There’s Nowhere Quite Like the Maldives

The Maldives is truly paradise on earth (move over Hawaii!). It is purely an island nation, with more than 1,000 little islands dotting 26 atolls in the Indian Ocean. On many of the inhabited islands one finds that cars are pointless, which is entirely refreshing. Time is fairly elastic, and you are never more than a leisurely stroll from turquoise waters. This is a place you come to disconnect from everything – it seems to exist in a place separate from space, time, and in many cases – technology. After a few days, you can really see yourself pulling a Carrie Bradshaw and just hurling your cell phone into the ocean… never to be seen again…

We landed in Male, the international airport of the Maldives, and found ourselves whisked away to the sea plane terminal. I had not mentally prepared myself for the sea plane experience (and, much worse, had not prepared for the multiple ascents/descents and the impact they would have on Sophie’s ears) but except for the discomfort of my poor, miserable, ear-pressured daughter, the flight was absolutely breathtaking. As soon as we landed at the island at the Palm Beach Resort and walked onto the sparkling white sand, I looked down at my loafers and wondered how fast I could get those things off. Nothing but flip flops graced the Crawford-Einfeldt family feet for the next 9 days.

Our bungalow faced the sunrise side (although I can assure you, we are NOT sunrise people), which afforded us welcome afternoon shade, a virtually deserted white sand beach except for a large, scenic piece of driftwood, a coral reef, and bathtub-warm turquoise waters in which to swim (for hundreds of meters out, never more than about 4 1/2 feet deep!). Serenely swaying on our beachfront porch was a comfortable swing – big enough for stretching out – which I dubbed the “Therapy Swing”. Many hours were spent by me in “therapy” ….swinging, reading paperbacks, and napping.

With a beautiful ocean, a big swimming pool, and even a child’s pool, we were startled to discover that Sophie’s preferred water fun centered around 2 fixtures: our outdoor foot-cleaning faucet (just at the right level for Sophie to enjoy), and the BIDET in our open-air bathroom. There was just very little we could do about that. I admonished her as to the naughtiness of wasting fresh water on a small tropical island, but she ignored me 100%. Only copious amounts of baby cookies could lure her away from the prospect of bidet-splash-fun. (Soenke suggested firm discipline, but how can you administer firm discipline while in an advanced state of relaxation??).

All meals were served in open-air dining rooms with a huge variety of tantalizing choices. Of course, my daughter embarked on a hunger strike immediately upon our arrival, and refused to eat just about anything other than FRENCH FRIES the entire time, much to my embarrassment (since, being the center of attention of doting Italian vacationers and hotel staff, all her habits were noted by others with interest). Oh wait… she ate ice cream too. Normally, I feed my child such mega-healthy items as beets, lentils, and tofu. Really. I do. But back to the meals (which were served in buffet form) – I quickly befriended the very-personable chef and shared with him my favorite dishes that I had sampled on the buffet. Each night, he would point me to any eggplant dishes, and advise me if gnocchis were on the menu. As an incredibly kind gesture, he made all of my favorites at once the last night we were there: Eggplant parmigiana (it was an Italian-owned resort and the Italian food was AWESOME), something called “dahl” which seemed to be a red lentil dish (YUMMMM), gnocchi in gorgonzola sauce (I’m still drooling… and still working off the calories)…and a minty flan-like dessert that sent me into the stratosphere.

Since our island was one of the bigger resort islands – 2 km in length – I quickly scored myself a bicycle and proceeded to toodle back and forth across the island with relish. This was almost more effective therapy than the Therapy Swing. Bicycle, flip flops, tank top, sand, palm trees… no stress here! If we were too lazy, we could call one of the many electric-powered golf carts to come chauffeur us to dinner or the sunset. Soenke normally preferred to stroll around the island with Sophie up on his shoulders – she LOVED this vantagepoint, and particularly the opportunity to administer vigorous hair-pulling (the louder and more painful Soenke’s protests, the more jubilant her laughter).

In between lazy mornings in the ocean, or lazy afternoons at the pool, Soenke and I took turns babysitting the Sophster while the other indulged a solo endeavor. My pleasure was the hotel’s absolutely heavenly SPA… my first massage – a 1 1/2 hour endeavor to relieve my body of 3 months worth of tax season stress – was in an air-conditioned cabana directly on the water. All I could hear was the slapping of the waves on the little sea wall outside. Afterwards, I felt like I needed to try that again, so I booked the same thing for the following day. Soenke saw the visible improvements in my demeanor and urged me on to a facial and a pedicure, and even encouraged me to buy a pair of overpriced turquoise-studded flip flops at the little spa store (I love you babe!). In grateful return, I granted Soenke several afternoon snorkling trips, where he saw a sea turtle, a shark, manta rays, the coral reef, colorful fish, and other miscellaneous underwater life.

Possibly the highlight of the trip for me was the experience of evening sunsets at the northern tip of the island. We usually shared the expanse of sand with only a few other vacationers, and sipped a cool drink while contemplating life, the color of that evening’s sunset display, and eventually the stars. Sophie ate hungrily from the “free banana” bunch hanging from the beach-bar rafters (thank GOD, finally something healthy!), and we felt a deep sense of gratitude at our wonderful life together.

I could go on for hours, but as they say… a picture is worth a thousand words. And pictures we have…..

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Here is a beautiful satellite image of the Maldives:

The seaplane which whisked us away to our island resort:

At close quarters in there!

Soenke & Sophie waste no time in finding the water:

Here is a small video of our island digs (note: it is NOT our private beach.. perhaps in my dreams it is, but I would like to clarify for the record!)

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Hard island work:

An evening soccer match between father & daughter:

An island-looking Sophster (in mid blink…)

Sophie discovers our open-air bathroom, and the Sophie-level bidet in particular:

The view from our “front yard”:

At the end of the island:

Looking back towards the island:

Only watch this if you can handle experiencing a quiet 45 seconds of paradise:

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An upward look through the palm trees:

One very happy family!

Pool dwellers:

This was a nice place to while away every afternoon:

Which is exactly what I did…

Paradise!!!!

Someone likes the Maldives!

The supply boat brings us more good grub:

Me and my island wheels:

Sunset at the point:

Mealtime!

So sad to say goodbye… (particularly at 6am!)

A peek in the cockpit:

Here’s what it’s like to take off in a seaplane (uh, turn your volume up to FULL BLAST for the really authentic effect) – excuse bad filming, but I had a squirmy 18-month-old on my lap:

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Some amazing in-flight views:

An interesting view of the harbor overlooking the capital of Male, while on the bus between the sea planes & the main terminal:

A final “exit interview” at the Male airport in the Maldives:

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