What a beautiful view to wake up to. We slept with the curtains open and the fan on so we could see, from the upper floor of our duplex overwater villa, the Indian ocean and the sky.
One of the first things we saw, from the window, were schools of silver fish jumping out of the water in formation creating a glittery, silver wave that flowed across the water. We soon realised that they were being chased, as a black tipped shark swarm through the shallow water between us and the reef. Then there was a shout from Tony as a dark shadow passed by – an eagle ray. Tony went off for a snorkel and I kept watch just in case of sharks but those smaller ones aren’t any trouble – really – because they’d had a load of silver fish for breakfast by that time!
Talking of breakfast, we then headed off ourselves for the buffet breakfast that was laid out in the main dining area. There was everything you could possibly want and more. In fact I didn’t even know what to start with until I saw Tony had ordered salmon and poached egg on a bagel from the egg station.
Our waiter introduced himself to us. He told us his full name but quickly said most people call him BB. He was from an island right in the south of the country, where there used to be a British base. They brought electricity to the island and he said his grandparents worked for the British while they were there.
After about a four course breakfast, we popped into the boutique shop as I’d been given a 20% gift voucher from NOOE for my birthday. Tony bought me a beautiful silver manta ray pendant which holds special meaning as we’d seen them together and it was something from this resort too.
We headed back to the villa for some snorkelling on our reef. Just so many fish to see as soon as we step off the platform, it’s genuinely amazing. And in one of the anemones were two “nemo” fish – clown fish or anemone fish. So many of varying sizes and colours.
(taken by Tony underwater with his phone)
While sunbathing on the deck we suddenly saw, in the distance, dolphins jumping and playing in the water right at the other side of the reef. After that, we were ready for our 3:30 guided reef snorkel trip with Rayaz from the sports centre. He grew up in one of the northern islands and says he’s never left the Maldives. He’s been in the sea since he was little and his mother used to have to come and get him with a big stick to get him out of the water to go home. He took us to one end of the reef and almost immediately a nurse shark swam past. It wasn’t at all scary – just beautiful to see it glide by. Rayaz pointed different things out to us including a lion fish that was all puffed up waving his golden, fluffy fins around.
Time for a shower and chill before Happy Hour started and then we were treated to a Maldivian feast. A huge buffet of lots of different dishes – a lot of them centred on tuna as that is the staple diet and can be done in some many different way. We ate far too much – as you do when there’s so much to try – and chatted with the British couple we’d met on the boat over plus another couple who had just arrived.
So, tomorrow is actually my birthday – after all this time and hype! I’ve been celebrating on and off since August with different groups of friends and family, which has been really special, but being here with Tony will slightly soften the fact that I am, actually, sixty years old. Still finding hard to believe but I always have lived life to the full and shall continue to do so.