Take one part sun-soaked, palm-lined beach, add hammock stretched between two palm trees, a dash of ice-cold beer, a pinch of gentle tradewinds, and finish it off with a twist of tropical sunset. What you get is VILLA MAMANA on the island of Telekivava'u in the Kingdom of Tonga!
It was a labour of love when Joe Altenhein and his Tongan wife Lola built it in the late 90s, and it became a rich man's dream when two Americans bought it in the early 2000s, but the daunting logistics of maintaining it in that vast ocean meant that it never became a paying proposition as the "most exclusive and beautiful accommodation in Tonga ... one for celebrities", according to the Lonely Planet Guide.
So when a young German couple, Nina and Adrian Hoffmann, were given the chance to island-sit the property for one whole wonderful year, you would've thought they'd truthfully share this unforgettable experience in all its splendour with the readers of the newspaper articles they wrote - click here - and dedicate their book, "Eine Insel nur für uns - Eine wahre Geschichte von Einsamkeit und Zweisamkeit" ("An Island to Ourselves - a true story of loneliness and togetherness") to the island's owners who made it all possible. It would've been such a lovely story!
Instead, they concocted a story built on the lie that they had lived in the most primitive conditions on a desert island, built their own hut, cooked their self-caught and self-grown food over an open fire on the beach, and had to hack their way through an ever-encroaching jungle. Robinson Crusoe and his Girl Friday indeed!
In reality they lived in the lap of luxury in a white villa facing a white sandy beach, spent their days reclining on a shady verandah gazing out to the blue South Pacific and their evenings curled up on a soft lounge watching DVDs, and in their private moments admired the imported marble in the bathroom, before retiring to their four-poster bed. For a reality check, click here.
No wonder, they started their book with this prologue, "Nach reiflicher Überlegung haben wir uns entschieden, den Namen 'unserer' einsamen Insel nicht zu nennen. Die Vorstellung, dass andere dort ihr Glück finden könnten, treibt Nina und mich in den Wahnsinn." ("After long deliberations have we decided not to disclose the name of 'our' remote little island. The thought that others could find their happiness there would drive us mad." - see here.
Yes, I'm sure it would ruin their book sales if people learnt of the island's true identity and how they hadn't lived there like Robinson Crusoe and his Girl Friday but more like Tom Cruise and his wife Mimi Rogers (or Nicole Kidman, Katie Holmes, or Vanessa Kirby; anyway, you know what I mean ☺).
