![LUX South Ari Atoll - shark swing]](http://blog.maldivescomplete.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/LUX-South-Ari-Atoll-shark-swing.jpg "LUX South Ari Atoll - shark swing]")
Shark Awareness Day today! And what better way to appreciate all things than from inside the belly of the beast. Or at least a swing fashioned to look like one of these majestic creatures courtesy of LUX South Ari Atoll.
Bunking with the Billionaires on a Budget
- “If your room is a bit faded and worn, then step outside and you can enjoy the same gorgeous sunset that the millionaires in the fancy resort across the water are paying ten times as much to enjoy.”
Once again, I was invited to share my Maldives expertise with the readers of Hotelier Maldives, the leading industry publication for Maldives resorts. I covered a pretty comprehensive response to the 3rd most frequently asked question posed to me: “How can I afford to go to the Maldives?”
The article titled “Bunking with the Billionaires on a Budget” recommended:
- Ignore the Reviews.
- Go Half-Board.
- Brave the Six-Week Game.
- Go Garden.
- Brave New Openings.
- Use Loyalty Points.
- Inhabited Island Resorts.
- Avoid Seaplanes.
- “Remember you are going to the Maldives for its unique landscape, dazzling waters, lush tropical paradise, and underwater adventure and these are the same if you are in a luxury resort or a more basic property.”
Best of the Maldives: Light Therapy Shower – LUX North Male Atoll
Fourth of July and the day to paint the town Red, White and Blue (for American Independence Day). Or you can simply bathe in red, white and blue (and purple and green) light therapy at LUX North Male Atoll’s “Me” spa’s light therapy shower. A stream of different combinations of different coloured lights illuminate under the stream of water. And if the different wavelengths don’t do it for you, then maybe the disco vibe will at least put you in a good mood.
Best of the Maldives: Towel Folding Video – Coco Palm
World Oceans Day today. While travelling to the ocean to see turtles might still be limited, the Coco Collection has shared a way to bring them right into your own home during lockdown.
I’ve regularly featured striking towel creations, but now Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu and Coco Bodu Hithi have shared an instructional video so you can create these creatures yourself. They’ve started with a quite elaborate turtle construction.
Happy home schooling!
Best of the Maldives: Reef Friendly Sunscreens – Gili Lankanfushi
Environment Day today to celebrate appreciating, respecting and care for the environment around us. Sometimes the smallest of things can have big impacts over enough people and time. On example is sunscreen which we slather on to protect us from the tropical sun. But when we take a dip in the ocean to cool off, the salty water washes a lot of its chemicals off our body and onto the coral reefs we swim amongst.
Gili Lankanfushi is now only selling reef-friendly sunscreen in its boutique for its guests to remove this extra burden on our coral friends:
- “A key ingredient in more than 3,500 sun protection products is oxybenzone…Annually four to six thousand tonnes of these chemicals enter our ocean through wastewater effluent, and by swimmers slathered up with sunscreen. Acting like an oil slick, the chemicals settle on marine life and the reefs become suffocated.”
Also, Grand Park Koddhipparu have made a similar announcement, but I was unable to get additional details.
Best of the Maldives: Imaginative Ice Creams – Faarufushi
The culinary creatives at Faarufushi are always musing about a new ice cream taste sensation they can tantalise their guests with. Chef Bir shared his current slate of sorbets with me including:
- · Rose and Jasmine Flower (above)
- · Gorgonzola and Amarena
- · Strawberry and Balsamic
- · Chocolate and Thyme
- · Foie Gras Ice Cream
- · Honeycomb and Ginger
- · Mandarin Sorbet (below)
Mind Full of Maldives
World Meditation Day today. And as usual, I will be meditating on thoughts of the Maldives. Until lockdown and travel restrictions, such ruminations might be the only way to transport myself back to this paradise.
In fact, the daily practice of working on and refining Maldives Complete is form of this “meditation” according to Maia Gambis’ “Why making art is the new meditation”:
- “Creating art is a type of meditation, an active training of the mind that increase awareness and emphasizes acceptance of feelings and thoughts without judgment and relaxation of body and mind… Creativity is its own language and enables humans to connect with one another — and themselves — on a non-verbal level.”
I would say that goes for virtually any creative act. You get so immersed that you look up and hours have flown by. Exploring pictures and stories, assembling them together digitally to portray glimpses of this mystical destination is my art form.
Best of the Maldives: Breakfast Puree – Joali
Fruit stations and fruit juices are standard items for most breakfast menus, but Joali adds a selection of fruit purees.
For your yoghurt, pancakes, porridge or whatever. They evoked fond memories of the iconic American restaurant chain “IHOP” (International House of Pancakes) which not only served maple syrup with its famous pancakes, but raspberry, strawberry and blueberry (!) to drizzle over your stack.
At Joali, you have an even more extensive selection of…
- Coconut
- Passion Fruit
- Mango
- Guava
- Raspberry
Best of the Maldives: Edible Spa Menu – Coco Palm Bodu Hith / Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhu
For a taste sensation you can literally feel, check out the “Edible Spa Menu” at Coco Bodu Hithi and Coco Dhuni Kholu:
- “Coco Collection is excited to announce an exclusive Edible Spa Menu, created in collaboration with UK-based Chloé Morris, the Creative Experience Director and founder of Edible Stories…All treatments in this menu use homemade spa products created entirely using edible ingredients such as coconut, papaya, kiwi, turmeric, avocado, honey, and yoghurt, to name a few. With treatments such as Chocolate Cake Scrub, Papaya Panna Cotta Mask, Banana Ice Cream Wrap, and Coco Rice Pudding Scrub, this menu offers a truly unique and tempting experience.”
Coco treatments put the “cure” into “epicurean”!
Best of the Maldives: Custom Herbal Tea – Six Senses Laamu
Six Senses Laamu will not only serve you a custom tea at their spa’s Alchemy Bar, they will also teach you how to make it for yourself. Give me some tea, I sip for a cup; teach me to make tea and I sip for a lifetime.