Amazing Maldives!

 

After a six-hour flight from Bangkok, we landed at a tiny open-air airport on a tiny island in the Maldives. 💦We then proceeded to Customs where we needed an online Customs Form. Hmm...we never saw that on the Internet. So we found the QR code on the wall to fill out the form, but there was no Internet in the airport. Then an employee offered to complete our form on his phone and then we took a photo of the form. He had to do that for other passengers too. Luckily, we returned to Customs and passed through successfully. It was the beginning of our rough entrance to this country. Over an hour later, the boat captain ⛵showed up from the Ferry. He said he can't take us to the island for a couple of hours because of the rough sea. Then he told us to buy sea sickness pills at the airport pharmacy which was a mob scene. Ugh! We waited in the storm that was blowing rain into the airport. Things were about to get wilder! Finally, the ferry boat arrived at the airport dock!🛥

After a five-hour stormy boat ride that took twice as long as it should have, we finally arrived! I hit my head on the boat wall in one of the waves and other passengers were seasick. 😔 When we reached shore, the hotel golf cart picked us up at the dock. I was surprised to see a modern hotel with a pool, but daily Internet issues. 😔 The front desk gave us multiple passwords to try, and each one lasts 24 hours. Right now it's raining with no Internet. We will try again later. 👍

We ventured out for dinner at a tiny wooden shack on the beach.🌊 They served fresh tuna and mystery island dishes while we watched the sand crabs scamper on the beach below. Did I tell you that Malaysia is Muslim and that alcohol is not allowed? However, their overpriced, fruity mocktails are tasty. We slept until the early 'Call To Prayer' from the island mosque woke us up. 🙏

On our second day, I tripped on a hidden step in our hotel lobby.😟 My ankle hurt and I couldn't walk. So our hotel golf cart turned into an ambulance and took me to the only island Doctor's tiny office. No one else was in the waiting room and the friendly doctor suggested an X-ray. So I limped back to the golf cart and zipped over the dirt road to the small  hospital for my foot X-ray. No one else was in the waiting room there either. Fast service and the staff was friendly! 😄 Luckily, my ankle was NOT broken. 😊So we returned to the Doctor's office where his nurses put an ace bandage on it. I was very thankful for their friendly service.👨‍⚕️🏥🩺

                                  

I limped around the village in my ace bandage on sandy roads for the next five days. No men were working on this island. We only saw male teens and older men. The restaurant owner informed us that the men work at the private island resorts that will only hire locals. The young men leave their families here and work on the island. It is a half-hour boat ride home to visit their families on their days off. ⛵ Sri Lanka men have come to the Maldives to work in the local island restaurants. They are very friendly, but not the best cooks. Tonight, some local women in black robes and head scarves came out to dinner at our beachside restaurants. So I guess the island women have formed a supportive community. 😊

We ventured out to dinner nightly and tried all four island restaurants. Our favorite place set up a table at the end of their dock and put fairy lights in the trees and around the table. They made a magical dinner with mock cocktails in Malaysia. 💗

Swimming is another adventure here. There is only one beach on our island where we can wear swimsuits. It is appropriately called 'Bikini Beach'.  The rest of the island beaches require females to swim in black robes or their dresses. 👗

 

It's strange there are no organized island tours here to dive or snorkel. We stopped by the only Dive Shop and asked about a boat trip. They said they will text us if they can find others to go. Hmmm...So I rested my ankle and read some more books for days.📚 No hair or nail salons are here either, just a gentle sea breeze. This must be what the doctor ordered! 👍

Finally, the text came! We are going snorkeling tomorrow on a small motor boat. My ankle was feeling stronger. I felt free as we cruised on the out past tiny, deserted islands and sandy beaches. It was a cloudy, windy day and the rough water was a challenge. We jumped off the boat at two different locations and saw some fish 🐠, a sea turtle, 🐢 and a giant whale shark 🦈 six feet long. The shiny black shark swam smoothly through the ocean as if it owned it. The eyes on each side of his head were watching everything - including us. Our guide clasped his hands together in a prayer to the shark. I should have too! Other divers tried to touch the whale shark and pushed us aside to take photos. Our guide waved them away. 🌊Is there such a thing as snorkeling etiquette ?🤿

It was a magical moment!🦈 The local belief is that a whale shark embodies a kind-hearted grandmother spirit. If local fishermen encounter a whale shark on a boat trip, they see it as a sign of good fortune and prosperity. 💧

The sun ☀️ came out the next day and the ocean was calmer. The dive shop asked us if we wanted to go out on a large boat 🚢 that held twenty people to find a Manta Ray. 🐠We said sure, but they could only find two other scuba divers to join us. We had lots of extra room. We knew the drill now and learned a new, helpful tip to clean our face masks with soap and water before jumping off the boat. It stopped the masks from fogging up. This boat had a bonus ladder to climb in and out of the water which was a perk! We searched for the large Ray with no luck. We jumped off the boat four times in different places. Where was the Manta Ray? Finally, a nearby boat radioed us that they found one! So we raced over, jumped off the boat and finally saw a young Manta-Ray four feet wide. 🌊 His body was shiny as he peacefully swam and ate. Then the Manta-Ray backed off and floated while tiny fish cleaned him off before returning to his breakfast. This majestic Manta Ray was oblivious to the 15 scuba divers below us.  They lay on the ocean floor filming the event with their cell phones in  waterproof cases. 🐟📸 It was the perfect ending to our island trip. We have more to add to our Facebook Foto memories 🏝️🌊🦈☀️‼️