Blogs from Ari Atoll, Maldives, Asia

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Asia » Maldives » Ari Atoll July 7th 2022

Thursday July 7 – Maybe I spoke too soon about how to have the perfect sleep. The earplugs worked again this morning but overall I woke up a lot last night. It’s just me, no noise to speak of. I got out of bed at 6:30 and went to breakfast at 7am. After breakfast, I stayed in for a bit catching up with email and planning to do some more work for the Camino when I read an email from the airline to Spain, Lufthansa. It was an email to inform me that they had canceled my flight from Basel to Munich, the first leg of my trip, and did I want to keep the rest, cancel or postpone? Um, what? When do they cancel the first leg and not offer you the replacement? Do I ... read more
Every day a new theme
Remember when I was wondering where the crabs go when the tide is high?
It's the big dry(ish) rock!

Asia » Maldives » Ari Atoll July 6th 2022

Wednesday July 6 – Success on the sleep front last night. My room is right next to the staff work room and they start early. Every morning at 6am I hear them raking the sand outside my door. This morning I think I heard a door close at 4:30am, so I took that opportunity to put in ear plugs and that blocked the other noise and I was able to sleep until 7am. This is the secret! Not ear plugs at night but in the early morning. I’ve been here long enough that I’ve developed quite the routine. Breakfast then work on a Camino plan (read looked at blogs/maps/fb comments) for an hour. Walk around the island. My favorite point but had no seashells of note today. Back to the room just in time to catch ... read more
Beauty with a hint of toilet
Trash
My sidewalk

Asia » Maldives » Ari Atoll July 5th 2022

Tuesday July 5 – I woke up at 4:45am and wasn’t able to fall back asleep. Part of it was that I’d signed up for a snorkeling tour to see Manta rays this morning but I wasn’t sure if the weather or sea would be good (it was really windy) and part was that I have no idea what I’m doing with the Camino walk I’ll start next week and IT’S NEXT WEEK. And I’m in the Maldives not preparing. I had hoped a friend would be able to join but I got word last night that it won’t be possible due to familial obligations. So now I really need to figure stuff out. I finally got out of bed at 5:30am and started to do some more reading and make a plan. Or get close ... read more
Our crew
Manta
Manta

Asia » Maldives » Ari Atoll July 4th 2022

Monday July 4 – If you saw the first photo and you’re still here, welcome. There are more crabs to come. If you hate crabs, why are you still here? You saw what you’re getting yourself into. I wish I could sleep in, but I still can’t. I think it’s the years of getting up so early for work combined with being in an unfamiliar setting. At the last hotel I slept too hot with that winter duvet in the tropics. Even the aircon couldn’t penetrate it. Here, I have only a sheet and slept a little cold, even with the aircon at a mild setting. I thought I would be alone at breakfast, but a man was already eating, and another came in before I left. Breakfast options are fewer at this hotel so that ... read more
Not so cloudy
Hermit crab
House shopping?

Asia » Maldives » Ari Atoll July 3rd 2022

Sunday July 3 – Alarm set for 5:30 but up at 5am. Made sure all was packed, did some internetting, took a tablet for sea-sickness (well, to prevent it) and at 6:15 I headed down to reception. When I left my room there was a guy from the hotel just there. I think he was checking to see if I owed anything from the minibar. (I didn’t). They gave me a little breakfast sandwich for the journey (this is like one-eighth of what I normally ate for breakfast there, but probably a normal human portion size). The weather looked good online (cloudy but not raining) and it looked that way heading to the boat as well. I got a good seat and watched person after person step on after me. I don’t know where they went, ... read more
My grandma room
Still have some snacks left
Ukulhas in front of beach

Asia » Maldives » Ari Atoll July 2nd 2022

Saturday July 2 – I wasn’t sure what to do with the weather today. It was windy and forecasted to rain, but eventually it still wasn’t raining, so I decided to do a walk to the northern village part of the island which is not far. This time I wanted to walk around more in the area where people live. I only brought my waterproof camera just in case I got caught in a storm. I was also on a mission to take some plant photos for Jules, a botanist/gardener. Sadly, I am the kind of biologist that can identify plants by their green color (chlorophyll!), but other than that, I’m fairly rubbish. But I thought I can at least show her what is on the island. Once I got back to the hotel, I got ... read more
Beach
Village
Village

Asia » Maldives » Ari Atoll July 1st 2022

Friday July 1 – Did not sleep so well last night, not sure why. Maybe the comforter again? Got to breakfast quite early and was the first. Same omelet as yesterday with some chicken sausage and beef bacon and a local breakfast of pancake with a mixture of fish and chili and other delights, all chopped quite finely. Tasty. After breakfast I changed and went for a snorkel on the reef just beyond the hotel. The water was quite choppy and the sand was all mixed up with the water. It made visibility low and the coral was mostly dead, and rather close and hard to see coming in the fog of sand. Not soon after I started I decided to end the snorkeling for the day. I put my stuff down on a beach chair ... read more
A fish!
Little fishes
My new friend

Asia » Maldives » Ari Atoll June 30th 2022

Thursday June 30 – I slept pretty well last night aside from the thick duvet. We are in a very hot place and yes there is A/C but not enough to compensate for such a large comforter. Dang man. Woke up at 7:30 worried that I would be the last to breakfast (7-9am). Nope, I was the second and no one was there but me. Perfect. I had my pick of the buffet while the chef made me an omelet. The only choices were onion, tomato, and chili. I convinced him to add cheese and never did he make a better omelet. Remember how there is no pork? Instead, there were chicken sausages and beef bacon. There were several other choices like baked beans (for the Brits), French Toast (which was labeled French Tose – at ... read more
Beach
Town
Beach

Asia » Maldives » Ari Atoll December 31st 2019

A total of 9 hours with a scale in Dubai, but it was definitely worth it. Malé, the capital is not a place to stay in the Maldives, as there is not much to do there. We just stayed there the last night as the weather was so unpredicable that we were worried about losing our early morning flight. There are many many islands in the Maldives and all of them are connected to Malé via speedboat, seaplane (only resorts) and domestic flights. Actually, it surprised us how easy it was to get to tiny islands in atolls and how disorganizedly organized things are in the Maldives (you don't know were you go, but they take you exactly were you need to go, either if you have to change transport 3 times). We chose a local ... read more
From the plane
From the flight 2
Dhigurah Beach

Asia » Maldives » Ari Atoll March 5th 2018

When I walked into the lounge after dinner the bar tender tipped me a wink and slid a White Russian over to me… she didn’t seem to mind… (pause for laughter… yep, comedy gold!). Alongside the barman’s recollection of my drinking habits pretty much everything about Huvahendoo Island is stunning, including the price. My wife and I take pleasure in finding our inexpensive breaks, but we do treat ourselves and splash out every couple of years. The prices for holidays anywhere fluctuate seemingly randomly and this place weighs in at around the £500 a night give or take a hundred quid for even the cheapest beach apartments which we stayed in. So, is it worth it? It’s hard to describe heaven in an interesting fashion but no matter how many boxes you have ... read more
Sunset at the Aquabar
Blogger and large stone




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