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.

The first thing we noticed was the large number of small motorcycles and/or motor scooters. There were a large number of these vehicles parked along all of the city streets and packed so closely together that footpaths either disappeared or became cages one could not escape from. Eventually we noticed that buildings placed ramps of platforms on the street infront of their doors to reserve road space so that people could get to the door through the ranks of parked scooters.

Our walk-about confirmed our impressions of yesterday that this was a more affluent city then its isolation might have suggested. High quality, clean and well maintained buildings, a couple of very eleborate Mosques, and lots of shops selling global brands.

By about 11:00am my old body was beginning to complain about the walking and the temperature so we headed back to the ship, Rob having bought a couple of tops and Nina with a necklace made of coral.

The average summer maximum temperature in the Maldives is 84°F and the average maximum winter temperature is 81°F. Today the humidity was 75%.