![]() ![]() Meet the empowered women of rural Assam, India April 5, 2018.‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ – World Environment Day 2018 June 5, 2018.Portraits from Nagaland, India June 10, 2018.The Volkenkunde Museum – Leiden, Netherlands September 17, 2018.Winter photo-exhibitions in the Netherlands November 30, 2018.‘Weaving a future’ in rural Assam, India January 23, 2019.Ringing in the ‘Year of the Pig’ at the He Hua Temple, Amsterdam January 25, 2019.On International Women’s Day 2019 March 9, 2019.Khonoma, India’s first ‘Green Village’ March 31, 2019.Lessons from a month of cycling through Amsterdamse Bos August 30, 2019.A look at Mumbai’s oldest museum November 13, 2019.Rest assured, there’s plenty to choose from. So climbing enthusiasts, you’ll need to find something else to do. An average height of 1.5 m/5ft above sea level means there are no hills or mountains here. We landed in Malé (the capital) around noon. What most people don’t realize about Maldives is that it is the lowest country on the planet. Just over 200 of Maldives’ islands are inhabited and nearly 100 are exclusive resort islands. Did you know that the word atoll is the only English word derived from Dhivehi, the official language of Maldives? It comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu, meaning a ring-shaped reef or coral island. Maldives consists of nearly 1,200 coral islands grouped into 26 atolls in the Indian Ocean. Little did we know that it was going to turn out to be the trip of a lifetime! So this August, we decided to check Maldives off our list. What is not to like about sun, sand, surf and minimal clothing! □ Any chance we get, we find ourselves rushing to the most isolated island we can find. Check out my post Magic in the water!Ĭurious about Maldivian cuisine? Here are 100 fabulous ways to eat tuna in the Maldives □ The spectacular seaplane ride from Male to the island of Landaa Giraavaru, needs a special mention. Want to know more about the rich flora and fauna of the Maldives? Presenting The Real Stars of Maldives □ We’ll surely be back for more quality time with the Maldivian mantas. Unless, the next time, we get to swim with a whale shark □ Thank you for the most spectacular experience of our life! Nothing will ever match up to the pure, unadulterated, almost child-like joy of swimming with the playful mantas in their natural habitat. Only snorkelling is allowed.Ī big thank you to the Recreation Centre staff and marine biologists at Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru, Guy Stevens (manta scientist and conservationist extraordinaire), the Manta Trust and the Maldivian Manta Ray Project, for all the amazing work you do with the mantas and to protect the ocean. Kudos to the Maldivian government for actively protecting Hanifaru Bay, by limiting the number of boats visiting at any given time. And that for us, was the deciding factor. It also offers its guests one-of-a-kind activities like ‘Manta scientist for a day’. But our trip to the Maldives happened only because of the Four Seasons at Landaa Giraavaru, supporter of one of the largest manta ray programs in the world. On this blog, I rarely mention all the beautiful hotels and resorts we stay at, unless there is something really, REALLY special about the place. The interaction with these gentle giants was mesmerizing and my appreciation for them had grown exponentially. When I got back to the boat, I was in a trance. THEN, from the corner of my eye, I spotted a graceful, winged motion. For a brief second, it took me back to the many nights I had spent watching manta rays in a Nat Geo documentary. (A cleaning station is usually a coral patch where mantas aggregate to be cleaned by smaller fish.) ![]() I began to see the dark shape of a cleaning station on the seabed. My eyes took a few seconds to get used to the depth. I adjusted my snorkelling gear and looked into the ocean below me. With the assurance of the resort swim guide, I took a deep breath and jumped in. Even with a life vest, the fear was paralyzing. But I couldn’t imagine coming all the way to the Maldives and not swimming with the magnificent mantas. We were getting ready to jump into the vast, unknown ocean.įor all practical purposes, I think of myself as a poor swimmer. We were in a pristine white speedboat that had halted a short distance from the protected Hanifaru Bay in Baa Atoll, Maldives. Baa Atoll is a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, an area teeming with marine life including manta ray aggregations and migratory whale sharks. ![]()
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