Visit to Thodoo

Beautiful beach in Thodoo

 

"So where shall we go during this holidays", I asked my husband. Since we decided to be on a low budget during this holidays we decided not to go abroad but explore the islands, here in the Maldives. At first, we thought of visiting the southern part of Maldives but then again this meant purchasing airline tickets and a lot of hassle so my husband came up with the idea of visiting Thodoo, an island situated in Ari Atoll.

What's special about Thodoo is that it is famous for its agriculture, especially for their watermelons.

As always I was the one in charge of arranging the accommodation and all.  So I called up the first guest house on my list and asked for the room rates. " for local families, we don't provide breakfast, only for guests", came the reply when I asked for bed and breakfast price. I was like "So locals are to go hungry? I mean really..... rather unfair don't you think especially when traveling with kids.  Rather racist I would say.

Anyway, after a few attempts, I finally managed to get two rooms from the Royal Stay Inn. But that was without breakfast as of course, we were locals.  But the guy was quite helpful and even arranged the transport to the island for 250 Rf each. It was a beautiful day, the day we travelled.  So the sea was calm and even spotted a few dolphins along the way.  After about 1 hr speed boat ride we arrived in Thodoo. We were received at the jetty from the guesthouse and transported to the guesthouse.

Royal Stay Inn, the guest house we stayed

Inside the guest house, a shady area to hang out and play cards or chess or even read. 

 I love this guest house. It has a nice little area for some card games and chess and free coffee. The front yard is covered with white sand and has trees and flowering plants growing, giving a nice homey feel. The rooms are simple but cosy with good size bathrooms. The rooms were not cleaned daily so for me it was a big problem, especially after a few days you can feel the sand when you walk in. You will also need to have some mosquito repellant lotion or spray or patch such as Odomos (which is really effective.) when you travel in the islands.

Anyway, Thodoo is a lovely island when it comes to exploring. I love the way the islanders grow lots of vegetables and flowering plants around their houses.

shady roads 

Taking a stroll in the iconic palm tree road

But of course when visiting Thodoo it's hard to miss the vast fields surrounding the island. Vegetables such as snake gourds, thora, brinjals, snake beans, chilies, winter melons (fuhfoo) cucumbers, white radish, and various lettuces. It was not watermelon season but was able to spot a few.

Some of the vegetables and fruits grown 

The guest house we stayed in arranged a fishing trip for us, and I have to say it was something to experience. This was our first fishing trip, sunset fishing as it was called. We were accompanied by this lively bunch of fisherman and their kids. Took their Dhoni ( local fishing boat) to the edge of the reef with a clear view of the island and the sun setting behind us.

Heading for fishing

 Its such a calming experience, just sitting on the boat, listening to the sound of the waves splashing gently on the sides of the boat. We all caught a fish each with my little one catching the biggest one.

Catch of the evening

Showing off his catch

 The fishermen were very sweet as they let the boys pull up their catch as well. They gave us three small fish to take along with us and the guy who works in the guest house had the barbeque roaring up soon and we had grilled fish with rice for dinner.

Overall it was a  fun trip, just wish the restaurants we ate had more local dishes rather than just nasi goreng and noodles. I think even foreigners would have liked it better to experience local cuisine.