Star Gazing

Starry night featuring the Milky Way

For generations people have looked up to the stars and wondered. Well I can now tell you from experience that the stars shine brightly over the Maldives. That is how my second day in paradise ended: my new friends and me lying down staring at the skies and debating the questions that have plagued humanity since time immemorial.

Questions like: are we really alone in this universe, what came before the Big Bang, how can space be infinite and how much more advanced the world would be if we just put our silly squabbling aside and worked together? Not a bad way to end my second day in the Maldives, but I am saddened to tell you that unfortunately we weren’t able to answer any of these questions! So I guess, for now, humanity will have to struggle on.

To be honest I think this trip might already be changing me. I started the day by doing yoga at sunrise and ended it pontificating about the Universe – maybe I am ready to start a cult.

Although the experiences here are keeping me pretty happy, so don’t think I will go to the effort anytime soon.

Anyway after another hearty breakfast we all start our day of snorkelling and sailing: it is another beautiful day. In fact it was amazing – not only did we continue to see an array of colourful fish and rays, we also saw both a green and a hawksbill turtle casually swimming on by. Later on in my travels I have plans to visit a turtle sanctuary and potentially release some baby turtles back into the wild, but to see some naturally swimming in the middle of the ocean was truly an experience!

Catching on to the freshly caught fish

Our snorkelling is only interrupted by lunch and dinner, both beautiful meals, using the fresh fish that Teddie, our guide, had caught on his night swim yesterday evening with his spear. For those who know me, know that my tastes usually don’t blend well with fish, but there is something about freshly caught fish off the back of a boat which I do enjoy. I don’t know if it's the freshness of the fish or the use of flavours and spices which you struggle to find in the UK, but I have to say I maybe becoming a fish person.

Our day ends with our guide and the staff on the boat ferrying some chairs, speaker and an Esky full of beers over to a sandbank, so we can watch the sunset with a cold one in hand. We do a quick lap of the small island, careful not to step on one of the many crabs scuttling around. Jason, one of my new friends, and I even have a chat with a little hermit crab. We, of course, use the beautiful sun to stage a mini photo shoot until we are rudely interrupted by another ray swimming on by in the shallow water.

Chewing the fat with our friend the hermit

We are quickly ushered back to the boat to avoid the incoming rain ruining the speaker, once the sun has set and the beer is drunk. When we are back I am taught a new dice game, Zilch, by Kyron and Mel two more of my new friends. It is a lot of fun and I won our second game, maybe why I liked it so much! Although I have to say my win didn’t seem to enthral the others as much as me. Which leads us to the star gazing.

Beer on the beach...