A day of Tragedies

Crystal clear turquoise seas of the Indian Ocean

Today started full of hope and excitement.

Today is the day we are going to swim with dolphins!!

The rest of the group and I shuffle onto the benches around the breakfast table eagerly listening to Teddie explaining that, as dolphins are incredibly fast, we will have to take our little speed boat and try and get in front of them. Then we can drop in and snorkel/free dive while they swim on by.

We are excited, people pay thousands for this experience alone. We all await with feverish excitement as Teddie heads up to the top deck to go dolphin spotting.

And we wait…

And we wait a little longer…

But Teddie can’t see any dolphins!

However, all hope is not lost as we quickly, and not so elegantly, clamber onto the speed boat for a cruise round the bay with all eyes peeled – as we may spot some dolphins yet. Unfortunately, after 15 minutes of cruising Teddie decides it’s time we accept fate and head to a nearby coral to snorkel instead.

What a tragedy!!

So a little dejected we slip on our flippers and snorkels and jump into what is to become one of the best experiences of my life. We discover a world of colour, bright coral surrounded by thousands of fish, countless varieties and colours. To top it off we see three Eagle rays swim past in a unified majestic manner that I have only seen in a nature documentary. Teddie quickly grabs Jason’s go pro and gets an amazing video which doesn’t do the experience justice.

We follow this snorkel with a boat transfer, the modern yacht-style boat we’ve been on for the last two days has just been a private hire, a temporary fix while the traditional (converted) Dhoni boat deals with some technical difficulties. My fellow passenger Ollie, is apprehensive, the boat as it moors next to us seems to rock with the waves a lot more than it’s more modern counterpart, which for my sea sick prone friend is not a positive. Mel, another passenger doesn’t like the sound of no air conditioning. I for one am excited for the change, I love the rocking of the waves; it helps me sleep, not to mention that on the new (old and traditional) boat, I get my own private room!

Once the transfer is done we sail to a private resort island known for chumming the water to attract sharks. It does not disappoint, as soon as we get in the water we instantly come across three Nurse sharks asleep under the harbour. Teddie explains, they are nocturnal so we get scarily close! As we continue to snorkel we also see Black Tip sharks and their more elusive family members the White Tip sharks followed by a Porcupine Puffer fish which are significantly bigger than I imagined.

So forget the dolphins, sharks are cooler anyway!!!

My Maldive mates

Majestic Eagle rays
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Nurse sharks napping
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Although, topping all this, is the moment our guide Teddie dives down to a scuba diver on the bottom of the reef in what I originally thought was a fight, but later find out to be a warm embrace between two friends who have just bumped into each other whilst working. Teddie’s friend is hard at work planting coral so it can grow and expand, as he’s in charge of water sports including diving adventures for the private resort nearby. Later, on the boat, Teddie tells us about a lot of the conservation efforts to counter the effects of man-made islands and the growing resorts. It is great to hear that there are efforts to keep the natural beauty of this place and that the government funds 30% of any live coral being re-located whenever work is given permission.

A fight or a warm embrace?
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After this amazing snorkel we get back on the boat to head to what we have been told is a dead spot for signal coverage. Normally I would love this, but today is the final of the woman’s world cup which I wouldn’t be fussed by but England is amazingly in it – we actually made the final! So to have to miss it is a real shame. Then Jason comes to the rescue – with the use of his laptop, a hotspot and a potentially not-so-legal website we get a stream. I don’t think we need to talk about why that game was a tragedy!

After the disappointment of another year without a World Cup to Englands name we visit our first inhabited island. The capital of the Felidhe Atoll, a beautiful island where from the intersection on the main road you can look in all directions and see the sea. With a population of 700, it’s home to a beautiful school, police station, magistrates court, family centre, a private beach set up for tourists who wish to sunbathe uncovered and therefore not in keeping with the Muslim traditions of the island and, of course, a souvenir shop or two. All of which we delight in seeing while wandering round the island. I even treat myself to Häagen-Dazs ice cream!

Tragedy or tranquility – sunset reflections

Turtle touching
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After the trip we are go on our first unguided snorkel by a lovely sand bank. On hearing that this sandbank has historically been under water but now has a permanent peak above water which has started to grow vegetation, we can’t help but have a wander on it, – which naturally turns into some staged photo shots!

And then another another tragedy! After a beautiful dinner an excitingly close game of Contract is played with my new friend Kyron’s cards and as we come to the nail biting final round that has the ability to completely change the the outcome of this game…

…card over board!!!

A swift gust of wind lifts a card into the air followed by a scramble by us to grab it phew!: we manage to get it. But, oh fuck, another is quick on its tail and this time we are not as fortunate. We stand at the side of the boat sadly watching the card slowly sink to the bottom of the ocean. The crew try to rescue the card but it’s long gone to where the sharks slumber. I guess I will have to take 3rd place or is it 2nd? I’m never sure of how it works when two people are joint winners. Either way that last round could have seen me victorious! The rest of us start to suspect Jason, who had been dealt the card that went seaward, is a master tactician and this was his plan to disqualify a game he wasn’t winning. After all, we never stated there was a rule that said you couldn’t throw a card into the sea. I guess we will just have to go to our bunks unsure if we are just unlucky or sailing with an evil mastermind. My suspicion is the latter!

Now, I am aware I have just written about one of the most perfect days I have ever had and called it a Day of Tragedies, but I needed to inject a little tension now didn’t I ;)

Felidhe Atoll school