Picture Perfect Paradise

Landaa Giraavaru

If there’s ever been one location that has forever been on my wish list of places to go in this world, it has to be the Maldives. Why? I’m not really sure but I’ve seen magical images and articles from this beautiful place. When I’ve heard the word “paradise” being used, these images come to my mind. And let’s just say that I wasn’t wrong.

I feel as though I’ve travelled quite a but throughout my life but when we flew in over the Maldives and looked out through the airplane window, the landscape literally took my breath away.

Apparently there’s around 1 200 islands in the Maldives but only around 200 of them are actually inhabited. Pretty crazy, no? And 99% of the land is actually just water with less than 1% being solid land. 

Anyhow, enough numbers. I think that you can understand just how beautiful (and how much water there is) by looking at photos of this place. I hope you enjoy what I captured throughout this trip.

First stop on my Maldivian getaway and paradise adventure was the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru. We flew here together with Kuoni France (a luxury tour operator determined to create exceptional trips and who are always looking for the latest addresses and the best itineraries) with a little stop in Dubai before continuing on and eventually land in Malé. From Malé we boarded a little seaplane that took us to all the way to Baa Atoll, where this out-of-the-world-not-enough-words-in-the-vocabulary-hotel is located. Finally there we got to check into our accommodation and once again (four hundredth time by this point) my jaw dropped to the floor. For me this hotel (and place) is amlost impossible to explain through words, so I will let the photos do the talking in this case. I hope that they show the beauty of this serene, untouched and pristine place as well as I meant for them to.

Care for a massage?

Coming from stressful work, meetings that left me with a headache and emails I’d rather ignore,  this was everything I ever could have asked for and more. After a few hours of this island (after going crazy and running around with the camera in one hand and my other touching everything I could see and find) I thought I had reached maximum relaxation while looking out over the beautiful horizon. But after my visit to the SPA, looking down at the open sea and fish swimming around while having a massage, I understood that this is what relaxation feels like. I left smelling like coconut oil (which I also bought a bottle of to take with me back home) and with the biggest smile on my face.

Another pasta, please

Everyone who knows me, also knows that I’m quite picky when it comes to pasta in particular. And here, I had better pasta than I’ve had in some places I’ve visited in Italy – and I feel like that says a lot. The food here was heavenly. From breakfast to lunch, to drinks and snacks to dinner.

I spent the days with my feet in the sand (I’m quite sure I didn’t wear shoes this entire trip), photographing this beautiful place and being taken care of by some of the loveliest people ever. We made sure to watch every single sunset (and one sunrise before the jet-lag really kicked in) and take in those pastel pink colours every evening before dinner. We had the pleasure of snorkelling in our backyard (if you can even call it that), enjoy time in our absolutely gorgeous water villa, take a little boat ride to visit a very special place (more about this later) and to watch the sharks and stingrays being fed in the evening (a sight which made it quite hard for me to get back into the water the next day).

I know it sounds silly but I don’t know if I’ve been able to take in all of the beauty that I’ve seen during these past couple of days. This is a place I never thought existed in reality and a place I can’t describe with words. I felt as though it was a privilege to visit this beautiful part of our nature and to get to enjoy those crystal clear blue waters and crisp white sand, which I will forever remember. And work towards seeing again. I’ve already started plotting and planning about how I can go back one day in the future again. It’s just too beautiful. 

Thought it was already over? Don’t worry. There’s actually a second part coming (and maaaaaybe even a third part later on – shhhh!) from this trip as well, so I truly hope that you’re not bored with seeing these colours.

All clothing information: See more here – Location: Four Seasons Landa Giravaruu