Sometimes, you have to work hard to see wildlife. And when I say sometimes, I mean most of the time. You have to creep past snakes in the darkness and risk frostbite to glimpse a tiger. You have to play basketball with the base of your spine along a rickety dirt track to see a zebra, lion or rhino. You have to hike for days to see a condor, paddle for miles to see a seal and at the absolute minimum jump into the sea to eyeball a turtle.

Not so in the Maldives, a chain of one thousand or so islands with a reputation for showing guests the luxurious side of life. The diving grabs all the headlines, requiring paperwork to prove that you know how to breathe, but you don’t even need to go that far.

Take these snaps, gathered from a deckchair safari around the Sheraton Maldives. It’s a family oriented place, just a fifteen minute boat ride from the main island Male. Yet neither children nor the sight of glimmering lights on the horizon (themselves a rarity in the Maldives) scared the wildlife away.

Now then, disclosure . While I did take all of these photos, technically, I didn’t take them all from a deckchair. Friends, readers, spambots, I was weak. I felt troubled, every now and then, by the urge to get a better angle. To make the most of the available light. And even (gulp!) on occasions, to stand up. All in the name of getting a better shot. I hang my camera in shame.

But rest assured, ladies and gents, that you too can see all this wildlife just as the headline promises. From a deckchair. In the Maldives.

Let’s have a look:

Photo Safari from A Deckchair

Disclosure: I received complimentary accommodation at the Sheraton Full Moon Resort & Spa in the Maldives. All wildlife sightings are my own…

What’s the “easiest safari” you’ve been on?