Journey to Paradise

Egypt

So I have recently taken a position as Resident Marine Biologist and EarthCheck coordinator at Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa and I am keen to share my passion for the marine environment with everyone that I can. But firstly let me tell you a bit about myself. I was born in Cairo, Egypt, and it is fair to say I became a seasoned traveller at a young age moving between countries and continents with my parents and siblings until we settled in the UK.

Snorkelling in Fiji

After finishing school at 18 I decided to take a year out before university and travelled to Fiji to work on a volunteer based marine conservation project. I was already a keen diver after learning to dive with school friends in the Red Sea when I was 16. Living on a beautiful tropical island and diving in the crystal clear waters of the Pacific ignited a passion in me that would go on to mould my future. After spending 7 months in Fiji carrying out daily fish and invertebrate surveys, I went back to the UK to start university.

Researching Whale Sharks (Djibouti)

I began a three year degree in Psychology and Sociology and although I enjoyed my degree a lot I did not feel the same way about it as I did marine conservation. As  a result I spent all of my summer vacations volunteering on marine conservation projects. After my first year of university I travelled to South Africa to volunteer on a great white shark project, monitoring Great White Sharks off Dyer Island (famous for its cape fur seal population and thus Great Whites).

After my second year at university, I made my first trip to the Indian Ocean to undertake my PADI Dive Master training in Seychelles, which was followed by three months working for Global Vision International marine program. After my final year at university I returned to the Seychelles to work on The Marine Conservation Society Seychelles Whale Shark Monitoring program. I worked monitoring Whale Sharks in Seychelles and Djibouti, and combined this with travelling in South East Asia and Australia where I got in as much diving as possible. After spending three years combing working in Seychelles and travelling I returned to the UK to undertake my Masters degree. This further fuelled my desire to conserve and protect the marine environment and led me to the Maldives where I spend my days in the water continually being amazed by how incredibly diverse and healthy this marine ecosystem is.

Hadahaa resident Hawksbill turtle coming up for air on the house reef.