My Veligandu Sojourn, continues...

So, my love affair with Veligandu Island continues for my third day here. Some light rain showers in the afternoon have indeed enhanced the romance quotient of the island, and it has looked more beautiful throughout the day with an overcast sky and a light breeze caressing the flora found in abundance on the island. And the night has been splendid like the two previous nights.

I am back in my room now after a most romantic candle light dinner and just going back through the events of the day, thanking my tour operators Crown Tours Maldives, for suggesting me Veligandu Island in the first place and subsequently arranging my stay here. Little I had known in the morning that my third day at the Island was going to turn out to be a romantic one in its own sense. But that is how the day has kept unfolding before me and, by now, has cemented its place in one secure corner of my mind as one of the never-forgettable days of my life.

It had all started with a short time spent at the Duniye Spa located on east coast of the island itself. My package had a 15-minute free spa voucher that could be redeemed any time within the first three days of my arrival. The spa treatment was a rejuvenating one and it amply set my mood for the rest of the day. The ambience inside spa rooms built over water is simple yet soothing, and the whole atmosphere there seems to breathe a new life into you; enhanced by the ever-smiling Balinese masseurs, whose deft hands gradually pamper you into a world of calmness.

As soon as I stepped into my room after getting a refreshing spa treatment, I got a call from Mr. Fathuhulla, the general manager of the Island. He suggested a beach dinner to me, which I readily accepted. I had already registered myself for the Sunset Punch Dolphin-spotting Cruise, and while agreeing for beach dinner, I knew in my heart that it was actually going to be a different evening for me.

A date with dolphins

My evening started with romancing with dolphins in the deep blue waters. The 1.5-hour cruise started exactly at 17.45 hours. We all were perched on upper deck of a motorized boat, and soon were on our way to spot dolphins in their natural habitat and to have an unobstructed view of the Sun setting in the horizon. Rifaath, the dolphin-expert of the resort, had told me that they spotted dolphins more often than not, and I knew this cruise was not going to be like one of those jungle safaris where you didn't watch the big cats at all and returned after spotting their pugmarks only. And we indeed spotted dolphins today! And not just spotted them, we kind of played with them. My god, they were there in abundance – leaping in unison, answering to our clapping and racing along the boat. And, those reddish yellow hues of the evening sky creating a magnificent backdrop to this all!! Nothing could be more exhilarating, nothing could be more romantic than this.

And the beach dinner

The candle light dinner on the beach has been a perfect finish to a day filled with heart-warming activities. A table set in middle of the long stretch of sand, a bunch of florescent bulbs tucked on the coastline, water-level increasing gradually as the evening darkened, a view of the dimly-lit water villas in the distance, a specially cooked seafood platter with smooth American white wine, a personalized attention, and a perfect solitude to heighten your senses - what more could one ask for! It has been truly a different experience, never to be missed while one is at Veligandu.

I do not want to come back from Veligandu. But I have to go. Tomorrow, I have a seaplane ride back to Male, from where I will be flying back to India the next day. So, I take your leave now. I have to pack my bags! Sigh!!

posted by

AJAY K GARG

www.terrahopper.com