spunk.
Greg and his dad have their own obligatory photo shoot, which was naturally forced by Grace ?
It was great to have Larry and Grace around so we actually got some pictures of the two of us!
Grace learns how to wear a hijab by Hai Haiko, one of the terrific staff members at our hotel.
The four of us after our non-boozy cocktails.
Christmas gift time!! This was when Grace and Larry adorned us with very convenient gifts from the States like non-toxic deodorant, Glide floss, organic tampons (which Greg loved), Melatonin, and our favorite cookies from Vegas. Greg kinda looks like Jack Nicholson in “The Shining” in this shot, but instead of “here’s Johnny!” he’s saying, “here’s cookies!!”
As we mentioned, we ended up spending a lot of time indoors due to the rain so UNO became an ongoing activity. However, I don’t think any of the four of us once beat the UNO sisters from Paris who clearly need to be UNO masters or something….
We had every intention to go to a second island after Dharavandhoo, to do it on a budget, following Greg’s parents’ departure, but unfortunately logistics can be quite challenging in the Maldives and are totally weather dependent. On the day of our departure, our slow ferry (which sounded like a great 6-hour option at $2) to Goidhoo was canceled due to choppy waters. A speedboat would have cost the same price as a flight back to Male and then would have had to pay another $100 for a speedboat from Goidhoo to Male.
Thus, we ended up sucking it up and just taking the flight to Male, forgoing three extra nights in the Maldives. We ended up losing bit of money because our accommodation on Goidhoo would not refund. Hopefully in the future, the country can make “island hopping” a little more attainable. For now, we left a little piece of us in Dharavandahoo.
