Celebration in the Maldives
I’m an adult!
Last Saturday, I turned 18. Finally. It was one of the best weekends of my life, as my parents and brother had been planning a surprise for months, and I never caught on. I was told that we were going to Cape Weligama to celebrate, and was super excited for that. My mom took me to buy a new swimsuit, we bought snorkeling masks for the family, and packed for a short but fun weekend away at the beach. Little did I know, we were heading out slightly further than Weligama.
On Friday morning, my parents woke me up at the crack of dawn to drive to the airport. Confused and very sleepy, I believed their story that the resort was sending a small plane to pick us up and take us there. I just shrugged it off as strange, but didn’t ask questions because it was 4:30 in the morning and I just wanted to get into the car and go back to sleep. So I did.
When we arrived at the airport, I was still half asleep. I dragged myself through check in and immigration completely unaware. I was confused at why so many people seemed to be going on our supposedly “little plane”, but I didn’t have the energy to think or ask questions. I was just eating my sandwich and going with the flow. Then, as we went towards our gate, I finally saw the destination: Male. Male. That sounded familiar, but I still wasn’t sure where exactly it was. My family brushed off my suspicions, telling me that it was just the small airport next to Weligama. But my suspicions grew as we boarded a flight bound to London of all places with hundreds of other people. Something was off. I whipped out my phone before we had to put on airplane mode and quickly look up Male on the map. Then I finally realized. We were going to the Maldives. I looked at my mom slowly, and a smile of disbelief spread across my face as I saw her recording my reaction. I started laughing, ecstatic but also feeling slightly stupid. My dad and brother looked back at me from their seats two rows ahead of us, grinning. I shook my head, laughing, and began to think ahead to the fantastic vacation I was sure to have.
When we arrived at the airport, a boat was waiting to take us to our hotel. We were staying at the Taj Exotica, a beautiful island with the largest lagoon in the Maldives. It was absolutely breathtaking…the colour of the water, the sand, the gorgeous villa on the beach that my parents had booked. I was in seventh heaven. Without wasting a second, I changed into my new swimsuit and my brother and I set off to explore the resort. We went to the beach, to the poolside, to see the water villas and more. That’s what the first day consisted of.
The next morning, I woke up as an adult. Though if I was being honest, I didn’t feel very different. But I had a wonderful day of activities planned to look forward to! We started the day with a floating breakfast in the pool, and then I cut my birthday cake. After that, we went parasailing – something I’d wanted to do for a long time! It was amazing to float over the islands. It was so calm, beautiful, and mostly silent – my thoughts were interrupted occasionally with my brother’s excited chattering as we had gone in pairs. Then, we spent the evening on the beach and ending the day with a fantastic Italian dinner, genuinely the BEST food I’d ever eaten in my life.
The fun didn’t end there. The next day my dad, brother and I took a boat out to one of the beautiful reefs near the island and went snorkeling. It was amazing, and I saw fish of every size, shape and colour imaginable! Our guide even allowed us to go without life jackets as we were all experienced swimmers. We dove and swam close to the corals and among the fish for an hour, before returning to the resort happy but tired. Once again we spent the rest of the day relaxing in the pool or on the beach, and then in the evening, the resort had planned a complimentary sunset cruise for us! We went out on a boat and watched the sky change colours. Then, we sped back to the hotel to enjoy another outstanding dinner.
When I woke up on Monday morning, it was with a heavy heart. It was my last day in paradise, and in less than 24 hours I’d be getting ready for school again. It was hard to believe, but I still made the most of my last day. We walked around the resort taking pictures, and then once again sat in the pool. The afternoon was spent packing, and then right before we had to leave, we went to the beach bar and had some snacks to refuel. Then, with the sun setting behind us, we got into the boat and sped off back to the airport.
Learning Outcomes:
2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process – A new skill I learned was parasailing! Though it’s fairly simple, it was my first time, and was quite exciting! I learned how to put on the harness, position myself for take off, and how to land back on the boat safely on my feet.