Island life is tough, says the manager of the Kurumba resort, to which Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi have come in their time. Since I am sipping coconut water, with my legs dangling in the clear water of the lagoon around the island I find that hard to believe but I begin to believe it at breakfast. The butter is from New Zealand. The cheese is from England. The fruit preserves are from New Zealand. The cook is from Sri Lanka. The manager is from India. Everything and everyone is imported. Most of the resorts in Maldives have their own island. It has to operate as if it were a ship. A desalination plant provides water, an incinerator destroys the waste. And the fish still swim to the shore, so that each time you wade in with your snorkel, it is like looking down into an aquarium.
Archive for » June, 2008 «
BACKGROUND :-
The Maldives was long a sultanate, first under Dutch and then under British protection. It became a republic in 1968.
LOCATION :-
Southern Asia, group of atolls in the Indian Ocean, south-southwest of India.
AREA - COMPARATIVE :-
About 1.7 times the size of Washington, DC
COASTLINE :-
644 km
CLIMATE :-
Tropical; hot, humid; dry, northeast monsoon (November - March); rainy, southwest monsoon (June - August).
POPULATION :-
359,008 (July 2006 est.)
ETHNIC GROUPS :-
Sinhalese, South Indians, Arabs.
ACCOMMODATION :-
Maldives has a wide variety of luxury accommodation and you can choose from 74 island resorts.
ACTIVITIES :-
Water sports is the most common activity in Maldives. Spearfishing is prohibited. Some nice resorts have tennis, squash or badminton courts and most have beach volleyball. Surfing is big in Maldives but you need to know where the breaks are.
WHEN TO GO :-
December to April is a good time to visit the Maldives.