How was your Explore Tour Leader?

Jude was extremely knowledgeable about his Island.Bongo was not forthcoming with information and had to be prodded!;

 

Just come back from a brilliant trip to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Sri Lanka was fairly busy, but with lots of variety. All the ancient historical sites are visited in the first week before heading up into the hills for quite a few cuppa's and sightseeing. The final part of the trip is nice and relaxing with some days at the beach. I enjoyed the amazing rock fortress of Sigiriya as well as the beautiful scenery of the hill country but by far the best bit was the whale watching trip. We were lucky enough to see two huge pods of dolphins as well as two blue whales, a male and female, who we sensitively followed for about an hour whilst they surfaced and then dived again. It was amazing to see the world's largest mammals up close. The hotels on this tour are all of excellent quality including a few real treats in very picturesque locations. If you're a curry fan, then Sri Lankan curries will not disappoint, I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms already! Sadly before long the trip was over but we had the added bonus of the week's Maldive Dhoni cruise to look forward to. On arrival in Male we boarded our small 9 berth dhoni boat, the Seafarer. Now don't expect luxury. The cabins are small but perfectly functional, don't take too much stuff as there's very little storage space (tricky when coming from 2 week sri lanka tour perhaps explore could find a place to store luggage for the week at the airport??). There are 3 toilets and showers on board but again the showers are basic, they only have cold water. The food on board was faultless, we had lots of variety, plenty of fruit and veg and the curries were very mild. Whilst cruising around the crew went fishing and caught lots of fish which we had for lunch and dinner. Fish has never tasted so good. We did on average 2 snorkels per day, all were different and very interesting. One thing to bear in mind is to take sea sickness pills as the sea can get very choppy in a very short space of time. Check the weather for the time of year you intend to go as it can be very changeable and not as hot as in Sri Lanka. The highlight of the Maldives for me though was when my boyfriend proposed to me on a deserted island! It was a complete surprise and turned a brilliant holiday into an unforgettable one! (SLM - 11th December 2010)