One from the Bucket List : The Maldives

From as far back as I can remember {well, when I first started dreaming about travelling that is} The Maldives was on the list! When I 'grew-up' and the years started to whizz by, I wondered if I've ever get to go?! Travelling solo has advantages and disadvantages and a big disadvantage when travelling solo can be the single supplement! And in a place like The Maldives, it's gonna be high!

And so the years whizzed by and I got older and I got married {YAY!} and The Maldives stayed on The Bucket List but was somewhat pushed way down to the bottom of the list as there was married life to live {I have a gorgeous step-daughter who was 'still at home' then}. Besides, there are lots of other places to go to and explore {it's a jolly good thing Andrew loves travelling too!} The Maldives is/can be pretty expensive too!! And then we found ourselves living in Mumbai and suddenly, The Maldives was back at the TOP {well on my list it was}! Andrew and I talked about going {yes, it was a place he wanted to visit too in case you are wondering} and I started looking at places and I soon found myself wondering if we'd go at all....it was just so expensive! We both looked at the option of going from the UK too. I went through every resort/hotel on Booking.com {my favourite site to book accommodation} and when I found a hotel/resort we could maybe afford {& one we liked}, I went to TripAdvisor {my 'bible' for checking out anything to do with travel} and for the most part, the reviews would be so-so! If there was a fabulous review on a resort about the accommodation and breakfast, there would be knocks against the lunch or dinner. If we were going to go {there was a budget} we were after Full Board {a burger at lunch can set you back $30-$50 dollars on most of the islands as everything has to be bought in by boat and it takes an age and nothing is grown in The Maldives so everything is flown-in in the first place}. If we found somewhere, it had to be quite close to Malé because the transfer from the airport to your hotel/resort can cost you silly money! That's either by sea-plane or boat!

Sadly, I put the idea aside and started looking at East Africa as a possible option - Zanzibar in particular. The idea was growing on me {East Africa is also on the 'list' for both Andrew & myself!} but at the back of my mind, The Maldives still tempted me......and every so often, I'd have another look on Booking.com! Then, one day, a gorgeous resort caught my eye and it was on offer - 46% off for a week with full board {we were going out of season as the costs were much lower than in peak season}! At last, somewhere we thought we may just fall in love with and was within the budget!! The place we were to spend a week at in September last year was Gangehi Island Resort. It was everything we had hoped our week's break could offer and more!

Gangehi Island Resort {Andrew's photo :) }

We flew via Colombo, Sri Lanka early on the morning of the 19th of September {2015} to Malé. You are transferred from one side of the island {the airport is on it's own island} by bus to the other side where you wait in the terminal until you are taken to another, smaller departures building before boarding a sea-plane that flies you off to your bucket-list-once-in-a-lifetime-island-dream-destination for the next week! Oh! The thrill of flying in a sea plane with views to boot! We didn't care that the skies weren't cloudless, we were in a sea plane!! Our flight from Malé to Gangehi was over far too quickly {25 mins} and we landed at the 'world's smallest airport'! {well, according to the pilots that is!} Within minutes, we were were out of the plane, onto the jetty and in the boat that would transfer us to the island {a couple of minutes away}. I could not get over the colour of the water! The most amazing blue I've seen ever {well, in sea water that is}!

flying from Colombo to Malé

boarding the sea-plane

Malé airport

yay! we both got window seats!

Malé, top left

the industrial side of Malé & the burning of rubbish

I zoomed in on a residential area as we flew over one of the islands close to Malé

that's the island! touch-down about to happen....

the 'smallest' airport in the world!

this guy was one of the pilots and the other guy you can see just inside the plane, well, he was our steward on board!

oh the blueness of the water! and a cute crab.

the world's smallest airport and the plane we arrived in

When we were looking to book a week in the Maldives, Andrew said, if we happen to find a week within our budget, our 'room' needs to be an over-water villa! We had booked a Standard over-water villa at Gangehi and I was really looking forward to spending a week in one of those villas. To our delight, we were up-graded to an overwater 'Deluxe Room'. We were not disappointed! We unpacked, had lunch and our week on our dream island happened!

a pano : our over-water villa on the right and the island on the left {standard over water villas are on the left}

Gangehi Island Resort is a small, luxury barefoot resort; it is recommended you don't wear shoes! It is located on the outskirts of the North Ari Atoll. This secluded island has lush vegetation and on one side it is bordered by a coral reef which is close to the shore and on the other side, it opens into a broad lagoon. The sand is white and soft. There are coconut trees and a resident Grey Heron. It has 45 rooms/bungalows/overwater villas in total which you really can't tell when you wonder around the tiny island {it takes all of 5 mins to do so} as the aesthetics of the resort have been well thought out! There is a large dining room {with excellent buffets at breakfast, lunch & dinner} a large lounge area which includes the resort's bar. There is a spa and a dive centre as well as a delightful if slightly over-priced boutique {which I happened to have found out as I desperately needed a pair of swimming shorts a few days into our week as I badly burnt the top part of my legs whilst snorkelling despite waterproof suntan lotion - I couldn't sit for days!} You can use the kayaks but only for kayaking around the island; no venturing to nearby islands. The resort also has a gym which we didn't bother with - why would you when you are having a wonderful lazy week?!

barefoot :)

standard over-water villas

beach bungalows & a sheltered area for swimming - we spotted a number of black-tip sharks and cow-tail rays in the enclosed area

the one to the left takes you to our villa and the one to the right to the small ferry/boat

the large thatched building is the lounge area

our villa is on the left, just off the top of Andrew's shoulder {his right shoulder}

the resident Heron; here he's perched on the roof of our villa

heading off to the villa next door

We snorkelled every day bar one - it was very stormy/rainy preventing us from entering the sea. We read a lot and we went on an excursion to find dolphins {which we found} and to other nearby reefs. It rained everyday {mostly at night a huge storm would blow through} and this unfortunately stirred up the sea/sand and made the water slightly murky. But that didn't matter to us; we could still see so much when snorkelling. We ate too! And we ate a lot! The food was delicious and the variety was good! We don't eat beef in India and we were super excited to see beef on the buffet....I think we ate beef everyday except for one as there wasn't any available. Dessert was also good. The pastry chef knew I didn't eat chocolate and everyday there were three or four different desserts to choose from as well as a selection of fruit.

even when it's stormy, it's beautiful {well, sometimes}

raindrops on the windows; a wet, dreary day! we stayed inside and a watched a movie, read our books, played cards and I had a nap

a gorgeous stormy sky

the day we stayed inside {getting to the dining room for lunch was a laugh! the wind turned one of those huge golf umbrellas inside out!}

looking for dolphins

a mother and her calf

the pastry chef, Venkateson Kannan {he made the most delicious ice-creams too!}

The resort has an 'in-house' marine biologist. She was on leave and we got Maxine! Maxine is French and normally works on Gangehi's sister island. This week she was filling in for the biologist on leave. Maxine is really great! She's knowledgeable and friendly and very patient too....on a few of the snorkelling trips, guests would 'swim off' and Maxine would patiently wait for them to rejoin the group without loosing her temper...she was after all responsible for the group! {you can snorkel on your own around the island or opt to pay for a trip where you get to go to different reefs by boat before 'jumping overboard' to explore under the sea'}

Andrew on the first day; the steps from out villa into the gorgeous warm sea! 

under our villa; Trumpet fish {I think} 

under our villa

Andrew taking a photo of me with the go-pro

One of the high-lights of the week was when I spotted a Hawksbill Turtle! I was so excited! AND even more so when it swam alongside me to come up for air! I named her Maxine {after the marine biologist}! We saw another a few days later, it could have been the same turtle as they are territorial.

'Maxine' the Hawksbill Turtle :)

the other turtle we found

Snorkelling is amazing....the world below the surface of the sea is incredible...unfortunately my photos do not do the 'world' below any justice really.....this island is surrounded by an amazing variety of multi-coloured, different shaped tropical fish that live and swim around the coral. There are rays and sharks {of the smaller variety} too! I will try and name the fish in the photos {we did buy a folded six-sided 'guide' to fish in the Maldives} - I most certainly don't remember the names of all the fish we saw!

this is the boat that ferries you to the sea plane. it is also used for excursions like dolphin spotting and taking you to other reefs for snorkelling 

Lined Surgeonfish {yellow, black & white}

Blacktip Reef Shark

in the centre, the light brown colour 'splodge' is a Cow-Tailed Ray {we believe so}

Powderblue Surgeonfish

Oriental Sweetlip

Giant Clam 

Giant Triggerfish

Maldive Anemonfish

Yellowback Fusilier

a feeding frenzy! Powderblue Surgeonfish & Redmouth Grouper 

Clown Triggerfish

Suez Fusilier 

Patterned Coral

Red Lionfish

Bluefin Trevally

'Stripey Little Yellow Fish' :)

a beautiful starfish 

Maldive Anemonfish

Bicolour Parrotfish

Moorish Idol

Trumpet Fish

Yellowtail Clownfish

Blue-Barred Parrotfish

Schultz's Pipefish

On our last day we went snorkelling before checking out and catching our flight from the gorgeous little island that Gangehi's Resort nestles on. We could have spent the day on the island leaving late in the afternoon as our flight out of Malé was around 8 at night but we wanted to explore a some of the city of Malé. We left our luggage in a 'left luggage shop' for $10 or so and caught a ferry to the capital of the Maldives {Malé is built on another island}. We passed a boat that had caught fire, apparently the occupants were unharmed.

another aerial view of Gangehi Resort {Andrew's photo taken through as not so clean aeroplane window}

that's the arm of Mr T's brother! these pilots don't wear shoes :) 

my gorgeous husband ♥

sea planes are cool and I do like them but this one...not so much...it was there to take us away from Gangehi!

From the air as we flew back to Malé

the industrial site {again} 

colourful Malé

Ibrahim Nasir International Airport {Malé}

the seaplane airport : "Trans Maldivian Airways is your getaway to the stunning Maldives. With the world's largest seaplane fleet, Trans Maldivian Airways takes you from Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in Malé to your island holiday destination. Life is about the journey, and this will likely be the most scenic one in your life" {from the Trans Maldivian Airways web-page}

parked planes 

a boat on fire

When we got to Malé, we couldn't find any tourist information and we wondered around parts of the city not really knowing where to go! We think we found the main shopping street but weren't too sure....so many of the shops were closed and this was a Saturday afternoon. We weren't looking to buy anything {well, I did buy a bit of fabric from one shop!} but were more intrigued as to why shops were closed?! We did come across more sport shops than we have ever come across in a city; {within a relatively small area that is} the island is not that big even though it has a multi-purpose sports complex. Within the complex you will find indoor and outdoor basketball courts, tennis courts, 2 football fields, a volleyball area and a cricket area. Guessing that's why there are so many sports shops!

fishermen with their catch

a section of the fish market

the Police Headquarters

man-made swimming area, Malé

fake trees! why?

motor bike parking area we think

We found a spot to have lunch and then we wondered back to the harbour to get a ferry back to the airport much earlier than we thought we would. Overall, we weren't that impressed with Malé but that could be because we didn't do our 'homework' and/or go armed with some sort of guide book or map which we could have easily got from the receptionist at Gangehi - we just forgot!

having a drink

looking back at Malé as we head back towards the airport

I wasn't going to say much in this post as I didn't think there was much to say....who am I kidding? I've nearly always got something to say! Below is another selection of photos...I struggled to choose....so, I'm really sorry for the number of photos in this post......what's new you ask? Till the next time.......