Paradise, marine life and democracy

Yet again I have had the opportunity to experience a close encounter of the fascinating gigantic manta rays in the Maldives, specifically at the Conrad Rangali resort on the Ari atoll. Two years ago, at exactly the same time of the year, I got to see the first one, now I encountered a giant of something like 5-6 meters wingspan (pictured by my dive buddy Nigel Hossack) – its nothing less than breathtaking – literarily as the encounter happens around 10 meters under water and only 1-2 m away from us. In general, experiencing the amazing marine diversity is in itself awarding. Nobody knows how vast this diversity really is, but the recently published Ocean Census is at least trying to record and find out, so are the scuba divers in the Maldives. Counting only those species being recorded with photos by scuba divers at the Maldives, we already have around thousand fish species, but of course, the reality is much higher, no wonder this marine diversity is important to the diversity of the whole globe, us included.

The Maldives is truly a paradise, but reviewing a few facts may present a different picture in retrospect, not only consists this paradise of about 1200 coral islands and 26 atolls, but the Maldives is the lowest country in the world, with a maximum natural ground level of only 2.3 metres, with the average being only 1.5 metres above sea level, it is the country with the lowest altitude in the world!

Politically, Tunisia is possibly not the first Arab/Muslim country in recent time where the people has successfully overthrown the government and its dictator who where exploiting the people and the country for decades, the Maldives did it already in 2008 when a ‘bloodless revolution’ occurred and the people of the Maldives got a democratic constitution and a President elected fairly by the people. It’s a pleasure and with great admiration I have observed what their young President has achieved in terms of creating a contagious enthusiasm for the Maldives by us who visits the Maldives and by the Maldivians themselves and their hope for the future!