We start our second full day at the Lux Resort on the South Ari Atoll in the Maldives in this video, Episode 9 of our Big Adventure!
If you missed any of the previous episodes, we traveled 10,279 miles so it would be understandable if you did, the feel free to head over to the playlist and catch up.
Everything about the resort and even the island is new to us at the time of this video. No surprise we decide to explore the whole island. This initially sounds like a huge undertaking, but when you realize the island is only 1.8 kilometers long it could be asked what will we do for the rest of day.
First, we really take our time exploring and second, there was alcohol involved so the whole day was pretty full. This episode also includes the third full day, a look at the island’s night life and probably its most breathtaking feature.
We also confront an amazing mystery and fact about the island! Before getting into all those adventures, a little information about the Maldives.
The Maldives – A nation of islands
The Maldives, a tropical paradise nestled in the Indian Ocean, is a captivating island nation known for its breathtaking beauty and unique charm. Comprising 26 atolls and over a thousand coral islands, it is a haven for travelers seeking a serene escape from the bustling world. The crystal-clear turquoise waters surrounding the Maldives are a diver’s dream, showcasing an awe-inspiring underwater world of vibrant marine life and coral reefs.
It’s also one of the world’s most geographically dispersed sovereign states and the smallest Asian country!
Beyond its natural splendor, the Maldives boasts a rich cultural heritage, influenced by South Asian, Arab, and African traditions. The nation is officially one of the smallest Muslim-majority countries by land area with around 557,751 inhabitants. The country overwhelms guests with warm hospitality and friendly locals who welcome visitors to explore their customs and way of life.
Just as with our time in and around Dubai, we learned many of the ‘locals’ we met were in fact from other countries, making up the large service industry needed to satisfy the huge number of tourists. At its peak, the Maldives welcomed 2.7 million tourists before COVID shut down the world. Needless to say, tourism forms the backbone of the nation’s economy, exceeding 70% of its GDP.
However, the Maldives also faces environmental challenges due to rising sea levels and climate change, which threaten its existence. The nation is at the forefront of the fight against climate change, advocating for global cooperation to protect vulnerable island nations. This makes the Maldives is not just a picturesque holiday destination; it is a resilient nation, striving to preserve its natural wonders and cultural heritage for generations to come.
Behind the scenes (definite spoilers)
If this is your first time reading a ‘closer look’ at one of our YouTube videos, watch the video before reading any further. There are definite spoilers ahead!
As mentioned in other posts, this trip was the first travel adventure we knew would make it onto YouTube. While there aren’t as many moments of speaking to the camera as a modern travel Vlog, even one would’ve been more than seen in any prior trips. And yes, we do plan on publishing past travel adventures, low resolutions and all!
Reality is not edgy
Even though the second and third full day was pretty full of stuff, it’s not something everyone wants to watch minute by minute. Quite frankly, if we were to include everything and anything in the video even Wendy would pull out her iPad to play the latest game. A great example of this is the quick shot of the large sand bar compared to how much time was actually spent walking along it. Aside from the fact we’ll be featuring a much more fun and sunnier exploration of the sand bar in the next video, the amount of time spent wandering it in this instance wouldn’t be that interesting to watch on YouTube.
Another example of reality clashing with travel vlogging, the picture below gives an idea on why our villa looks so clean in every shot. All our stuff was hidden away in a walk-in closet!
The second full day and all its discoveries are also featured in the video, completed in some pretty heavy rain none the less. The third full day is also featured in highlight fashion, but again, fun for us but akin to watching paint dry for anyone else. On a similar note, we consolidated much of our nightlife, mostly because that time was set aside for our friends and great conversations, but also because our fun evenings distracted us from taking any footage!
But the bats!
As mentioned in our last travel blog post, this video can be summed up in two words, bats and seaplanes, both of which enjoy an abundance of footage, far more than we can ever post! Admittedly, it may feel like we did post a lot, but in reality, we could probably fill a National Geographic documentary about fruit bats with the actual amount of bat video sitting on our hard drive.
It’s fair to say Laurence was as obsessed with the bats as Wendy was with playing around in the water, capturing unseen footage of them climbing through the trees, snacking on hanging fruit and of course, staring right into the camera lens.
At one point, Wendy had to explain to a guest walking past along the beach that Laurence was filming bats, and he wasn’t just taking shots of wet palm trees. We’re not sure if he believed us or not.
Wendy didn’t know she captured a fruit bat when taking the picture seen in the video. It wasn’t until she saw the picture during the video-editing process that Wendy realized that was in fact a bat flying through the air! Our friends had told us about the bats at dinner the night before and it that’s genuine surprise you can hear from us during the segment.
Reality can be wet though
It’s nearly impossible to capture just how wet that second full day was. Wendy spent most of her time in whatever body of water was nearest and Laurence was busy shooting footage of bats, so we didn’t mind. Also, we were both in our swimming trunks, so when in Rome!
Hopefully viewers did get to see just how much of a water baby Wendy really is. She loves the water, sitting in, swimming through or floating on, Wendy doesn’t mind as long as she’s in it! With all this in mind, it’s easier to understand just how heavy the rain was by the time we were ready to head back from the other end of the island. The rain was so consistently heavy, we spent a good two hours under cover at the Veli Bar and having lunch at Mixx restaurant.
We captured a lot of island wildlife in those two hours but using that footage can be filed under the ‘paint drying’ analogy. Wendy even managed to capture that majestic looking bird seen in the pool scene pooping, in quite spectacular fashion!
Speaking of wet, there was a lot of incredible snorkeling footage, which is surprising as this was our first time capturing it. Detail-focused viewers may wonder what Wendy was carrying through her first snorkeling session. It was a GoPro Dome (seen below), used to capture cool-looking video when snorkeling or generally playing about in the water. It didn’t work well for us and looking back, the footage was just as nice and eye-catching without it. Wendy swam with it when it wasn’t being used.
The snorkeling footage was very shaky, so we slowed it down to 50% which not only eased out the jerkiness but gave a slow flow to the underwater life viewers tend to expect.
Sun setting on the video and this blog post
Aside from the incredible palette of colors and just how wide the sky felt at sunset, the other moment that wasn’t really captured in the video was just how breathtaking it all was. We were both so in awe of what we were witnessing there wasn’t much conversation, just the occasional muttering of whatever adjective we could find trying to describe what we were seeing.
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Thank you for taking the time to join us on this travel adventure and we look forward to having you along on the next one!
