A Charmed Life in Ceylon
By Tony Buxton
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The author’s fascinating adventures in the early 50’s portray an adventurous lifestyle that most of us dream about, but would be impossible today. Born in Colombo (Sri Lanka) in 1931. He spent his early childhood in England and returned to Ceylon after the war to work the family business founded by his grandfather. Not the typical colonial type, who was expected to segregate himself from the “natives” and join their exclusive clubs. Tony went against the rules and preferred the company of the Ceylonese. This resulted in him making many friends, including well-known politicians.
He developed a passion for underwater exploring at a time when the sport was in its infancy and before the event of SCUBA. He gave up his job and a promising career and survived by spear fishing, catching lobsters, aquarium fish and hunting game in the jungles. He set himself up as an underwater guide attracting the wealthy and famous to this new sport. Charging nothing for his services, they repaid him by inviting him to their homes in Europe where he experienced a lavish lifestyle that he hardly knew existed.
During these trips, he married three of his four wives; two Scandinavian supermodels and an Italian actress, no doubt intrigued by his glamorous exploits. But none of them could fit into his adventurous lifestyle in Ceylon for long.
The powerful Minister of Tourism, a keen diver, himself commissioned him to promote underwater tourism. They became close friends, and he was involved in political intrigues. Even with almost no money, he lived very happily bartering fish, lobsters and game for food and drink. Fluctuating between simple and lavish lifestyles. He was the first person to dive in the nearby Maldive Islands and southern India, where he created a sensation.
This is an intriguing read about the not-so-distant past in a unique South-east Asian country – Ceylon- before it slid into political turmoil, isolationism, civil war...and is just now emerging as a stable member of the modernising Asian community of nations.
Tony Buxton
Tony Buxton was born in 1931 in Sri Lanka. He went back to England during the war and eventually returned to Sri Lanka in the early 50s. There he developed a passion for exploring underwater, before the event of SCUBA. He made a living spear fishing as well as being an underwater guide, during which time many rich and famous people, including local politicians used his services. He was the first person to dive in the Maldives and southern India. He won the Ceylon National spear fishing Championships in 1959, and then went on to the world Championships in Malta where he came first on the British team. After the event, he was invited by Jaques Cousteau to meet him in Monaco, and some years later Cousteau invited him to join him on an expedition to the Indian Ocean. Leaving Sri Lanka in 1963, he went to Thailand where he was the first person to dive there, and he founded the Thailand sub aqua club. In 1965 he was invited by award-winning underwater photographer Ben Crop to star in his film "Challenge of the sea". During the filming, he explored unknown reefs in the Pacific with well-known underwater explorer Jaques Dumas. Eventually, he moved to Singapore and set up a highly profitable commercial diving venture with Exxon (Esso) underwater cleaning ships. His years of diving to considerable depths without scuba eventually affected his health, and he had to curtail his diving. He took up the sport of polo with the same passion he had for diving. Playing in international tournaments he achieved a Polo handicap of +2 and was eventually invited to play on one of the Malay sultans teams and lived in one of their palaces in Malaysia. After a serious accident playing polo, he retired to Thailand where he lives now.
Read more from Tony Buxton
Pacific Voyage on a Chinese Junk Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA life of spearfishing diving and polo Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Charmed Life in Ceylon 1953-1963 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to A Charmed Life in Ceylon
Related ebooks
The voyage of the One Step: Ten Young men set out on an ill-fated attempt to sail around the world in a Chinese junk Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobinson Crusoe: Written Anew for Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Way I see It Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNever A Dull Moment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobinson Crusoe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robinson Crusoe: Level 3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Long Winding Road to Nakhon Nowhere: When Thailand Truly was the Land of Smiles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales of an Enchanted Boyhood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHappy Odyssey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Give Her Six: A Distillery Manager's Son in 1960s Bruichladdich Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Long Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArgonaut: Memories of an East Neuk Skipper Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRed Snow: A Young Pole's Epic Search for His Family in Stalinist Russia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRobinson Crusoe (ESL/EFL Version with Audio) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKiss My Boots Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFine wine guns and angels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSea Folk Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Boat that Brought Me Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAccents, Personal Stories, Fluency Practice Series, Intermediate Level, Volume 7 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5At The Flick Of A Coin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVoyages Through Life: The Story of John Dunlop Allison Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReflections of My Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Conversation with Anne Dammarell Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Mother’S Memoirs: Travels of a New Zealander in 1929 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Dhobie’s Bight to Duntroon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fisherman's Wife Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings99 Park Street Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Different Drummer: The Escapades of a Ten-Pound Pom Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsColonel Blood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBig Carp Legends: Lee Jackson Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Personal Memoirs For You
The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm Glad My Mom Died Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Glass Castle: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Stolen Life: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mediocre Monk: A Stumbling Search for Answers in a Forest Monastery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dad on Pills: Fatherhood and Mental Illness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just Mercy: a story of justice and redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: the heartfelt, funny memoir by a New York Times bestselling therapist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mommie Dearest Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bad Mormon: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Solutions and Other Problems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Choice: Embrace the Possible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Charmed Life in Ceylon
0 ratings0 reviews