Story: Island Caretakers

Some of our favourite stories on Two Thousand Isles are the ones we didn’t expect to write. The ones that just leap out at us when we’re not expecting it.

This is definitely one of those. We were on a visit to a picnic island as part of a separate project we’re undertaking in Laamu – sunsets, kurumba, beach, etc – when we came across something which, to us, seemed every bit as interesting.

Nosing around the island, we left the beach and as we rounded a bend along the sandy path, one of the guys who’d first welcomed us on our arrival scampered past with a handful of firewood.

“Our home,” he smiled, tilting his head to the clearing behind him. A little further along we found a small camp area, complete with chicken coop, well, kitchen, sleeping quarters, sofa, and two of the best-looking joali swings we’ve ever seen.

Immediately Dan started wracking his brain to figure out what we could say about the island caretakers – a side of Maldivian island life that no one ever really thinks of (what better reason to write about it).

Here’s what we came up with: https://twothousandisles.com/story/island-caretakers/