Maldives February / March 2017

This is Page 3.

If you'd like to go back to Page 1 please click here.

If you'd like to go back to Page 2 please click here.

By this time (Tuesday afternoon), I was ready for something other than sea and fish so I'd booked to join a guided tour around Male, the capital city of The Maldives. It's apparently the smallest capital city in the world with only c.150k citizens.

Off I went to join the others (9 of us in total). That was too large a group for one guide so we had three between us which was really nice.

SS

coastguard

Coastguard station

blue building

Shaheedh Hussain Adam Building

mopeds

There were mopeds everywhere!

presidential office

The President's Office

tallest

Tallest building in Male - 14 storeys.

tomb

This is the tomb of Kan'baa Aisha Raniklege, mother of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandhar I. It also houses the graves of 4 other royal women.

Sultan Ibrahim Iskandhar I built the Male Friday Mosque, of which the tombs form a part, in 1658 AD. He reigned from 1648 AD to 1687 AD and was the son of Muhammed Imaadhudhdheen I of the Utheemu Dynasty.

friday mosque

Our guide, Ahmed, advised that nobody knows the meaning of this shape but it appeared quite frequently.

friday mosque

The Friday Mosque is built from coral and this wonderful carving was all done by hand.

graveyard

Also part of the Friday Mosque, the smaller the gravestone, the younger the person buried there. The rounded tops represent females, the pointy tops males.

prayermats

The prayer mats were woven from coconut.

islamic centre

The Islamic Centre, housing the newest mosque in Male.

islamic centre

Another view of The Islamic Centre

library

The road to The National Library, so peaceful with no mopeds!

November 3rd Memorial

Ahmed, our tour guide, is in the left of this photo.

November 3rd Memorial

This is The November 3rd Memorial in remembrance of the 8 servicemen and 11 civilians who lost their lives in the terrorist attack on 3 November 1988. Their names are listed on the black plaques.

A few sundry photos to give you a taste of Male next:

colours

coffee

We didn't go in here but did go into the fruit market where we were encouraged to try some of the local produce in the hope that we would buy some. Pradeep (the one in the turban) did so the ploy worked.

fruit market
street
sundry

harbour

After a good walk around, a drink in a local restaurant, a trip to the inevitable souvenir shop (at least I could get some postcards and stamps), it was time to head back to the harbour.

15 minutes later we were back at the Sheraton. By this time, the wind had got up and the sea was too rough to venture into (even for Jonathon) so no more swimming until the following morning.

sheraton

The rain started about 7 p.m. on the Tuesday and it certainly rained and rained and lightened!

It stopped in time for us to go out for a snorkel before brunch on Wednesday morning but then started again (we were already wet so it didn't matter) and got set in for the day.

Jonathon still managed to find some new fish species (new to us anyway).

trevally

Blue Trevally

sandperch

Brown-blotched Sandperch

silverbiddy

Slender Silverbiddy

titan

Titan Triggerfish - you really don't want to get in the way of this one. It will defend its nest vigourously with its very sharp teeth!

wrasse

Whitespot Maori Wrasse

Not sure I'd want to get in his way either.

wrasse

Whitespot Maori Wrasse

yellowhead

Yellowhead Butterflyfish

goat

Yellowstripe Goatfish

unknown fish

Threespot Dascyllus

unknown

Longnose Parrotfish

unknown

Fine-lined Bristletooth

unknown fish

Lagoon Goatfish

unknown fish

Blue-lined Wrasse

unknown

Brassy Rudderfish

unknown fish

Nine-band Sergeantfish

unknown fish

Zigzag Wrasse

wet wednesday

In case you're wondering ... this is what a wet Wednesday looks like in the Maldives. Very damp!

snorkelling gear

We had a very quiet day with it being so damp. We lingered over brunch then strolled back to our bungalow to catch up on some admin, sort out laundry, write postcards (all me) and sort our photos (Jonathon). There were a few fish that we couldn't identify so off we went to the Dive Shop where the very helpful team told us what each of the unknown (to us) fish were. We popped into Tea 4 for a drink and cake and decided the sea was too rough to snorkel. It was definitely too wet and windy for table tennis / ping pong so we gave that a miss as well!

Thursday's sunrise was a promising start to the day (even with a bit of drizzle)

The sea was calm enough to snorkel before brunch so off we went.

shark

Black-tipped Reef Shark (we were lucky enough to see these every day).

sunrise

porcupine

Blotched Porcupinefish

collared bfly

Collared Butterflyfish

eyestripe

Eyestripe Surgeonfish

dashdot

Dash Dot Goatfish with Bluestriped Sabretooth Blenny

flutemouth

Flutemouth

wrasse

Four Saddle Wrasse

snails

Sea Snails

kleins

Kleins Butterflyfish

orangestripe

Orange-striped Triggerfish

The Scribbled Pufferfish (right) is a nocturnal creature and usually rests in caves during the day so Jonathon was very surprised to see him / her. It was also a really big fish - much bigger than any of the others we'd seen. Quite a shock (but a nice one!)

puffer

Scribbled Pufferfish

It dried up so it was time for me to get out and about with the camera and a walk around the resort. The landscaping was wonderful - very lush with plenty of interesting plants and trees and lots of colour. Some of the following photos are from Thursday (after the rain) and some from Friday (before the rain!).
brollies

 

plant

plant

plant

view

plant

Some of the trees looked really old. How they survive on sand is beyond me.

plant
plant
plant

plant

Getting these plants to stay still despite the strong breeze was a challenge!

view
plant
plant
plant
view

red leaves

I don't know how many gardeners there were but wherever I went someone was busy making sure that all was neat and tidy.

Their hard work certainly paid off.

orchids

There was a lovely orchid house - a very calm place.

orchids

orchids

These two photos are just a very small selection of the orchids.

stripes

The misty effect in the photo on the right is not anything clever - just the camera fogging up due to the high level of humidity! I'm quite pleased with the end effect though.

vuew

view

All looked calm on the beach.

sea

Away from the areas that are sheltered by the breakwaters, the sea was quite a bit rougher. This was the view from the club house.

white
plant
white

bike

Some of the staff whizz around on these bikes - a very efficient way to get around.

We didn't hire a catamaran - far too energetic.

view
cats

knobbly

There were quite a few of the knobbly trees around the place - very interesting texture.

boats

A selection of boats to ferry guests to and from Male

arrivals

Arrivals / welcome area

view

The view from the Dive Centre - so inviting - you just want to jump in.

plant

plant

Friday was our last day so we needed to know where the lobby was so we could go settle up etc.

lobby

Lobby

hedge

plant

The hedges around the resort were full of colour.

plant
plant

plant

These little yellow flowers formed abundant ground cover.

gecko

There were a few of these lovely creatures scampering here and there. They didn't let you get too close though.

view
plant
plant

As seemed to be normal on this holiday, the main activity for the day was snorkelling. We ventured a bit further as the current wasn't as strong for our first snorkel. I walked some of the way against the current and then let it drift me back to our hut. At one point, I seemed to have an escort of different fish as they came to see what this drifting thing was!

We went out again around lunch time - the swell was much larger then so I didn't stay in the water long but did manage to spot a Black-tipped Reef Shark which was nice for our last day.

By evening, it was raining hard and the sea was in full flow so we handed our masks, snorkels and flippers in and called it a day.

trigger

Yellowmargin Triggerfish

ember parrotfish

Ember Parrotfish

Some Triggerfish might be a bit dangerous but others are incredibly pretty.

snapper

Humpback Red Snapper

unicorn

Orangespine Unicornfish

trigger

Orangestriped Triggerfish

boxfish

Black spotted Pufferfish

fish

Juvenile Yellowmargin Triggerfish

creature

Longbarbel Goatfish

creature

Octopus

fish

Queen Coris Wrasse

fish

Yellow Boxfish

fish

Bluebarred Parrotfish

fish

Possibly a Neon Damselfish or a Philippine Damselfish - not sure which.

fish

Ember parrotfish

And now for those we haven't been able to identify. All assistance would be gratefully received.

fish

No idea but they seemed to be scrapping like brothers!

tbi

No idea

The highlight of our last evening was a swim past by a beautiful Manta Ray. Don't think he/she could have been much closer without being on our decking!

Such a lovely end to our holiday in the Maldives.

manta