Welcome To Our Maldives Trip ...Amazing Stay at Soneva Fushi A lovely #family holiday & our first flight for in almost 2 yrs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40KA455DuVY
Here is our first video in a series of 4 describing our wonderful family trip to the Maldives... We stayed at Soneva Fushi which is absolutely stunning and an incredible example of sustainable luxury.
While we continue to hope and pray we all, everyone stays fine and safe and covid becomes a thing or the past, and the good parts of normal like physical school for our kids resume safely soon touch wood:), and while we are always aware that so many people have had a really difficult time in these last two years, that it still does not feel fully right to post really happy things, but the truth is, I do think sharing joy also spreads joy and hopefully indicates better times for all. So, I am sharing this post and photos and videos of our wonderful trip as it really brought our kids, who have been in over 21 months of homeschooling now, and all of us such joy and I hope it does for you too and if you are planning a trip, whether near of far, expensive or not, with family or without, a little change really helps, re energise and revive! Here goes...
It was our first flight in almost 2 years, since lockdown began, and we were so excited.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUOzFmLIZRl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
We are a beach, sea and swimming loving family and had been dreaming of a trip to the Maldives for a long time, so were thrilled it worked out. Nothing could have prepared us for how beautiful it is. The blue blue blue crystal clear water, the turquoise rings around each island that one sees from the sky. We wondered if it seemed even more amazing because of the hard times all round due to the pandemic and whether, not having travelled much, except a few lovely local getaways, made this first international trip even more exciting, but truth be told, the next 5 days unfurled to prove this is a stunning place at any time. But yes, a great first trip after long lockdowns, for sure!
Day 1 saw us arrive and jump straight in the sea, soon after we were introduced to our lovely barefoot butler Faali, who explained the No News, No shoes, policy, where we would be barefoot for our whole stay. After we received our negative RTPCR test results, we went for a scrumptious dinner in the wonderful company of Sonu and Eva, the founders of Soneva Fushi, and an eclectic bunch of friends. Then back to our beautiful villa on our bicycles and to a comfortable night's sleep. Watch to find out what Day 2 and beyond have in store!
https://youtu.be/uTzo-SrWFUY
It was a little rainy on day 2 but that didn't deter us from doing lots of fun and adventurous stuff anyway. After a scrumptious breakfast of literally everything, including visits to the chocolate room and ice cream room and lots of options for Roopak who is vegan, we had a snorkelling lesson in the water sports centre pool by the super instructors, followed by snorkelling in the crystal clear blue ocean. We saw some wonderful marine life, right there by the shore.
The next day being Monday, our kids did their online schooling and we then went in a boat to Hanifaru Bay, a UNESCO protected Manta Ray zone, and had an incredible experience of snorkelling with hundreds of huge manta rays. The Manta Rays were magnificent and seemed unaffected by our presence though of course we had been briefed on how to behave and not to touch or spook them. https://www.instagram.com/p/CURg_q5lElR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link https://www.instagram.com/p/CUXDUn-lWA9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Fortunately a friend told us to get an underwater cover for our phones, so we were able to film these amazing underwater visuals. Wow what a day 3. Stay tuned for 4 and 5 coming up.
Video 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdLXjDnagSY
Day 4 - #ScubaDiving #EcoCentre #Sustainability and more..
Wearing all our fun beachwear against the stunning backdrop of the crystal clear blue sea and soft white sand of Soneva Fushi in the Madives, had me frequently doing little mini fashion shows haaha, with Roopak who is a loving but usually reluctant photographer of my mad antics, humouring me by obliging!
The video begins with a montage of some of the lovely outfits I was gifted and or bought or was given to wear. We then went to the Eco Centre where Neela, the wonderful expert there explained how they recycle everything at Soneva Fushi and also all the other super work they do on conservation making Soneva Fushi a real example of walking the talk with sustainable luxury and being a truly eco friendly resort and way of life.
The evening before, wonderful Bart had explained their mosquito traps and also given us details of their wonderful children’s programs at the Soneva Academy. Something we would love to try next time. We then went scuba diving. I have a Paddy one star license but as I got that a long time ago on a wonderful trip to Lakshwadeep with Lacadives, I had forgotten a lot, so our lovely instructors here, Francessca and Shian did a refresher come beginner session for us so Roopak and our kids could dive too. Wow, we all loved our diving experience. Of course wonderful meals were interspersed into the day as was chill time and online school for the kids. So all in all, another wonderful day full of new experiences.
Video 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0XyisuvPfA
Day 4 & 5 #Watersports #Kayaking #SurfBoarding #DolphinSafari #Observatory
Must admit we weren't ready to leave stunning Soneva Fushi and the gorgeous Maldives on day 4 of our trip, which is when we were meant to. So when our kids pleaded we stay a day, while initially for work and other reasons we weren't sure, when it all worked out, we were all thrilled. Especially as it was a bright, sunny day and as we had has a few rainy ones at the start, there were a few things we hadn't tried and this was the perfect way to try everything! But of course not compromising on school, so once the kids did their online classes, wi fi was good at the breakfast area too, so we were out and about, but still connected, we then went straight to the water sports centre and had a wonderful afternoon of learning to and then getting quite comfortable with kayaking and stand up paddle boarding and just relaxing and enjoying swimming in the gorgeous crystal clear blue sea.
We then showered, changed, and went on the fabulous Dolphin Safari. Wow , we saw loads of jumping dolphins. The kids were so excited as were we, and watching dolphins against the stunning setting sun with our often bickering with each other kids, being all loving to each other, made it a quiet, peaceful, calm round up of the day. Well not quite goodnight yet, as bicycles to the beautiful Out of the Blue restaurant for a delicious dinner followed by a visit, again on our cycles to the Observatory to look at Saturn and Jupiter, amazing and then a cycle ride back to our lovely villa and to a sound night's sleep.
We woke up on day 5 satisfies, the extra day had been a great surprise joy and now it felt good after a wonderful 5 day break to be heading home too. However fabulous a trip, it is lovely to be back home too. A loving welcome home by our doggie Tia, help and my Mum. The kids were full of stories to tell and all of us armed with wonderful memories and resolute to try and go back to Soneva Fushi again and often safely and successfully touch wood:)!
Now it’s back to routine and we hope school opens safely soon and all the good parts of the old normal and the good parts of the new normal too touch wood:). One of the silver linings of these times I think, is valuing everything so much more than before, perhaps. Memories of this trip are etched into our hearts and we hope you all have lovely things to do and experiences, as life, after all is a culmination of all these things, and more and as a teacher said to the children, travel is such a wonderful education.
Do write in and interact. Tarataratara!!
