Yes I’m leaving on a sea plane. Don’t know when I’ll be back again…

Apologies to John Denver for plagiarism.

Earlier this spring we were in the gorgeous Indian Ocean islands of the Maldives. See my earlier post on our idyllic beach bungalow.

All international flights arrive in the capital city of Male, then travelers make their onward journey by boat or by sea plane.

Our atoll was to the north, a forty minute sea plane trip. For the kids, it was their first journey on a sea plane, and they were pretty excited.

It’s fun to have a water take off and landing, and to be squeezed into the tiny plane. The views of then atolls below is gorgeous from those low-flying planes. And the barefoot captains and stewards are friendly are (seemingly) far more relaxed than their international carrier counterparts.

And what can I say, the views are gorgeous. I loved being up in the air watching the play of color of the water around the coral reefs down below.

Yes, okay, the flights are noisy. But back in my journalist days, I had the good fortune to take a flight on one of the few preserved F17s – the famous Flying Fortresses – so no plane is going to seem very noisy after that experience.

During our week on our tropical island, the kids enjoyed watching the sea planes arriving and taking off from their perch on the white sand beach, or their view from the turquoise waters.

That enthusiasm lasted until the fateful day we had to board our plane to bring us home. All of a sudden, all that excitement for the sea planes faded rather quickly.

So, all in all, a pleasant part of the journey. John Denver may have favored the jet planes, but I’d be thrilled to leave on a  sea plane right about now…

Bye bye, paradise! : (