Category: islands

  • Maldives November 2018

    Nearly 20 years ago, Judy and I visited the Maldives, an ellipse of atolls south of India. We came to see it as one of the top 10 snorkeling destinations we had visited anywhere.

    Maldives trip report

    This year I returned with a friend to visit Vilamendhoo Island, our favorite in the Maldives.

    When we first came to Vilamendhoo Island, it was simpler than it is today. Just ½ mile long by a few hundred yards wide, with 141 beachfront cottages, it was a tropical dream. There were shady paths with soft coral sand so you could walk barefoot everywhere, including in the sand floor dining room. Walk out of your cottage, and into the warm ocean, where you could swim or drift along the edge of the coral reef, among hundreds of fish of exotic species. The major coral bleaching episode of 1996 had killed almost all the coral, as in much of the world, but the fish populations were robust and varied. We loved it!

    Today, it has 30 of the new vogue, over-water bungalows, and has moved into the 5 star zone in service and food. But the trails are still sand, as are the floors of the buildings. Vilamendhoo is still charming.

    The choice used to be either a 3 hour speedboat ride from the airport at Malé, or a 25 minute seaplane flight. Now you must come by seaplane, which is certainly scenic as you fly over the many small islands making up the Maldives (1190 of them).

    Our barefoot seaplane pilot. As a glider pilot, I like his style, which is only well suited to the tropics. Gliding, up high it can get cold, and freeze your toes off.

    Seaplanes land out on a float, and a boat shuttles you in.

    The Resort sailboat has five cabins for overnight trips.

    It might seem crowded with cottages, but it doesn’t feel that way. Being steps away from the warm salty water is a delight. We would don our snorkeling gear (including lycra full body suits to avoid sunburn in the intense equatorial sun), walk out to the water and swim to the edge of the reef and follow it along.

    My friend Suwan Sentrong enjoying her first snorkeling ever.

    Did I mention lots of fish?

    A ‘Picasso’ triggerfish, one of my favorites here and in Hawai’i.

    Many grey herons live on the island, and look well-fed on reef fish.

    Harmless blacktip reef sharks swim in the shallow water hunting crabs. It’s great to see the sharks protected, as they are part of the healthy reef fish population.

    Unicorn fish

    Regal or Royal Angelfish

    Soft coral

    Giant clams

    Imbriated Turtle. Very large, old turtle. We swam with it for quite some time, watching it feed.

    Coral is slowly growing back (but not all kinds) It may be that some species that can tolerate higher water temperatures may prevail. One can hope. It seems inevitable (if you believe in science) that episodes of hotter than normal water will become more frequent.

    Ghost crabs are abundant, and probably are a big part of the reef shark diet.

    The main problem at Vilamendhoo is not gaining weight, as the food is so varied and good.

    One of the surprises on this second visit was the new Whale Shark National Park at the southern tip of the Ari atoll. As whale sharks are the largest fish by far (25-30 feet long is common), and don’t live everywhere, people who snorkel or dive a lot sometimes spend a whole lot of money trying to see one, once in their lives. We had never seen one in more than 20 years of snorkeling and diving.

    So we signed up for a 4 hour whale shark trip (no guarantees we’d see one). One hour by speedboat to the south to look for them in the marine park area. Unlike whales, it is a fish with gills, and is just called ‘Whale shark’ because of its size, the largest of all fish.

    Soon we spotted one, and jumped in the water with snorkel gear, and swam as fast as we could to keep up.

    It’s hard to grasp from the pictures just how big this Whale shark is. I’d estimate 25-30 feet long, as big as a humpback whale. And it cruises along by slow flicks of its huge tail. The average size is 32 feet long, and 20,000 pounds weight. The largest on record was 41 feet long, weighing 47,000 pounds, but bigger ones have been reported.

    We thought we’d been lucky to see even one in such clear water, and be so close. But our captain was not done. We cruised on, and sighted another. In we jumped. At first we saw nothing. Then, out of the dark blue depths this giant Whale shark swam straight towards us, mouth open, feeding on plankton, at a depth of only about 9 feet. We had to move to the side to let it glide by nearly in touching distance. Wow! It is important to not touch or disturb them. In the Philippines, by law you must stay at least four feet away and not touch them, or risk a fine and jail sentence.

    We shall never forget our snorkel with this amazing fish.

    Playing in the warm Maldivian waters when we weren’t snorkeling was so much fun!

    The clouds on the tropical seas are dramatic, and we had some lovely sunsets. After six glorious days on Vilamendhoo Island, we vowed to return one day.

     

  • Dengue fever December 2017

    One of the risks of being a global nomad is exposure to illnesses not common at home. I’ve been to 73 countries now in my life, and managed to avoid malaria and other serious tropical illnesses–until recently.

    I am in recovery from an episode of dengue fever now. One of my readers asked that I chronicle my experience with it, so here goes.

    From WebMD: “Dengue fever is a painful, debilitating mosquito-borne disease caused by any one of four closely related dengue viruses. These viruses are related to the viruses that cause West Nile infection and yellow fever.

    An estimated 390 million dengue infections occur worldwide each year, with about 96 million resulting in illness. Most cases occur in tropical areas of the world, with the greatest risk occurring in:

    The Indian subcontinent
    Southeast Asia
    Southern China
    Taiwan
    The Pacific Islands
    The Caribbean (except Cuba and the Cayman Islands)
    Mexico
    Africa
    Central and South America (except Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina)
    Most cases in the United States occur in people who contracted the infection while traveling abroad. But the risk is increasing for people living along the Texas-Mexico border and in other parts of the southern United States. In 2009, an outbreak of dengue fever was identified in Key West, Fla. There have been outbreaks in Hawai’i.

    Dengue fever is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito infected with a dengue virus. The mosquito becomes infected when it bites a person with dengue virus in their blood. It can’t be spread directly from one person to another person.

    Symptoms, which usually begin four to six days after infection and last for up to 10 days, may include

    Sudden, high fever
    Severe headaches
    Pain behind the eyes
    Severe joint and muscle pain
    Fatigue
    Nausea
    Vomiting
    Skin rash, which appears two to five days after the onset of fever
    Mild bleeding (such a nose bleed, bleeding gums, or easy bruising)

    Sometimes, symptoms are mild and can be mistaken for those of the flu or another viral infection. Younger children and people who have never had the infection before tend to have milder cases than older children and adults.”

    For me, the onset was a severe headache, accompanied by chills and sweats, and body aches. The headache was pretty bad for one day, but then abated. My skin became mildly painful to the touch, and my muscles and back ached. I was very tired, and my appetite was low. There was indeed pain behind the eyes. I did have a bit of mild nausea, but not much. I had a little rash, but not much, or for long. No bleeding in this case.

    Tylenol helped a little with the pain. I would normally use Advil, but it can contribute to bleeding, so the doctor advised against it.

    I figured out what it was myself. No flu symptoms, plus knowing I was in a dengue area, and the distinctive symptoms made me pretty sure. As there is no treatment for it, I was just going to wait it out.

    After discussions with the advise nurse at home in Washington (and friends here) I decided after a week to be tested so I could be certain it was not some other malady. There is an international quality hospital here in Bangkok that caters to ‘medical tourism’ (having care done here at a fraction of the cost in many other countries). I walked in, and within 3 hours had been seen, and a blood sample taken. By that evening, the result confirmed that I had dengue fever. My white blood cell and platelet counts were low, and I tested positive for dengue antigens and antibodies.

    The doctor recommended that I come in at the end of the week and be tested again. Today, 8 days after my first symptoms, I did so. I could tell already that my aches were easing overnight, and the blood test confirmed that my counts are on the way back up, as is the normal course. I had a relatively light case, fortunately. That said, it has not been pleasant, and I do not recommend it. I think I rested and half-slept 18 hours a day. I’m not quite out of the woods yet, either.

    (later note: after about 10 days, I was back to normal, as expected)

    Fortunately, I was settled in to a nice apartment in Bangkok, and rested up there. It would have been difficult to go through while traveling. There are four strains of dengue fever. I will now be immune to one strain, but could get any of the others, so I do need to take care.

    The lesson: when traveling, do all you can to avoid mosquito bites. Usually, I wear long sleeve shirts and pants, but the weather was hot, and I exposed my arms and ankles with shorts and short sleeve shirts.