Travel Journal

Live the adventures of Dan Walker's travels through reading his travel journal. The travel journals are listed below in descending order of date. To search the travel journals, use the keyword search at the bottom of the page.

Journal Entry:

Trips | Biot & Maldive Islands 2010

Monday, November 08, 2010 18:02:53
BIOT & Maldive Islands 2010: 2 - Trying for the Chagos from Gan Cast of characters in the Chagos Disaster Group: Pam Barrus - USA JoAnn Schwartz - USA Kevin Hughes - USA living in Thailand Jorge Sanchez - Spain Terry Last - England Dan Walker - Canadian living in Costa Rica Roelof Munoz - Surinam Seth Sherman - USA Carl Siby - Sweden living in Thailand Carlyn Broadwell - USA - out group's senior member at 78 years old, and going strong. Thursday, November 4, 2010 This morning I felt great - and it lasted; the dreaded 12 hour jet lag didn't happen. After breakfast and check out I walked the block to the ferry terminal to catch the 9 AM ferry to the airport, where I waited for the others. There were prospects for boats to charter so Seth, an experience sailor, and Jorge stayed behind to negotiate while the rest of us flew to Gan. The flight over the hundreds of Atolls of the south Maldive Islands was fascinating. We crossed the equator just north of Gan, and the stewardess handed out personalized equator crossing certificates to the passengers. A shuttle bus was at the airport to take us to the Equator Resort, an all inclusive 5 minutes from the airport. $136 per night for a single room with king bed included all meals, some tours, and drinks. It was less per day for those sharing rooms. They had decent beer and real liquor! I called Masood Saeed, a Maldivian in the ship repair and provisioning business that I had been in contact with from Costa Rica, and he came to the hotel to meet with us. He had someone he said might be interested in taking us to the BIOT, and drove us to the next island where his boat was supposed to be, but it was at sea. We returned to the hotel with an agreement to meet again at 6 PM. I headed for the ocean where the snorkeling off the beach was amazing. Only a few meters from shore were a huge variety of beautiful healthy corals swarming with hundreds of varieties of fish. The coral area was shallow, but the number, variety and colours of the fish were astounding. At one point I thought my feet were hitting coral, but on looking back I saw small cleaner fish nibbling at my toes! My intention was to go scuba diving, but I can't imagine how it could improve upon the phenomenal snorkeling, and I was not that impressed with the dive outfit. Fortunately, I brought a mask and snorkel with me. Flippers were unnecessary, as they would have hit the coral. It was best to just float and drift with waves and current while enjoying the vivid display of life below. We were ready at 6 PM to meet Masood, but as usual he was about an hour late - island time definitely applies here. He was in negotiation with two boat owners in Gan and one in Male, whose name we passed on to Seth & Jorge. I suggested a price of $15-17,000 for the boat charter. Masood said he would return again later, so we all went for beer and dinner. The food is an adequate buffet, and they try hard for good variety. During the evening we heard from the Male guys that they had an offer of a boat for $40,000, but turned it down as too expensive. Masood showed up after 11 PM with news that he had someone who would risk taking us to BIOT for $31,000, which we declined. We also heard they had run out of options in Male and would be on the plane tomorrow morning for Gan. Friday, November 5, 2010 During the night I woke up thinking that perhaps the price wasn't too bad divided between the 10 of us - $3,100 each. We had spent much more than that getting here. I bounced if off others and some agreed and other said no - some of the group are very frugal, but it would cost much more to come back and try again. Several did not have enough money to pay their share, and for everyone who drops out the cost goes up 10% for those still in. As soon as the sun rose I went snorkeling. Our units are very close to the white sand beach which becomes coral formations a short way out. It was even more vibrant this morning, with many more types of fish, including a large moray eel who flashed his teeth at me. I tried to get the last update away, but there is no wireless internet here, and the old computer that costs $US 4 for 15 minutes couldn't read the file. I've now changed it to an old format. It is going to be a slow day, as it is the Muslim holy day and few people are working. Masood had his cell phone shut off all day, so most of the day was spent sitting around trading travel stories & drinking beer. Jorge & Seth from Male joined us, and Carolyn had some amazing stories of travelling on a very limited budget. My evening snorkel trip was great once again. The special event was a good sized manta ray coming out of the deep and passed within an arms length of me. Saturday, November 6, 2010 The day started once again with a snorkel tour in front of the resort. This time the highlight was having the front of my mask cleaned by the cleaner fish. I had to cross my eyes to see them at that distance! I tried all day to reach Masood, but he had his cell phone turned off. Saturday is the second day of the Muslim weekend. In the afternoon Carl, Terry, JoAnne, Pam and I went out on the hotel's free snorkel trip in a comfortably large boat. We went quite a way down the coast before doing some snorkeling, but the visibility and number of fish did not compare with the area in front of our hotel. Terry spotted a sailing yacht anchored, so had our boat go alongside. He and Carl arranged to meet the French sailor on the dock once it was discovered they were headed for the Chagos Islands and had the necessary permit. When the guys got back from talking to the yacht owner they said it was a French family that had been sailing for eight years. They planned to meet friends with boats for a month and a half stay in the Chagos Islands. Terry suggested if they could take 4 or 5 of us the Chagos and back for a fee if we would pay for the wife and daughter to stay in the resort while the trip was under way. In the evening I finally reached Masood and suggested we get together with the captain/owner of the boat as a last attempt to make something work. I was in with the others watching a movie Pam had brought when they arrived at the hotel. I took Masood aside and explained that the person with the least money with them had $2,000, and some others not much more. He went and got the captain from a table where one of his assistants and half a dozen of our group were talking. The assistant spoke good English, the captain none, so Masood translated. Eventually, through Masood, it was established that the boat would do 16 knots, meaning Chagos could be reached in 30 hours - perfect for our time frame. He would charge $15,000 if we had a BIOT permit and $20,000 without one - a price that would work well for us. He promised to talk to his partners and get back to us before 10 AM. Nothing had been heard from the French sailor, so we knew that option was dead as his plan was to sail first thing tomorrow, but we were feeling pretty positive when Kevin and I had a midnight nightcap at the bar. Sunday, November 7, 2010 I went snorkelling in the morning with JoAnne. At breakfast anticipation of getting to Chagos was still running high. Hope began to fade by 9:45 when I called Masood. He tried to reach the boat captain, but the cell phone was not being answered - likely the Maldivian way of saying no deal. I told him to try for an hour, and when that passed with no contact we gave it up. Seth and Carl flew back to Male to catch planes for other destinations while the rest of us came to grips with the idea that we were now on holiday, there was no hope of completing our mission. Masood was to pick me up for a tour of the island at 2 PM, but phoned to say it would be 3 PM, however when he hadn't arrived by 3:30 I called him to say forget it. We sat around and chatted with a couple who had just come ashore from a sailboat that arrived from Chagos. They had passed the French boat en route, but said no other boats were there. They received their Chagos permit on line in about a week - it is no problem for private yachts but impossible for commercial groups. We all were feeling a bit let down - something like decompression. I went to bed early with a sleeping pill and slept 10 hours.

Monday, November 08, 2010 18:02:53

BIOT & Maldive Islands 2010: 2 - Trying for the Chagos from Gan

Cast of characters in the Chagos Disaster Group:
Pam Barrus - USA
JoAnn Schwartz - USA
Kevin Hughes - USA living in Thailand
Jorge Sanchez - Spain
Terry Last - England
Dan Walker - Canadian living in Costa Rica
Roelof Munoz - Surinam
Seth Sherman - USA
Carl Siby - Sweden living in Thailand
Carlyn Broadwell - USA - out group's senior member at 78 years old, and going strong.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

This morning I felt great - and it lasted; the dreaded 12 hour jet lag didn't happen. After breakfast and check out I walked the block to the ferry terminal to catch the 9 AM ferry to the airport, where I waited for the others. There were prospects for boats to charter so Seth, an experience sailor, and Jorge stayed behind to negotiate while the rest of us flew to Gan. The flight over the hundreds of Atolls of the south Maldive Islands was fascinating. We crossed the equator just north of Gan, and the stewardess handed out personalized equator crossing certificates to the passengers.

A shuttle bus was at the airport to take us to the Equator Resort, an all inclusive 5 minutes from the airport. $136 per night for a single room with king bed included all meals, some tours, and drinks. It was less per day for those sharing rooms. They had decent beer and real liquor! I called Masood Saeed, a Maldivian in the ship repair and provisioning business that I had been in contact with from Costa Rica, and he came to the hotel to meet with us. He had someone he said might be interested in taking us to the BIOT, and drove us to the next island where his boat was supposed to be, but it was at sea. We returned to the hotel with an agreement to meet again at 6 PM.

I headed for the ocean where the snorkeling off the beach was amazing. Only a few meters from shore were a huge variety of beautiful healthy corals swarming with hundreds of varieties of fish. The coral area was shallow, but the number, variety and colours of the fish were astounding. At one point I thought my feet were hitting coral, but on looking back I saw small cleaner fish nibbling at my toes! My intention was to go scuba diving, but I can't imagine how it could improve upon the phenomenal snorkeling, and I was not that impressed with the dive outfit.

Fortunately, I brought a mask and snorkel with me. Flippers were unnecessary, as they would have hit the coral. It was best to just float and drift with waves and current while enjoying the vivid display of life below.

We were ready at 6 PM to meet Masood, but as usual he was about an hour late - island time definitely applies here. He was in negotiation with two boat owners in Gan and one in Male, whose name we passed on to Seth & Jorge. I suggested a price of $15-17,000 for the boat charter. Masood said he would return again later, so we all went for beer and dinner. The food is an adequate buffet, and they try hard for good variety.

During the evening we heard from the Male guys that they had an offer of a boat for $40,000, but turned it down as too expensive.

Masood showed up after 11 PM with news that he had someone who would risk taking us to BIOT for $31,000, which we declined. We also heard they had run out of options in Male and would be on the plane tomorrow morning for Gan.

Friday, November 5, 2010

During the night I woke up thinking that perhaps the price wasn't too bad divided between the 10 of us - $3,100 each. We had spent much more than that getting here. I bounced if off others and some agreed and other said no - some of the group are very frugal, but it would cost much more to come back and try again. Several did not have enough money to pay their share, and for everyone who drops out the cost goes up 10% for those still in.

As soon as the sun rose I went snorkeling. Our units are very close to the white sand beach which becomes coral formations a short way out. It was even more vibrant this morning, with many more types of fish, including a large moray eel who flashed his teeth at me.

I tried to get the last update away, but there is no wireless internet here, and the old computer that costs $US 4 for 15 minutes couldn't read the file. I've now changed it to an old format. It is going to be a slow day, as it is the Muslim holy day and few people are working. Masood had his cell phone shut off all day, so most of the day was spent sitting around trading travel stories & drinking beer. Jorge & Seth from Male joined us, and Carolyn had some amazing stories of travelling on a very limited budget.

My evening snorkel trip was great once again. The special event was a good sized manta ray coming out of the deep and passed within an arms length of me.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

The day started once again with a snorkel tour in front of the resort. This time the highlight was having the front of my mask cleaned by the cleaner fish. I had to cross my eyes to see them at that distance!

I tried all day to reach Masood, but he had his cell phone turned off. Saturday is the second day of the Muslim weekend. In the afternoon Carl, Terry, JoAnne, Pam and I went out on the hotel's free snorkel trip in a comfortably large boat. We went quite a way down the coast before doing some snorkeling, but the visibility and number of fish did not compare with the area in front of our hotel. Terry spotted a sailing yacht anchored, so had our boat go alongside. He and Carl arranged to meet the French sailor on the dock once it was discovered they were headed for the Chagos Islands and had the necessary permit.

When the guys got back from talking to the yacht owner they said it was a French family that had been sailing for eight years. They planned to meet friends with boats for a month and a half stay in the Chagos Islands. Terry suggested if they could take 4 or 5 of us the Chagos and back for a fee if we would pay for the wife and daughter to stay in the resort while the trip was under way.

In the evening I finally reached Masood and suggested we get together with the captain/owner of the boat as a last attempt to make something work. I was in with the others watching a movie Pam had brought when they arrived at the hotel. I took Masood aside and explained that the person with the least money with them had $2,000, and some others not much more. He went and got the captain from a table where one of his assistants and half a dozen of our group were talking. The assistant spoke good English, the captain none, so Masood translated. Eventually, through Masood, it was established that the boat would do 16 knots, meaning Chagos could be reached in 30 hours - perfect for our time frame. He would charge $15,000 if we had a BIOT permit and $20,000 without one - a price that would work well for us. He promised to talk to his partners and get back to us before 10 AM.

Nothing had been heard from the French sailor, so we knew that option was dead as his plan was to sail first thing tomorrow, but we were feeling pretty positive when Kevin and I had a midnight nightcap at the bar.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

I went snorkelling in the morning with JoAnne. At breakfast anticipation of getting to Chagos was still running high.

Hope began to fade by 9:45 when I called Masood. He tried to reach the boat captain, but the cell phone was not being answered - likely the Maldivian way of saying no deal. I told him to try for an hour, and when that passed with no contact we gave it up. Seth and Carl flew back to Male to catch planes for other destinations while the rest of us came to grips with the idea that we were now on holiday, there was no hope of completing our mission.

Masood was to pick me up for a tour of the island at 2 PM, but phoned to say it would be 3 PM, however when he hadn't arrived by 3:30 I called him to say forget it. We sat around and chatted with a couple who had just come ashore from a sailboat that arrived from Chagos. They had passed the French boat en route, but said no other boats were there. They received their Chagos permit on line in about a week - it is no problem for private yachts but impossible for commercial groups.

We all were feeling a bit let down - something like decompression. I went to bed early with a sleeping pill and slept 10 hours.