The very folks who introduced me to the Maldives nearly two decades ago are still serving as one of my great inside sources as they’ve gone a couple time this year already. They sent over a field report of their visit to the newly opened Atmosphere Kanifushi with a Best Of scoop on their pool light globes….
“They are fab ! Rechargeable glo balls and cubes light up the resorts bars and pools at night . Color changing v effective.”
May Day! May Day! Not a call for help (unless you need service from a helpful staffer), but a call to celebrate workers and the contributions they make to our lives and society. Most resorts often go to special measures to support and a highlight the distinctive quality of their staff who are essential to making a guest’s stay the most relaxing and trouble-free. Lori and I always enjoy meeting new folks from the resort and hearing their accounts of living in paradise. In many cases, this internationally renowned destination draws people from all over the world to work here.
I especially enjoyed the Mirihi email newsletter they send out to guests which features a staff profile. A recent edition included intros to Naaz (Front office Agent), Raoof (Front office Agent), Jalil (Front office Agent), Sara (Boutique Hostess), Aulam (Gardener), and Mahir (Gardener). They are all assembled in the group photo together.
On the occasion of labor day, I’ve added yet another category tag to the site – “Maldivian Staff”.
Wines have their own 5-star system to help buyers distinguish between the subtle quality differences. Although in the wine world the “5 star” system is the 5 “Crus” and the grading is flipped (“1” is best and “5” least distinguished). Actually, the full “Cinquieme Cru” is only for Medoc red wines, but other French wines have comparable classifications. The grading follows the property (not unlike resort ratings) and denotes the quality of the vineyard and a wine making operation.
At the top of the class (or “classee” so to speak) are the “1er Cru Classé” (sort of translated as “first class growth”). And at the top of the class in the Maldives for 1er Cru Classé selection is One & Only Reethi Rah. First growth wines on the Island include such legendary bottles as…
They even have a very rare vintage of Château d’Yquem – 1904 1er Cru Classé Superieur.
Here at Maldives Complete, the “1er Cru” of all things Maldivian is of course “Best of the Maldives”. And so many vinous distrinctions have come to my attention recently that I have added the new “wine” tag to the categories.
South Africa Freedom Day today. And no better way to toast the new, modern generation of South Africa than with one of its delectable wines. At each resort we visit, Lori and I always enquire about what’s a bit unconventional and we haven’t had before. And when Lori and I visited Constance Halaveli, the sommelier Cedric Jacob, served up some delightful South Africa varietals including A.H. Badenhorst (see below). We are no strangers to South Africa’s fermentations, but Halaveli’s extensive collection was the broadest we had seen in the Maldives. This vineyard in Swartland, North of Stellenbosch, produces this 9 grape young vintage blend, mostly Chenin Blanc (30%) which is “quite engaging, very complex” as Cedric describes. Constance Halaveli is a bit of a specialist in Southern Hemisphere wines with their distinctive Brazilian offerings as well.
Arbor days vary around the world (even with States in the USA), but today is the most prevalent one. Maldives doesn’t have an official tree planting day, but more and more resorts are focused on the environment and engaging in a breadth of flora cultivation.
While most visitors look outward from the beaches at the legendary sea of the Maldives, the interiors of these tropical paradises have their own rich landscape. So much so, that today (on the occasion of Arbor Day), I have added the “tree” tag to the Maldives Complete blog.
One of the signature features as prevalent on the islands as branch coral is on the reefs are the multi-pod Banyan Trees. Their meandering style of growth produces a maze of smaller trunks comprising these curious tangles of growth. Allegedly, the oldest of these ancient landmarks is the Main Road tree on Kuramathi…
“Located at the Main Road, this historical landmark is an estimated 300 years old and is a gigantic plant towering 30 metres high. One could wander through the sawdust trail at the entrance and be amazed by the maze of thick wooden barks of this ancient tree, enshrouded in rich greenery. The tree is a nesting place for herons, fruit bats and other animals and is a sight not to be missed. This tree at Kuramathi can be considered as one of the oldest banyan trees found in the Maldives.”
For a chakra-friendly walkway, Sun Siyam Iru Fushi’s new refurb includes a reflexology path leaing up to its new spa…
“A pebbled path winds amidst wild tropical blooms and endless shades of green. Splashes of light filter through the palms, dancing on the rippling water of a gentle stream. Luring you, a faint aroma of sandalwood and jasmine, heady with the scent of the earth. Rounding a curve, a sala appears – a haven of tranquillity, yours to revel in.”
When the world gives you lemons…make lemonade.
When the world gives you lemonade bottles…make eco-friendly walkway.
One of the more creative solutions to the earth-friendly plastic bottle disposal issue in the Maldives is Chaaya Reef Ellaidhoo’s walkways. They have coated their discarded plastic bottles with a layer of natural looking cement and used the result cylinders to make an extensive set of walkway liners.
The Maldives, with their fragile topology and sensitive eco-system have become a sort of ground zero on par with the Amazon rainforest for ecological concerns.
“The Maldives – With 80% of the 1,200 islands no more than a metre above sea level, there are real fears the country could be submerged before the end of the century. The Maldives government held an underwater cabinet meeting in 2009 to raise awareness, and they were first to sign the Kyoto Treaty on climate change. A 3m wall around capital Male, took 14 years to construct.”
Today’s Earth Day is a time for education to help get mankind and bit less stupid in how it treats this delicate planet. Many Maldives resorts are supporting with a range of special events.
Super Moons. Honeymoons. Annular Eclipes. Even “Polyp Moons” (my term for the June Full Moon). Now Blood Moons.
The Maldives, with their expansive vistas, skies clear of both particulate and light pollution make gazing at the heavens as spectacular as any panorama of paradise in the bright sunlight. The destination is renowned for a milestone event itself celestially named – the “honeymoon”. As such, I’ve posted a range of pieces on various astronomical events. The latest big event to hit the headlines is last week’s “Blood Moon”, but unfortunately this colourful variant won’t hit the Indian Ocean until 2017.
This latest celestial event has inspired the addition of the tag “moon” to the site.
If you want to implement some of these novel ideas yourself, you can do so on your very own “Maldives” island. Not an island in the “Maldives”, but a tropical resort paradise. Just a bit more northwest off the coast of Dubai at the famous “The World” reclamation development project. The “Maldives” is officially for sale according to an Emirates 247 reports…
“The island of Maldives on The World, Dubai, is up for sale. A listing on dubizzle.com, a classified website, reveals the size of the island to be 294,617 square feet, while the selling price being Dh48 million. Twenty villas can be built on the island, the listing states. An oyster-shaped islet, part of the Asia Island, has once again been listed on the classified portal. The island is now priced at Dh110 million [~£18 million]. The approved design for the island boasts of a built-up area of 47,048 square metres and a total land area of 36,661 square metres, comprising villas and apartments and 42-room boutique hotel.”
Actually, with the azure Indian Ocean surrounding the tiny dollop of sunny sand, the properties here probably all resemble a Maldives resort more than just about anywhere (I wonder if the person buying “Great Britain” is going to put a faux-Tudor place up on it?). I personally would go for the in-water massage and underwater bedroom.
