R&R in the Maldives!

We just returned from a week in the Maldives (at the end of March). It is truly a tropical paradise and the only memories I will try to suppress are when they wouldn't let Travis leave at Saudi exit immigration (more on that later) and the one where we paid the bill. Ouch. But other than that it was amazing!

Our days were filled with beach, pool, food and some excursions. Seems a little silly to do a day-by-day recap so instead this post will be Top 10 List style on our favorite things from the trip.

10. The Tropical Island Vibe

Who wouldn't love being on a remote tropical island at a 5* resort? The Shangri-La was an extremely well thought-out and well run resort. I'm having a hard time thinking of anything they could have done better.

We started out each day with a delicious breakfast (more on that below!) and from there went to the beach or pool, or let Lucy play at the kids club. We either ate lunch on the beach in the cabanas or ordered in villa dining and ate on our pool deck. Afternoons were filled with naps or excursions for me and Travis. Evenings we ate dinner at one of the three restaurants and relaxed in our villa. The Shangri-La offered a ton of activities so we never got close to being bored! 

The most popular way to get around the island. Ellie seemed to like it too.

They provided a bicycle to all the guests and even brought me a trike when the first bike was too tall for my 5'0" frame. Since I had to carry Ellie in the carrier on my front I thought trying to jump on and off a too-tall bike would be way too dangerous! I really enjoyed biking everywhere and it has inspired me to look for one to buy here in Saudi to ride around the compound. If we were going really far, the staff would come pick us up in plush golf carts.

Living in a desert has upped my appreciation for nature even more. I've always been a nature lover (MHS Field Biology class of 1999 here!) but needless to say haven't spent too much time in tropical paradises, so really enjoyed that the Shangri-La tries to leave as much to nature as possible.

This not-so-little guy lived in our outdoor shower area. Thankfully he stayed away from our feet!

Do you see the bat? He was HUGE. Vulture size.

The red in the water is Coral Spawning! A once or twice a year event. So lucky to have had the chance to see it!

9. Golf 

We hired babysitters and took off for a round of golf at the Par 3/4 9-hole course one afternoon. The views were incredible, the holes were challenging, and we both had enough good shots to feel proud of ourselves.

This picture makes me look much more competent than I really am.

Travis' first shot of the day. Great way to start!

"Don't look at the water. Don't look at the water." Travis wanted me to point out that he hit it on the green, by the way.

Does it get any prettier than this?

This picture was taken from Mt. Villingili Summit, the highest point on Villingili island, at a whopping 7 meters tall.

8. Cocktails and Bacon

Since we live in Saudi Arabia, I'm sure you were expecting a paragraph dedicated to alcohol and pork products. As any good beach resort would, they had a delicious menu of cocktails you could order delivered to your room or on the beach. I mention the following in the next paragraph but I don't care that you will be reading it twice: At breakfast they had all-you-can-eat bacon and pork sausage. AMAZING sight for our pork deprived eyes! And yes, we ate like pigs (pun intended!). At a beach bbq dinner they had amazing grilled pork chops and pork belly.

Our first bacon of the trip... but not our last!

Iiiiiitttttttttt's BACON!!!

Cocktails and Canapes at sunset

7. Breakfast

I can't think of much that makes me happier than someone else making me breakfast. This was a made to order, all you could want and eat breakfast EVERY day! Again, what made us really happy was the table labeled "Pork"--they had bacon, sausage, and various cold cuts of prosciutto and ham.

The "Pork Table" at the breakfast buffet... SO good.

They also had tables with traditional breakfast offerings from several Asian countries, western countries, a pastry table, fresh cut fruits, yogurts, breakfast potatoes, and oatmeal.  I couldn't think of anything they didn't have! Most mornings (along side my pork products) I enjoyed a made-to-order onion, pepper, tomato and cheese omelet, pancakes or Belgian waffles (Lucy preferred her pancake shaped like a dolphin), and a selection of fruit and pastries. While I'm sure the fried noodles, sushi, and rice conghee was delicious, I couldn't pass up the traditional breakfast offerings since we don't have a lot of those here. The last few days I discovered the perfect combination: a Belgian waffle topped with berries and vanilla sauce! All this was in addition to the chocolate, almond, or cheese croissants that were heaped upon our table every morning by the croissant man.

Waffle with vanilla sauce and berries--try it, you won't be disappointed!

Lucy loved the variety of juices she got to choose from every day. Orange, grapefruit, mango, guava, tropical mix... they even did smoothies!

Yes, that is a pancake shaped like a dolphin. They also did starfish and turtles.

Travis' made-to-order banana pancake

Another great part about breakfast was one of the workers would come over and hold Ellie anytime she started getting fussy so we could eat.

Ellie and Ms. Sheena

Ms. Sheena would put Ellie to sleep and make her a bed of chairs and pillows.

Looks pretty cozy!

If you ever feel the need to cook someone breakfast and hold their fussy kids while they eat, come on over! I will welcome that any day!

6. Kids Club + babysitters

The only thing that would have made kids club better is if Lucy was old enough to go on her own without paying for the babysitter. We LOVED the ladies that watched Lucy at kids club and they also came to our villa to babysit the girls while we did some excursions. Lucy thought the slide, spinny thing, and ball pit were the coolest things she'd ever seen. They also did art projects, made necklaces from shells found on the beach, and fed the fish in the koi pond outside the club. Every morning she asked to go back to kids club, and she still does from time to time!

The highlight of the Kids' Club. Not shown: ball pit, movie station, art station and foosball table.

Feeding the fishies in the koi pond with the Kids' Club ladies. "They're getting my toes!"

Painting

The ladies fell in love with our girls... and I think it was mutual!

5. Mangoes

I've honestly never had a  more delicious fruit in my life. They were the perfect flavor and texture. Sweet. Melt-in-your-mouth softness. They were so creamy and smooth we even let Ellie try them, and she just started eating solid foods the week before!

The pork may have gotten the most attention, but the mangoes were the real star of the show.

Despite the skeptical look on her face, she LOVED eating mangoes.

 
4. Dolphin Cruise

We had no idea what to expect. We thought we would ride the boat out a ways and maybe see some dolphins following the boat. Instead we got to see what was probably one of the coolest animals-in-nature shows of our life! Literally HUNDREDS of dolphins were in the surrounding waters jumping, spinning, and playing. Several were swimming in front of the boat, and I even got to see a sweet mother-baby pair swimming along for awhile. At one point we asked Lucy if she knew any of the dolphins' names. She confidently replied, "Um, that one's Peacock." We're not sure she realized that we weren't seeing the same dolphin over and over. Whenever one would disappear she would call out "Peacock, where ARE you?"

Three out of the literally hundreds of spinner dolphins we saw on our cruise.

How many dolphins can you spot in this picture? If you answered less than 7 you are wrong...

Captain Lucy, doing her best not to run over any dolphins.

If only she realized she was taking the best vacation of her life before she was 2 and a half...

Sadly we weren't good enough shutterbugs to get a picture of a dolphin spinning, but here's a random YouTube video of what they were doing: Spinner Dolphins

3. Dinner at Fashala

Maybe it was because it was the first time we were having dinner to ourselves since Ellie was born. Maybe it was because it was the first bottle of wine we were taking the opportunity to enjoy since moving to Saudi. Maybe it was the beautiful setting on the edge of the island with the waves lapping 50 ft from our table. I'm not sure which played the biggest part but this felt like one of the best meals we'd ever had. Despite our best attempts to pretend we were experienced at fine dining, they outed us pretty quickly with the pre-appetizer course that we didn't know was coming. "Sir, we didn't order this soup!" we said. He quietly assured us it was ok to enjoy. And it was delicious! But since I didn't order it I don't know what it was. We also enjoyed some goat cheese panna cotta, a mango-lemongrass soup, expertly prepared local seafood (Travis' rock lobster was "exquisite"), and a dessert so delicious neither of us can remember what it was. We may have literally blocked it from our memory so that all other desserts can stand a chance.

2. Snorkeling

One of the things I was most excited about for this trip was that our resort offered a night-snorkeling expedition. We were a little nervous about snorkeling at night for our first snorkeling adventure since 2009, but after practicing in our pool that afternoon and getting our gear perfectly adjusted we were as ready as we'd ever be. When we arrived we were happy to find out the other couple had cancelled so we had a private excursion with the guide! Our guide gave us a heavy duty flashlight and took us out to a reef near the island with the main airport (Gan). We put on our gear and tried not to listen to the voices in our heads telling us we were crazy. One of my biggest fear was the water would be cold, but I chalked up any fears to being "part of the experience" and hurtled myself into the water. Turns out the water was perfect! There was just enough light to still barely see under water when we first arrived, but the sun quickly went down and we were alone with the reef, the fish and our flashlights. I have to say the biggest difference between night and day snorkeling (besides some of the wildlife) is that with night snorkeling you are forced to focus on wherever your flashlight is looking. And boy did we see a lot! We saw a lot of squirrelfish, some angelfish, parrotfish, a couple Nemo's, two starfish, a lionfish, some teeny tiny unidentifiable fish, and a lot of these bluefish. Most exciting was the Hawksbill turtle (it's endangered!), two reef sharks, some luminescent squid, and then, literally as we were getting out of the water, some bio-luminescent plankton! In fact Travis didn't realize what he was seeing when getting out, and our guide pointed it out as I was climbing the ladder into the boat. It was like little tiny pinpoints of light all around. The bio-luminescense was activated by motion in the water and would fade out quickly. I made Travis put on his flippers and jump back in, because this was too cool to miss. Sorry we don't have any pictures of this night snorkeling adventure, our guide laughed at us when we showed him we had a camera so we decided to leave it on the boat.

Before our night snorkel. Nope, not one bit nervous... :)

A couple days later we took a daytime guided snorkeling expedition to "Rock Island", a nearby reef.  This time we saw a lot of reef tip sharks, one nurse shark, a barracuda, and turtle, and another impressive array of pretty tropical fish. Unfortunately, our waterproof camera flaked out on us during the swim so we didn't get very many pictures. Thankfully, after sitting in a bowl of rice overnight, the memory card still worked so we were able to recover those that we did take!

White-tipped reef shark. Swimming in the right direction.

Apparently we were very lucky to get to see two turtles!

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."

Travis and I took a third snorkeling trip on our own on the island's house reef. Some day I would love to stay in the water villas where you could just step outside and start snorkeling!


1. Our Villa

While all the other things mentioned above were amazing, what made our vacation really special was the villa. We had reserved a "Deluxe Pool Villa", and it was probably the nicest space I'll ever stay in. "Luxurious Pool Villa" is a more appropriate description. It wasn't just a villa, it felt like we had our own little slice of the island. Each villa has a little driveway off the main road through the island and ours had an adorable palm branch arching over the entrance.

"Just leaving my Maldivian villa to go to breakfast. What are you up to today?"

Grand Entrance to the villa at the end of the drive

Bicycle parking opposite the Grand Entrance

The doorway led to a porch that wrapped around a private infinity pool and was flanked by the bedroom and bathroom on the long side, and a separate pool house/den/family room on the short side.

Looking back on the entrance from the pool deck

Den and outdoor dining area. Entrance on the right, beach on the left

The porch then opened up to the beach. For a family that is not good at sleeping in the same room together, this arrangement was PERFECT. We set up Lucy's pack-n-play in the den area, and then put Ellie's pack-n-play in the bathroom. I LOVED being able to still enjoy the pool (and the beach!) or watch TV in our bedroom after we put the girls down for a nap. I also learned the genius of the infinity pool--because water was constantly flowing over the edge, it provided a natural 'sound machine' type effect so when one girl woke up the other kept sleeping!

The pool, looking out from the master bedroom

The master bedroom, looking toward the bathroom.

We also had a nice dining set on the porch and enjoyed several meals outside. The roof over the den stretched out over the dining area so we were even able to enjoy meals when it rained.

About half of the entertainment room, located separately from the main suite. This was "Lucy's villa". Her pack-n-play is set up on the left side of the room.

One of Lucy's favorite activities- throwing leaves in the pool.

Panorama shot from our private pool. Private beach on the left, "Lucy's villa" straight ahead, and the Master Suite on the right.

 

Looking back at the villa from "our beach".

Bathroom from Master Bedroom. Pocket doors closet off this area. Toilet on the left, shower on the right, Outdoor shower out the back doors.

The bathroom made a convenient spot for Ellie's pack-n-play.

Outdoor shower. Lucy loved it!

We very much enjoyed our trip to the Maldives and nearly every aspect of it, from the villa to the excursions. While we had a great time on the excursions, and I'm glad we did them,  but I wish we'd had a few more days to just sit by the beach! I can't complain too much though because I'm looking at a beach outside our Saudi villa as I type this. It's just not nearly as pretty of a beach. :) I think the biggest testimony as to how enjoyable our vacation was came from Lucy a few days after we got home. I was tucking her into bed and trying to prepare her for getting back to 'normal life' the next day. After going through our routine once, I said "Ok, so what are we going to do when we get up tomorrow?" The correct answer would have been "go to school" or "eat cheerios". Instead she said "get on an airplane and go back to Maldives?" If only, kid, if only!

My only complaint about the trip would be the crazy travel that you have to do to leave Saudi. I remember thinking I picked the best of the (terrible) flight options, which meant that we left our home at midnight to catch a 4:45 am flight to Doha, then a reasonably timed 9am flight to Male, Maldives. However then our resort was another 1.5 hr plane ride away from Male so even though we were only going two time zones, it took us about 18 hours to get there.

Our luck is such that we cannot travel without incident and this trip was no exception. As we were going through passport control in the Dammam airport, the agent told Travis that he had to stay behind while Lucy, Ellie and I could go on through. He held on to our passports which meant we couldn't actually go on through security (and as much as I was ready to go to the Maldives I wasn't going to leave Travis behind!), leaving us stuck in what I call "airport purgatory" between immigration and security. They took Travis into a little room and we could see him from the other side of the immigration desk. It is 2:30 am and naturally we are not at our best.  Lucy starts wailing "DAAAA-DDDYYYY!! I WANT TO HUG DAAAAADDDDYYYYY!" I'm hoping the security guys will take pity on us and just let him through. After about an hour of not knowing whether we'll actually get to leave, Travis finally comes through and explains that they thought his visa was expired. Turns out that the last time we came back from Bahrain in December, the entrance immigration agent mistakenly checked him in on his EXPIRED work visa instead of his current resident visa, and he was technically in the country illegally. So much for the celebrating we did when we thought we had last entered the country without incident. Travis had to show them his residency permit, which technically he isn't supposed to be carrying out of Saudi (he was certain they were trying to frame him for entrapment). Thankfully they didn't and it helped to show that he was in fact legally in the country so we could leave. I have never before been more thankful that we arrived at the airport early! Coming home we had the same problem we will likely always have now that Saudi has 'upgraded' to an electronic visa system--we no longer have proof of our valid visa in our passports, so airline ticketing agents have a difficult time checking us in without this proof. Again we were glad we had those residency permits that we technically weren't supposed to be carrying, as without those I'm not sure they would have let us go!

If you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading about our experiences, and I have one last thought. Possibly the most important part of traveling is that this trip helped remind me that the sacrifices we make by living in Saudi Arabia have now become freedoms I will never take for granted again. I appreciated every bite of bacon, every sip of my cocktails, and enjoyed wearing what I wanted whenever I wanted. I relished holding Travis' hand in public. We felt free to pray before our meals in public. We returned to Saudi a few pounds heavier (but the pork fat was so delicious--no regrets here at all!) and our spirits lighter. We would love to return again someday, but we have a lot of the world left to explore, so we'll just have to see where life takes us!