Posts From Maldives

We arrived in the Maldives this morning and anchored in protected waters near the city of Malé. The first views of the Maldives was a bit disorienting. We know that we are in the middle of a large ocean and yet as we approach the Maldives we see little bits of low lying land that appear to be only a few feet higher than the water, as well as patches of light blue ocean indicating shallow water. The city of Malé has many multi story buildings that look like they are either growing out of the ocean or maybe sitting on a very long barge rather than land. There are a number of other islands near to Malé one connected by a very spectacular Chinese Friendship Bridge, another one is the site of the countries international airport.

This morning we caught an 8:30am lifeboat ride into Malé with a plan to do some shopping. Within the first 10 minutes we figured out that we had timed things badly as shops did not open until 10:30-11:00. On the other hand the early start meant that the first part of the day was comfortable as the days heat had not fully started and the low morning sun meant the narrow streets lined with multi-story buildings were in shade.

Nothing to say, a day relaxing while the ship makes way towards the Seychelles.

Today was a special day for two reasons. It is St Patricks day so the drinkers and party animals onboard were out in their greens looking to down more than a few. A little more significantly just after breakfast the ship crossed the equator and as many will know there is a specific ceremony to be held in conjunction with that event. Here is a link to a wikipedia article on the line-crossing ceremony