On the first day of our honeymoon, we explored Doha Qatar...we were only there for 24 hours, and we spent the day in the desert riding through the sand dunes. We got to see the little starfish and shells along the beach of the Persian Gulf, and if you looked across the water, you could see the edge of Saudi Arabia in the distance! I rode my first camel and we learned all about Doha from our very friendly driver. We ate some of the sweetest dates and fresh baked pita bread with hummus!
...Then we flew to the Maldives.
Our first four days were spent in Faarufushi, one of the smaller islands up north, where we ate amazing food! The ceviche at Athirti (our favorite lunch spot) was to die for. We fell in love with their sunset bar called Boli, which we later learned, means Shell in Dhivehi, I thought that was very cute because the bar looked like a little shell floating in the water! The bar was designed perfectly for watching the sunset. The rooms at Faarufushi are straight out of a dream...You are surrounded by large windows that look out to the ocean and the infinity pool is your backyard. We were lucky enough to have a couples massage at their spa...the ceremonial part of this was so magical! This was probably the most relaxing experience I've ever had. When you go into the spa, they sit you down in the waiting room where you drink tea, and pick out which aromatherapy you would like to have in your massage. Then, they take you to a changing room where you put on a robe and wait for them to take you to the massage rooms. Once you arrive at the massage rooms, they start with a rose petal foot bath, and then they finish with the full body massage. After your massage, they take you back to your changing room where there is a rose petal bath waiting for you,along with tea and apples. The windows by the tub are open and you can look out into the jungle. We also did a little snorkeling, and saw a bunch of little yellow sharks (2ft tops) and stingrays! After our four nights at Faarufushi, we moved to Dhigali. This is a sister resort to Faarufushi and a much bigger island. The rooms were very similar, but not quite as private as the ones at Faarufushi,however,Dhigali's beaches were much larger. We got to eat at their signature restaurant, called Battuta, named after a very well known traveler. The menu changes every month with different foods from around the world! We were lucky enough to have a full meal set up by the chef himself!
Although we were in the Maldives on the offseason, we only had one really intensely rainy day, and we spent it drinking wine from our room and watching it pour! We got pizza from their little pizza hut on the beach and brought it back to the room. On our last day at Dhigali, we ordered breakfast to our room...when it arrived, they got out a massive floating tray so we could enjoy our breakfast while swimming in our pool!
The wildlife we saw at Dhigali was amazing. This Island had a few large fruit bats that would soar around the island, and in the ocean, we saw about seven (3 to 4 ft long) sharks! Riker had me on the lookout, so that he could swim with them, but every time I would see one, he would jump in the water and scare them off.
Truly such a magical experience!! Now, it’s time for us to leave, but I’m so grateful for every moment! I hope one day we can come back to these beautiful Islands!