Boating on a lake

I am pretty sure you don't lose your sleep wondering where I live, but I'll tell you anyway. I live in Fuvahmulah. I personally think it is one of the best places to live in Maldives unless you are the kind of person that gets sick very often. In that case, SAVE YOUR SOUL. SERIOUSLY! But I suppose the same could be said about any other island in the Maldives. I would like to think that the authorities are trying very hard to improve the health facilities in the islands. Whether it works or not is no mystery to us. Anyway, that is not what I wanted to talk about.

Living in Fuvahmulah, it would be a shame not to go out and enjoy life. I am guilty of shutting myself in for weeks on end, binge-watching TV, reading, sleeping and silently and observantly scrolling down social media sites like an assassin ready to attack. You can simply put that down to me being lazy. Yesterday, I did something more productive though. I woke up at around 5.30 and headed to the lake with my aunt, cousin and some friends. We went to the Lake House Restaurant which is located near Bandaara Kilhi, one of the freshwater lakes here in Fuvahmulah. If you ever come to Fuvahmulah, I highly recommend dining there. Anyway, we got on three boats. One was just a regular paddle boat. The other was a bigger one with two wooden oars and the other was a tiny canoe. We just rowed down the water and it was heaven. 

A few minutes before sunrise. 

Holy sunrise.

As the sun rose from behind the foliage, it was as if we had entered a utopia of fresh water, fish, birds and natural beauty. Moving around the lake evoked a mixture of serenity and excitement. I had been meaning to go boating on the lake for a while but it was the first time that I actually did it. I honestly had no idea Fuvahmulah had such a diverse wildlife until then. I was constantly surprised by the different varieties of birds and fish flying and swimming around me. Growing up I had always heard of a bird that is locally known as "Vali Kukulhu" which literally translates to "jungle chicken". It's known as 'Common Moorhen" (a.k.a. swamp chicken)  in English. I didn't know was that it floats on the water like a duck. SO OBVIOUSLY I WAS VERY DELIGHTED WHEN I SAW IT FLOATING LIKE THAT. Throughout our entire time there, birds continuously kept playing the music of their people which was extremely relaxing.

As the morning progressed, the fish started to come out from where ever they were hiding. They moved away from our canoe in a large group as we moved forward. In a way, it was almost as if they were an army of guards protecting a royal procession. Yes.I like to let my imagination run wild from time to time. It actually reminded me of a scene in Ponyo where Ponyo's little sisters/brothers turn into giant fish that form a huge wave that carries Ponyo to Sosuke. (Side note: Watch Ponyo if you want to watch something intoxicating.)

We took a quick break and climbed on the land on one side of the lake for a while. This was the view from there.

Auntie dearest.

Half way through our time on the lake, we called the restaurant and ordered breakfast. They had actually set up food in a boat so we could eat in the water, but we were so exhausted after being on water for three hours that we decided to eat on land instead. We had mas'huni and roshi  for breakfast  which was obviously delicious. To sum it up, I had an amazing day yesterday and if you are ever in Fuvahmulah, go boating in Bandaara Kilhi. You will not regret it. I promise.