June 2008

Earlier today we took a walk around the island and toured around the Spa Villa accommodations. These overwater bungalows are huge. Along the way, we saw many Black Tip Reef Sharks and a huge sting ray frollicking in the shallows.

Our last night on Conrad Maldives was celebrated with a Candle Light Beach Dinner. The setting was very romantic, table and chairs setup on the edge of Rangali island, with our own butler and chef. We chose a seafood menu which had five courses, champagne and a bottle of Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc (Cullen, Margaret River). This was a feast, so much food no one could possibly eat everything.

This was the menu:

Glass of Champagne
Canapes
Warm Garlic Bread

Grilled Tiger Prawns
Marinated Vegetables Salad, Feta Cheese, Sun Dried Tomatoes

Seafood chowder

Whole Baby (Rainbow Runner) Reef Fish
Black & Green Olives, Garlic and Herb Butter
Baked Potato and Wok Fried Vegetables

Tiger prawns, Indian Ocean Lobster & Squid Rings
Steamed Rice

Plate of Tropical Fruits with Creme Fraiche

The experience was very special and ended our last night on the resort on another high. It was almost not to happen, with the late afternoon monsoon showers threatening the event. But we got a few hours repreive from the weather to go ahead with the dinner. Afterwards, we had a cocktail at the Rangali Bar and talked to the bar staff about their resort and famous guests who sometimes can spend up to 6 months staying in the US$4000 a night Sunset Villa! By midnight, the monsoons came and it poured all night with fierce winds and lightning.

When we arrived back to our Beach Villa, we discovered a letter from the resort telling us they had extended our check out time til the last seaplane out, 4:15pm tomorrow afternoon. Sweet! One more day to soak up the resort luxuries before our late flight out to Kuala Lumpar at 10:20pm that night.

Check out today’s pics on Picasa Web.

We woke up to a perfect day for snorkelling: no wind, the tide was out and the sun was just rising. The House Reef is located on the east side of Rangali island, marked by an orange bouy. The best way out there is to follow a channel the leads straight to the reef. Otherwise, on either side the reef will be to high to swim over. If the channel is too hard to find in the rising sun, park yourself outside room 225 and then make a bee line to the bouy.

Throughout the channel the reef fishes are spectacular, but until you hit the house reef you will see large schools of fish, colourful coral and if your lucky like us, a White Tip reef shark.

After our early morning snorkel we had earned out breakfast at the Atoll Market. The rest of the day was spent hanging out in front of our Beach Villa.

Later that night, we had dinner at the Mandhoo Spa restaurant. This was a third visit, and everytime we are astounded by the food and service. Once again, Ostrich was ordered along with a Crab salad and a Rainbow runner (fish) dish. On all three visits, we always ordered three entree size dishes to share instead of the usual entree and main each. We found three entree’s was enough to satisfy us.

Afterwards, we had a cocktail each during happy hour at the Rangali Bar and then stumbled our way back to our Beach Villa. When we arrived, we found a very pleasant surprise on our bed. Idrees our room cleaner had created a heart shape out of the bed sheet and outlined it with bougainvillea, frangipani and hibiscus flowers! It actually took us 5 minutes to realise the decorations on the bed, since we just rushed inside the villa and busied ourselves getting ready for bed.

Only two photos today, of the flower decorations on the bed: Picasa Web.

At 11am today Jenesse and I went to Ithaa the undersea restaurant for their “cocktail hour”. This involved a tour of their 9m acrylic tunnel that has a 270° panoramic view. On each side were reefs and their tropical fish. Today’s weather during the day made for perfect viewing of the undersea life while sipping on Champagne.

The rest of the day was spent lazying around our Beach Villa and a little siesta in the afternoon. By late afternoon, the monsoon rains had arrived very suddenly. Perfect one minute, then very windy and showery the next. Our planned dinner at the Koko Grill outdoor teppanyaki restaurant was cancelled due to the uncertain conditions. We didn’t mind at all, since our alternate plan was to go back to the Mandhoo Restaurant. Besides it saved us US$400!

The Mandhoo lived up to its reputation. Once again we had Ostrich (with Thai green risoto), but also ordered tiger prawns and lobster medallion dishes.

See the pics of Ithaa on our Picasa web album.