Best of the Maldives: Ancient Well – Anantara Kihavah Villas

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Anantara Kihavah Villas - ancient well 2

“Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink…” – The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

World Water Day today celebrates the precious commodity that is water. The magic elixir that makes our ‘blue planet’ teeming with life.

When a human being is left without food, shelter and any resources, it will die first from lack of water. One doesn’t necessarily think of the Maldives as a desert of water and yet it is probably as a precious here as anywhere on the planet. The vast majority of the county’s water supply has to come from desalination. Some rain water does fall on the land and get captured by natural aquifers. But modern Maldivian society long ago outstretched the capacity of these natural resources. You can still find these water relics around standing testimony to a society that cherished many precious natural resources not least of which was the water that surrounded it.

One of the best examples on a resort island of the old school water supply is the ancient well on Anantara Kihavah. The resort has reserved the site and put up a special information plaque for visitors…

  • “During the 16th century traditional Maldivian methods to obtain fresh water on uninhabited rural islands including digging a hloe in the ground by hand. This method was limited to suitable types of ground only, such as clay, sand, gravel and mixed soil where only small boulders were found in the ground.”

Adjacent to the well is another related memorial to antiquity, the “Kihavah Gravestone”…

  • “According to the script on the Kihavah gravestone it dates back to the early 18th century and would have been crafted locally during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandhar. The stone offers a glimpse into this island nation’s history during a time when such beautiful coral carvings were typical. Though uninhabited until recently, Kihavah Huravalhi Island would have been visited by islanders from the neighbouring islands and atolls to collect fresh drinking water from the well, wood and palm trees leaves for use in everyday Maldivian life, as well as to harvest the Kui Ruh palm trees for young coconuts. Kihavah means ‘young coconut’. In addition, the tranquil isolation of the island provided an ideal sanctuary in which to cleanse the body. During one such visit to take a bath. Ms. Aiminaa Faami passed away. She was buried where she died, in accordance with the customary practice at the time. The gravestone marks her death as 1227 in the Chinese Lunar Calendar.”

Anantara Kihavah Villas - ancient well

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Best of the Maldives: Tree Planting – Sun Siyam Irufushi

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Sun Siyam Irufushi - tree planting 1

The first day of spring today as we passed the Vernal Equinox. A natural cause for celebration (especially up north) as the days now get longer than the nights. This celestial event is celebrated in a number of ways from throwing coloured powder (for the Hindu Festival of Holi) to balancing an egg (ancient Chinese belief says that you can stand an egg on its end on the first day of spring since due to the sun’s equidistant position between the poles of the earth at the time of the equinox, gravitational forces are balanced out).

But spring is especially a time of sprouting and rebirth. The baby lambs have started emerging on the farms in our area. The Mirror describes, “Spring equinox is symbolic of rebirth, renewal, and growth, and in ancient Italy, it was traditional for women to plant seeds in the gardens of Adonis on this day. The custom persists in Sicily, where women plant seeds of grains – lentils, fennel, lettuce or flowers – in baskets and pots. When they sprout, the stalks are tied with red ribbons and the flowers are placed on graves on Good Friday, symbolising the triumph of life over death.”

A number of resorts have offered tree planting on their property, but a few have stopped (running out of space) and others don’t support plaques. I appreciate that such commemoratives need to be done with taste and aesthetic sensitivity, but I do love the notion of being able to leave a positive part of yourself after your departure. Giving a people commemorative opportunities builds the sense of connection to this paradise and a reinforces an enduring empathy and support for its environmental challenges.

Sun Siyam Irufushi does support tree planting accompanied by simple wooden plaques noting the special occasion of the visit (cost is $300).

May your spring blossom with the vibrant colour of the Maldives wherever you are.

Sun Siyam Irufushi - tree planting 2

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Best of the Maldives: Aqua-Solar Power – Gili Lankanfushi

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Gili Lankanfushi - floating solar panels

Earth Hour today.

“As the world stands at a climate crossroads, it is powerful yet humbling to think that our actions today will decide what tomorrow will look like for generations to come. This Earth Hour, ​switch on your social power​ to shine a light on climate action. This is our time to #ChangeClimateChange…our future starts today.”

One of my favourite Earth-friendly initiatives in the Maldives is Gili Lankanfushi’s floating solar panels. One of the challenges to solar power is finding a place to put the surface-area driven collectors. Not a problem in the middle of a desert. But in a densely populated location a bit tricky. Some have tried putting them on roofs. What the Maldives do have is lots of water. And so Gili’s solution is so fitting. It’s sort of a floating solar lilo.

“Gili Lankanfushi is happy to announce its partnership with Swimsol, an Austrian company that specializes in groundbreaking floating solar power solutions. Their idea is to bring green power to parts of the World, like the Maldives, where land space is limited. We are lucky enough to have Swimsol’s largest product so far; a 15 x 15 metre floating solar power platform. The platform itself is an engineering marvel; an innovative floating structure that is designed to survive waves and water turbulence. It consists of glass fibre tubes, aluminum frames and 112 solar panels. Weighing over 5 tonnes, it took nearly one third of Gili Lankanfushi’s hosts to push it into the water. Today after more than two weeks of hard work in the blistering heat of the dry season, the Swimsol team have plugged the largest floating solar platform in the Maldives into Gili Lankanfushi’s power grid. Swimsol’s platform has a nominal capacity of 28 KW and on sunny days it will produce up to 200 kWh, which is enough to power the equivalent of all our pathway and jetty lights, as well as the Front Office lighting for 12 hours! The platform will reduce our carbon footprint by 35 tonnes of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to the emissions of 30 return flights from Europe to Maldives per person!””

(thanks Paola)

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Best of the Maldives: Bed Height – Soneva Fushi

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Soneva Fushi - bed

World Sleep Day (good chance to sleep off all those green Guinness’s from yesterday).

Cushiest cushion we have slumbered on in the Maldives is Soneva Fushi. Their mattress is nearly 2 feet thick. But just the right firmness too. Combined with its classic four-poster frame, the bed comes to nearly my hip (and I am a tall person). You literally do have to climb into bed. There is a regal comfort to sleeping a bit elevated I find. This mattress would make it hard for even a princess to feel a pea.

#zzzzzz

 

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Best of the Maldives: Tub Rain Showers – Hideaway Beach

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Hideaway Beach - rain shower

Rain descending from above is not typically a welcome feature of a Maldives stay, except when the rain shower is actually, literally, a “rain SHOWER”.

When we first started coming to the Maldives, massage and power showers were the luxury soakers. Shortly thereafter, “rain showers” became the table stakes default for a self-respecting super-premium resort.

Hideaway Beach resort goes even further with their rain shower offering a trifecta of distinction…

  1. Double shower – A double rain shower. No more getting chilly with having to swap in and out of who gets to be under the water. The resort’s Ocean Villas also have two person rain showers in their bathrooms.
  2. Likely the “tallest shower” in the Maldives (with it reaching several metres up to the bathroom ceiling),
  3. Tub/Shower combo – Another “finally seen” ticked off.

Hideaway Beach - tub rain shower

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Best of the Maldives: Beams – Soneva Fushi

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Soneva Fushi beams

One of the most striking aspects to our own house in England is its beams. We live in a 18th century hay barn and the conversion has kept as many of the original oak timber exposed as possible. This rough hewn timber style is one of Soneva Fushi’s own most defining design motifs. It exudes the all-natural, artisanal, Swiss Family Robinson aesthetic that pervades the property. Beams are up, Soni.

Soneva Fushi beams 2

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Best of the Maldives: Motif – Velaa

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Velaa - motif 1

Turtles all the way down…

Turtles aren’t just some namesake mascot for Velaa (“Velaa” means turtle in Maldivian). They are more like its spirit animal that imbues the property from top to bottom. And everywhere in between.

From top, the entire layout of the resort is designed to look turtle shaped from an aerial view. The water villas have been arranged in an almond shape to resemble a turtle head, and 4 jetties surround the circular island to complete the chelonian outline. From below, Velaa is itself a turtle nesting ground (as we so fortunately witnessed when we visited).

But the today’s “Best Of” distinction is more about the in between bit where the essence of the turtle is stylishly reflected in every nook and cranny of the property. The most distinctive design element is its simple, chic logo motif which pervades the resort. A football-like mesh pattern of hexagons and pentagon evoking the characteristic patterns on a terrapin shell. I’ve included just a few snaps I took of the restaurant, the Tower bar, the spa. And at bottom is their cappuccino decorated with cocoa in the same distinctive pattern (thanks Belinda).

Velaa - motif 2

Velaa - moTif 4

Velaa - motif 3

Velaa - coffee motif

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Best of the Maldives: Butter – Dusit Thani

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Dusit Thani - butter

I love attention to detail and during my tours I am always on the scrounge for those little touches that make the experience a bit more distinctive. One of my favourites was Dusit Thani’s butter patties wrapped with a little bow of greens. No balancing on the edge of your knife or unwrapping cafeteria-style packages. Just pick up the patty by the sprig and put it on your plate.

In our household, we have a family saying from Lori’s home turf in The South of the USA – “Everything is better with butter!” And a Dusit Thani, even the butter is better.

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