What do you think?
Rate this book
Journeys through the Maldives: Island Hopping, Ancient History, Local Culture and Diving Adventures
Tales from the author's many trips to the Maldives over the last two decades. Avoiding the luxury tourist resorts, he visited remote villages, where tradition meets innovation and technology. He mingled with local people, eating their food and trying to understand their culture. Always island hopping by boat, he went to countless postcard perfect uninhabited islands and will describe some of the most pristine white sand beaches in the world, lined with palm trees that offer the freshest coconuts. He also takes us to the streets of the bustling capital Malè, in its hidden corners often overlooked by most tourists.
In dozens of dives, he witnessed the richness of incontaminated wildlife and the sparkling colors of the Maldivian lagoons. He practiced responsible fishing with local fishermen, only enough to put food on the dinner table. But the islands are facing rapid changes and serious problems, and they are not always the paradise they seem.
In this book Marco also explores the history of the Maldives as it evolved from a Buddhist outpost of India into a fervent muslim island nation with its own unique features. The book refers to anecdotes, mythology and diaries Arab traders, French explorers, British colonialists and a even Thor Heyerdahl, the famous Norwegian archeologist who made an essential contribution to discovering the past of the Maldives. Did you know that the Maldives provided the shell money that fueled a huge slave trade that benefited the Dutch as they sailed from Africa to Indonesia?
Today, however, times have changed, the Maldives are an independent nation in the British Commonwealth and they play off India and China against one another and both great powers vie for influence in the Indian Ocean. Marco will explain the economics, the politics and the geopolitics that frame the way forward as the Maldives face the environmental challenges of the future. Climate change poses a bigger threat that than of the old colonialists.
The kindle version of the book includes 46 color photographs.
In dozens of dives, he witnessed the richness of incontaminated wildlife and the sparkling colors of the Maldivian lagoons. He practiced responsible fishing with local fishermen, only enough to put food on the dinner table. But the islands are facing rapid changes and serious problems, and they are not always the paradise they seem.
In this book Marco also explores the history of the Maldives as it evolved from a Buddhist outpost of India into a fervent muslim island nation with its own unique features. The book refers to anecdotes, mythology and diaries Arab traders, French explorers, British colonialists and a even Thor Heyerdahl, the famous Norwegian archeologist who made an essential contribution to discovering the past of the Maldives. Did you know that the Maldives provided the shell money that fueled a huge slave trade that benefited the Dutch as they sailed from Africa to Indonesia?
Today, however, times have changed, the Maldives are an independent nation in the British Commonwealth and they play off India and China against one another and both great powers vie for influence in the Indian Ocean. Marco will explain the economics, the politics and the geopolitics that frame the way forward as the Maldives face the environmental challenges of the future. Climate change poses a bigger threat that than of the old colonialists.
The kindle version of the book includes 46 color photographs.
306 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 24, 2017
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.