And what goes with peanut? Jelly!
It is also a tasty spread for one’s morning toast and a regular fixture on all Maldives breakfast buffets. But Constance Halaveli stands out with 12 varieties on offer including – Passion Fruit, Strawberry, Apple & Cinnamon, Lemon Marmalade, Apricot, Banana, Pineapple, Mango & Papaya, and Mango.
Just jammy!
Warning – Definitely contains nuts!
Happy Peanut day! A great taste served two delicious ways. First peanut ice cream. Growing up in New England I have experienced just about every flavour of ice cream including pumpkin, clam chowder and grape nut. But I have never seen nor had peanut. A natural really. And if that wasn’t distinctive enough, Gangehi serves it with homemade peanut brittle.
Nuttin’ but the best!
What does a professional tennis player coming off the court have in common with a guest arriving at a resort? They both can’t wait to get a refreshing towel and satisfying beverage.
The cold scented towels handed out on arrival is one of our favourite parts of visiting the Maldives. One dividend to our island hopping touring is that we get one of these fragrant face refreshers every day.
But on Kurumba, you can have it with every tide. Twice a day a staff member takes around scented, cool towels to guests on the beach. Also, you can request them at the restaurants and bars.
A most refreshing holiday!
Most resorts have tennis courts, many will provide a player to have a match against, Reethi actually organises regular competitions, but Constance Halaveli provides a tennis referee. And a proper ref chair to sit in (see above). His name is Nilantha Kuarage (not in photo…that’s me) and he can also serve as a coach, teacher and partner too.
The courtside facilities also feature a well equipped “coach”/spectator seat with a parasol shade and cabinet for a water cooler (see below).
The US Open season with this week’s tennis additions has tipped the balance for adding a “Racquet” for racquet sports to the blog category list.
US Tennis Open finale today features two of the stars Djokovic and Nadal who seem to have no difficulty finding each other in the big tournaments in recent years.
While it’s not a problem reading by the beach or going to the gym, finding someone to play against can be a challenge for tennis fans travelling. Sure many resorts will offer resort staff to play, but if you want a full fledged tourney of competition, then you need to go to One & Only Reethi Rah. Reethi feature a weekly visitor tennis tournament…
“Every Wednesday from 4 to 6 pm our Tennis Club hosts a social tournament where guests will compete against each other in mixed teams. This social tournament is a great way to meet new people and discover our tennis facilities.”
No sign up required and complementary. Though watch out if repeat guest, who opened their tennis court, a guy named ‘Djokovic’, is on one of the teams, be warned that he’s a bit of a ringer.
Magic coconuts in the Maldives news this week: “Police summon white magic practitioner to investigate possible cursed coconut” meant to influence yesterday’s long awaited elections. Everything seemed to go smoothly and peacefully which hopefully paves the way for the people’s voice to settle all of the political controversy of the past year and a half.
For some real coconut magic, though, Kandooma architecture is nuciferally inspired reassembling coconut husks.
These dramatic structures aren’t the only soaring design features of the resort which takes extensive advantage of vertical space with not just these massive vaulted ceilings (see photo below), but also tented canopies, a dramatic reception area and a unique tower even.
The house reef remains one of the top criteria in Maldive resort choice. Resorts with weaker or less accessible “house reefs” have to work harder to compensate with a more enticing overall offering. Distinguishing between the fine house reefs, though, is a very subjective exercise. Some have more coral, some have more fish, some are more accessible, some are more extensive. Except for Reefscaping, there’s not a lot that a resort can do to alter its reef endowment. But given it pre-eminence as a guest lure, I’m always surprised that resorts don’t do more to enhance the house reef experience.
One resort that has pulled out the stops to support snorkling (and diving) its own very fine house reef is appropriately named Chaaya Reef Ellaidhoo. They are blessed with a vibrant reef with curious caves and colourful soft coral. But instead of resting on their polyps (hmm…that sounds like a tired person with piles), they have invested in all sorts of infrastructure to guide and support to make the whole experience easier and more satisfying including…
For divers who want to dive this house reef, solo diving is permitted (as long as you follow the strict safety guidelines). I’ve not seen so many things put in place to enhance the house reef experience. A number of them are quite unique in their own right (eg. current indicator, house reef wreck). But the one that excited me the most was the “Spotting White Board”.
I have been advocating for years that resorts feature a white board where they could share their snorkel discoveries and sightings. I envisioned a map where people could highlight what they saw and where. My frustration with the lack of any logging or sharing facility is what led to me developing the Snorkel Spotter. Chaaya Reef Ellaidhoo doesn’t have anything as fancy as that, but at least it has a log board for sightings (see photo below) which is in the right spirit.
One of the first things that I do when I arrive at a hotel room is to gather all of the marketing literature sprinkled liberally around the room and move it to some out of the way place. Lots of glossy material with pictures of palm trees and pina coladas that are not that interesting to me.
But Gangehi has created a booklet that was so good I brought it home. It is a guide to the plants and animals found on the resort. Fish guides are quite popular in the gift shops, but this is more land focused. The tropical life on the land has its own intriguing variety, colour and distinction. It’s great to have such a handy guide. You can buy natural guide books, but most cover the entire Indian Ocean and therefore are quite heavy (taking up precious luggage weight). Also, they tend to be so comprehensive it is often hard to find the particular creature you are seeking. Gangehi’s guide is limited to those critters found on the island itself so it is quite concise.
Beach reading!
What is the most prominent thing people search for about the Maldives?
Google celebrates its sesquidecennial anniversary today (there’s a sesquipedalian for you…If you don’t know what it means, Google it). I’ve been doing some work to make Maldives Complete a bit easier for people to find using search engines like Google. Part of that work has had been use Google’s ‘Keyword Tool’ to get a better understanding of what are people looking for when they are searching about ‘Maldives resorts’. The results were quite intriguing…
1. Resorts – Obviously, the “resorts” themselves.
2. Spas – A bit curious in that when we first started coming to the Maldives in the nineties, most resorts didn’t even have spas. Maybe a few staff therapists on contracts. Now they are one of the top allures. Also and indication of the gentrification of the Maldives as a luxury destination.
3. Where they are – This was the one that surprised me. It seems that the Maldives’ reputation proceeds itself. People have heard of the legendary Maldives so far and wide that many don’t even know where they are. Part of this bias is due to the high portion of USA traffic on the web. Not only are Americans notoriously bad at geography, but the Maldives are literally on the opposite side of the world quite removed from their traditional tropical destinations like the Caribbean and South Pacific.
“I do pottery. I love it. It’s very relaxing; it takes me to another planet.” – Eva Herzigova
Some people think all you do in the Maldives is lie around in the sun all day. And some can’t conceive of wanting to do anything that would require any effort. But another group of folks actually enjoy doing things on their holiday break. Time to do the things they don’t get to do during their busy lives. And some of these “activities” can be quite relaxing in their own right.
One such activity is pottery. Especially, “throwing pots” on a wheel. The rhythmic rotation and the silky wet clay is reported as a very sensual and soothing experience. Perfectly apropos for a Maldives holiday. And the One & Only Reethi Rah has a full pottery studio. Set outside so one can enjoy the beach breezes while spinning or painting your creation, it even features a resident potter, Liliia Lapika Babych (see pictures) who provides classes and tutoring. The studio features pieces created by past guests as well as some of Lillia’s work. You can also make Venetian masks and other items with all of the equipment for glazing, painting and other creative media.
