Best of the Maldives: Biggest Underground Wine Cellar – JA Manafaru

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JA Manafaru - underground wine cellar

Today’s is wine’s big day. Nevermind “Wine O’Clock’…all day is National Wine Day today. And the *big* place to drink it in the Maldives is JA Manafaru. They have the largest underground wine cellar in the country. Three entire rooms. And it is filled from top to bottom with 3,000 bottles of the world’s finest fermentation. The space is not just used for storage, but also elegantly fitted out for wine tastings and pairing meals.

Salud y amor y tiempo para disfrutarlo ! – Latin American toast meaning “Health and love and time to enjoy it.” At Manafaru, you get the space to enjoy it as well.

JA Manafaru - underground wine cellar 2

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QI Part 8 – Turtle Day Edition

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Hatchling scampers to a new live at sea during our 2015 Velaa visit.


Q: What is the best way increase the odds of sea turtle hatchlings surviving?
A: Put them in nurseries to help them grow stronger?
Q: Buzzzzzz! Nope. The fairly common practice of collecting hatchlings and protecting them by nurturing them in special nursery pools turns out to cause long term problems for the turtles.

World Turtle Day today is the opportunity “to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive”. Most people know about the dangers of plastic refuse to turtles (they get caught in six-pack rings and mistake plastic bags for jelly fish which they try to eat). But even those keen to help the critters are less aware of the issues with well-intended turtle nurseries.

The nursery misconception stems from the “numbers game”. As Marine Biologists Tess Moriarty and Dee Bello (who kindly provided most of the research for this piece) from Velaa resort (THE Turtle resort – “Velaa” means “Turtle” in Dhivehi) describes, “For turtles it is always a numbers game, they have many threats to their survival and it is commonly known that many do not make it to adulthood.” The concept of nurseries is to allow the hatchlings to grow to a more significant size where much fewer predators would be able to manage eating them.

Unfortunately, turtle nurseries have a number of problems for the turtles they are trying to help…

  • Predator Dangers – Turtles may evade predators when small, but then don’t learn to and how to avoid them later in life which keeps them vulnerable.
  • Diet – Nursery turtles don’t get to eat the staples of the normal ocean diet like jellyfish or sargassum.
  • Orientation – One of the miracles of turtle procreation is how they instinctively head to the water’s edge on birth, but then also they come back to where they were born to nest s adults. Studies show that taking hatchlings on birth into nurseries disorients them and they don’t return to nest.

So what CAN be done to help these endangered little tykes? Dee offers up the following…

  • Hatcheries: This technique is when the nests are relocated from where the female lays the eggs on the beach to a different location. This is used on beaches that have severe erosion or flooding problems and thus the nests would not survive, nests that are too close to the shore line and would get inundated and mostly on beaches where human poaching of eggs for food is abundant. This method actively saves many eggs and ensured they can develop and hatch, thus increasing the number of hatchlings making it to the sea.
  • Fencing the nests: Shielding both the hatchery and on the beach deters humans from poaching eggs from the nests as they are under surveillance. It also ensures that there must be someone present to release the hatchlings into the sea when they emerge from the nest and thus predation from crabs and birds is greatly reduced.
  • Protection laws: Creating laws that prohibit the killing or possessing turtle products it directly influences their populations. The protection of adult females laying eggs, poaching of the eggs on the beaches and the capturing of turtles in the sea, increases the amount of turtles and nests on the beaches.

Of course, all these measures are focused on the young turtles. But even when they get all grown up, they still could use our help in surviving (especially since human actions cause many of the adult hazards)…

  • Turtle Exclusion Devices (TED). Turtles need to breath air in order to survive and unfortunately when they get trapped in nets they are unable to do so. This can be avoided using TED’s where turtles can escape the nets intended for fishing other fish.
  • Research: Understanding where turtles migrate to (using advanced tools like satellite tracking), at what times and their feeding and breading patterns can help aim protection to make it more successful and increase awareness.
  • Awareness: By spreading the word about the turtle population’s vulnerability, more people understand their situation and need to protect them. This awareness leads to leads to less poaching and donations that support more conservation projects.
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Best of the Maldives: Night Beach Football – Huvafenfushi

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Huvafenfushi - night beach football

The moon isn’t the only enchanting orb to lighten up the night time at Huvafenfushi. The resort holds regular night beach football games including regular tournaments (we were there to watch the Ramadan World Cup semi finals – see below). Their sandy pitch includes full stadium lighting and boundary markings.

Huvafenfushi - mini World Cup

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Best of the Maldives: Moonlight Massage – Velaa

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Velaa - moonlight massage

Tonight is the “Flower Moon”. Also called Mother’s Moon, Milk Moon, and Corn Planting Moon. It marks a time of increasing fertility with temperatures warm enough for safely bearing young, a near end to late frosts, and plants in bloom.

The perfect time for one of Velaa’s “Moonlight Massages”. It is only offered once a month on nights with a full moon. And tonight’s would seem particular apt to stimulate your own personal blossoming.

With this post, I’ve added the new tag of “Moon” for all those lunar luxuries.

 

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Best of the Maldives: Geocaching – Thulhagiri / Paradise Island

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Paradise Island - Thulhagiri geocache

If you fancy a bit of personal archaeology into the Digital Age, then you can undertake your own digging about for a Maldives geocache.

Thulhgiri (that resort’s first Best of the Maldives award) and Paradise Island are the two resorts which feature geochaches in the Maldives (there are 8 in total across the country). As the Paradise Island description says…

“If you are bored wink by snorkeling, diving, swimming, looking for fish, shells, sharks, manta’s, crabs or just of relaxing and enjoying the beach and the sun, this box can be a little alteration.”

Another “Finally Seen” (Not Yet Seen Part 8 – item #25). As I’ve mentioned so many times, the Maldives exudes a tropical paradise pirate treasure mystique. And so “treasure hunts” are particularly appropriate entertainment during a visit (so much so that with this post, I’m adding a category tag “Treasure”). We used to stage them for our kids, but with geocaching, all ages can join in the fun.

Maldives - geocaches

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Best of the Maldives: Maldivian Archaeologist – Shiura Jaufar

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Shiura Jaufar archeologist
Jaufar (right) working in Male’ Sultan Park with Dr. Christie

Today the Maldives is a billionaire’s playground that attracts those with money from around the world. But in the earliest days of the world’s history, the Maldives might very well have been the source of money itself.

That is one of the areas being researched by Anne Haour and her archaeological team out of the University of East Anglia. The project will be going into 2018 and I will be covering parts of it here as they become available (you can also follow Haour’s own blog “Crossroad of Empires”.

Included in Haour’s literally ground-breaking work, is one of her team members, Shiura Jaufar, who is the Maldives’ ploughing new ground as the country’s first archaeologist. In another exclusive interview, Maldives Complete caught up with Jaufar to do a bit of its own digging into her world of ancient mysteries…

1. How did you get interested in archaeology?
I have always wanted to become an archaeologist since the age of 9 upon discovering an article about an archaeological discovery in the local newspaper. Back then (and even now) people often used to ask kids about their ambition when they grow up and nothing else interested me until I saw this certain article. It astounded me to find out that there was a job where you could actually dig and discover things that dated back to thousands and millions of years. I guess I found out it too interesting and exciting to pursue another career.

2. What is your current research project?
Currently I am doing a PhD studentship in the University of East Anglia where I look at the pottery found in Maldives. For this, I have carried out archaeological test excavations in different regions of Maldives with the help of my supervisor Dr. Anne Haour and Post-doctorate researcher Dr. Annalisa Christie and yielded thousands of potsherds in order to better understand the role the Maldives played in the ancient Indian Ocean trade network. Maldives played a pivotal role in this trade system and pottery becomes a rather important element here since it is not known of any production centers in Maldives for pottery and so it is assumed that all pots were imported from neighboring countries such as India and Sri Lanka as well as China. My key focus will be to study these pots to produce a typology among various other information that can be used to better understand the nature of this important trade network.

3. Where did the ancient pots come from?
From what I have researched, there are no mention and no visible traces of pottery production in Maldives and so until proven otherwise, the current assumption is that the ancient Maldivians did not make pots but imported them adding to this the absence of clay in Maldives. It is said that Maldives imported a lot of glazed ware from China, as well as vessels (both glazed and unglazed) from the neighboring countries possibly India and Sri Lanka. This is also part of my current thesis to find similar comparisons within the South Asian region.

4. What was your most exciting find in a dig?
I am very much addicted to pots, especially intact whole pots considering we usually find broken shards and rarely a complete one. Therefore, the most exciting find in a dig for me so far would have to be the two intact and complete pots me and my team discovered while digging a Late period (664-332 BC) site in Egypt.

5. What is the most difficult part of your work?
Honestly, becoming an archaeologist itself has been a huge challenge itself considering this is a very new discipline in the Maldives and also since I am a woman. I guess the most difficult part of being an archaeologist is that there’s very limited scope for this field in the Maldives. The opportunities are scarce in all aspects of the field like lack of financial support, lack of awareness among locals, lack of expertise etc.

6. What antiquity in the world would you most like to go visit?
I am a huge follower of Egyptology and so I have always dreamt of visiting the Egyptian pyramids, their elaborate tombs and the mummies. Alhamdhulillah, I was blessed to see them not so long ago 🙂 I would also love to visit the ruins at Petra in Jordan and the South American sites such as the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza in Mexico and the Incan site of Machu Picchu in Peru.

7. What is the most unusual or curious fact you know about the ancient history of the Maldives?
I find it rather intriguing to know that not only we have archaeology underground but underwater as well, i.e. shipwrecks and such. I think our underwater sites have as much potential for the better understanding of the Maldivian archaeology and heritage. There are ships under our waters from various parts of the world with various different goods and stories buried along with them and what strikes me most is that no archaeological or heritage related work has been done on these sites yet.

Jaufar travelling with her planning frame used for doing plan drawings of the site.
Shiura Jaufar archeologist travelling

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Best of the Maldives: Official Museum – Loama at Maamigili

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Loama Resort Maldives at Maamilgili - museum 1

International Museum Day today is a chance to pop down to your local cultural curator. Among the Maldives resorts, the place to go is Loama Resort Maldives at Maamigili. While a number of resorts feature displays of artefacts and heritage, Maamagili has developed a sophisticated museum to showcase an unmatched collection of Maldives masterpieces…

“Loama Museum is the first and only Museum in a Hotel in Maldives licensed under the Government’s Department of Heritage. Our young museum collection spans from the Classical to British Colonial Period. Highlights include artefacts found on the island, items of trade and livelihood from the Early Modern or Colonial Period (1514-1828) and British Colonial Period ( 1828-1965). You will be wowed by an Ancient Bath from the Classical Period (500BCE-1153), Mausoleum foundations from the Medieval Islamic Period (1153-1514). The museum is located at the hotel lobby and extends to the Ancient Bath and a Traditional House which are located at the heritage site. Notable exhibits include Chinese porcelain that could have arrived on this island during the Indian Ocean trade between South East Asia and the Middle East. Other interesting artefacts from the collection, representative of the lifestyle and trade that survived inhabitants of these coral atolls for centuries in the middle of the Indian Ocean, include grain measures, coconut oil and lace making equipment.”

Many pieces in the museum come from Loama’s own archaeological work undertaken during the resort development.  Anne Haour, an archaeologist from the Sainsbury Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in the UK, writes about this work in blog “Cross Roads of Empires”. She is doing a range of fascinating research studies about the Maldives and did a post on the Loama excavation work titled “Maamigili” (see below).

Loama Resort Maldives at Maamigili evcavation

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Best of the Maldives: Eco-Charcoal – Soneva Fushi

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Soneva fushi charcoal

World Recycling Day today. Most resorts are recycling the basics these days – glass, paper, plastic, food waste. Others like Kurumba, have introduced more ambitious efforts to be “refuse neutral”. One of the eco-leaders is Soneva Fushi and their eco-charcoal facility. Charcoal for cooking and BBQs is produced out of waste wood from landscaping and construction. In fact, they produce so much that they sell it to other islands.

Soneva Fushi charcoal 2

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The Ultimate Guide to Safe Snorkeling

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Today is International Water Safety Day. So time for a quick edition of Maldives QI…

Q: What is the greatest danger of water fatality in the Maldives?
A: Eaten by sharks?
Q: Buzzz…Nope (in fact, the Maldives has not had a single report of a shark attack on a human)
A: An adrenalin sport like scuba diving?
Q: Buzzz…Nope. Nearly all scuba diving is run by very high quality PADI dive centres or liveaboards with very high safety standards and one of the strongest safety records in for diving in the world (contributed by the fact that many dive sites are not overly deep and are often relatively sheltered in atolls).

The most dangerous activity is the one that seems so alluringly easy – snorkelling. It’s not that snorkeling in the Maldives is particularly dangerous per se.  In fact, one could argue it is some the safest snorkelling in the world.  But it is those he mill pond calm waters in often shallow depths which lull guests into a exaggerated sense of security.  When water is involved, you have a serious risk to respect no matter what the situation. As the saying goes, you can drown in an inch of water in your bathtub (and some people do). So today is the ideal good occasion for a refresher on making this inviting activity as safe as it appears (and often is) easy and thrilling.

The typical contents of a snorkel bag are snorkel, fins, mask, towel, and room key. But the “safe” snorkeler might want to bring along some extra items – eg. whistle, floatation aid. And my favourite snorkelling accompaniment – a snorkel guide. Not a book or map, but a trained, proficient, resort staffer to help and support your outing. They not only will be there to assist if anything goes awry, but they know all the best places to see resident critters on the house reef and can provide lots of great information about what you are seeing.

“TravelJody”, also a top contributor to the Maldives Forum on TripAdvisor, has written a superb piece on snorkel safety “Staying Safe whilst Snorkelling!” She goes through a catalogue of possible safety concerns including…

  • Currents/Tides
  • CoralRock Cuts
  • Boats/Motorised Water Sports
  • Snorkeling Transportation
  • Sun
  • Marine Life
  • YOU!

Her tips include…

  • Use well fitting equipment
  • Be careful judging distance in water
  • Wear a whistle
  • Snorkel with buddy
  • Get instruction

A few tips that I would add include…

  • Consult the experts. Every resort has a dive centre and the majority of resorts have staff marine biologists both of whom know the resort waters intimately. They can not only tell you how the water behaves and where various hazards are, but also provide insider tips on where to see the best stuff and how (eg. maybe free dive to look under a ledge).
  • Don’t let the weather fool you. It’s all about the water and currents in the ocean not the air. We have snorkelled in a monsoon with an expert who knew the currents and knew the conditions in the actual ocean were fine. Conversely, a warm, bright day might seem innocuous, but some current shift or other under the surface situation could create a surprise problem.

For a superb overview, I highly recommend another gem from Kurumba’s studios – “Snorkeling Tips for Beginner for Maldives Resorts.”

The final point really concerns over-confidence. Just because it is all calm and sunny on the exterior (which is it most of the time in the Maldives) doesn’t mean that some hazards don’t exist below the surface. Some people get skittish about sharks and even fish, but the real monster of the deep is the deep itself. Deep water where people go beyond their capabilities, and get into trouble. In any water activity, the risk of drowning is an ever-present danger whether it is in a community pool or even the tranquil waters of the Maldives.

This syndrome of false confidence is the key reason why some experts on the TripAdvisors protest against the use of flotation aids in snorkelling. They feel that such aids instil confidence in the weak swimmer to go beyond their limits and going beyond you limits imposes more risk (to yourself and to the reef) than the flotation aid mitigates. I agree that over-confidence is a risk, but a floatation aid will in nearly all cases provide critical protection against the greatest risk which is drowning so do consider bringing or wearing one (but just don’t let it drop your caution).

Other references…

Happy and safe snorkeling everyone!

Snorkeling sign

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