A Charmed Life in Ceylon
By Tony Buxton
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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.
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