Just South of Heaven

I always feel like a broken record when I sit down to blog about our latest trip or adventure that we have taken because every place and experience has been so unique and exhilarating.  Each and every day for the last 2 years has been something new and different, and the desire for exploration only increases as you see and discover more.  There are hundreds of more countries that we want to see and thousands of cities that we still yearn to encounter, but I am positive that we just uncovered the most beautiful place on earth.  The Maldives is a chain of Islands in Asia in the beautiful blue waters of the Indian Ocean.  It is actually only 1 of 2 100% Islamic countries, the other being Saudi Arabia.  There are more than 1700 islands that make up the Maldives of which only about 200 are inhabited.  It has long been a place coveted by scuba divers because of the extensive coral reefs, lagoons, and rare species of fish.  It is not the easiest place to get to, especially from the US, but if you should ever add one more place to your bucket list, this is it.  It is beyond paradise and probably lies somewhere just south of heaven.

We flew 8 hours overnight from London to Dubai.  We flew on the Airbus A380 for the first time.  It is the absolute behemoth of the skies seating around 800 passengers over 2 wide body decks and has a bar and spa on the upper level.  After a short layover in Dubai, we then flew 4 hours Southwest over the Arabian Sea, skirting the edge of India and finally setting down in Male, the capital of the Maldives.  From Male, you either board a boat or seaplane to be ferried to specific islands.  Luckily, the island where we were staying, Emboodhu Finolhu, was just 10km south of Male, so a quick 30 minute speedboat ride.  Essentially, each of these small islands is occupied by a single hotel or resort.  We did extensive research about where to stay and ended up choosing the luxury Indian hotel chain called Taj Exotica.  There were 64 villas and bungalows spread across the island, so they can accommodate about 120 people and they have around 200 staff.  It is incredible because even at the busiest times of the day at the pool or restaurants, you might only see 10-20 other people.  The island actually sits in the 2^nd largest lagoon in the world as well, so you could walk out into the ocean 400-500 yards from any point on the island.  It was awesome.  There are no cars or roads on the island, just a few sand pathways cut out between palm trees for golf carts carrying luggage or supplies.  You are completely encapsulated in a posh island oasis.

We had such an amazing 8 days on the island.  It was one of the most relaxing and lovely holidays that we have ever taken.  The staff was there for your every want, the food was incredible and every meal was made to order.  We snorkeled all around the island, plunging in right off our of deck most days, and we took an excursion one day where they led us to a number of beautiful reefs and 2 completely uninhabited islands.  Our 2^nd night there, we selected a wine tasting dinner where the resort had chosen a winery in New Zealand, Craggy Range, to educate us on their various wines and pair them with 5 magnificent courses.  We spent most days lounging by the infinity pool taking in the spectacular views of the majestic blues and reminiscing about the last 2 unfathomable years.  We were so lucky to have had the chance to discover such an exotic and tranquil place and hopefully we can return one day to live it another time.

We have embarked on our final week as 2 Yanks in London.  It is so unbelievable to be bringing this part of our lives to a close, but so thankful for everything that we have seen and experienced.  The movers come on Friday to pack us up and ship our memories back to the States.  We begin the next chapter on Saturday when we land in Dallas and are so looking forward to seeing our families and friends over the holidays.  It has been so much fun for us to capture all of our stories, sights, and experiences within this blog and thanks so much to our faithful followers.  We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Years with your families and loved ones and we look forward to seeing you all in due time.

A final word from me to my ultimate travel and life companion.  Annie, thanks so much for making these 2 years as special as they have been and I can’t wait to see what our future has in store for us.

Signing off one final time from London, CHEERS and HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!

Kevin