2013 - OCEANIA - THE MALDIVES

We are now in the Male, the Maldives where we are due to be for 2 days. Don't know why 2 days. The Maldives are lots of little islands, most of which are private resorts & off limits to the casual tourist. A tropical paradise but Male itself is all concrete. Even has a man made beach where the locals bathe fully clothed.
I was scheduled to go on a boat ride to a different island resort on each day but one island got "closed down". So I changed to the one island for a morning & then back again for the afternoon. Then changed that so I could stay on the island while everyone else went back at noon & I get to go back with the afternoon tour. I got to walk around the resort, have a drink at either end & laze on the beach for the day. The other day I just wandered around Male which isn't all that. I met a couple staying at the resort who were on their 7th visit to the Maldives & never set foot on Male. Can't say I blame them

Here's some fish (Tuna?) on the dock which may well have become dinner on board later.

& some Maldive graffiti. No idea what it means but looks a little odd.

The unnatural beach..Muslim ladies do not undress for the beach.

& the natural beach...

Hectic times....

THESE PEOPLE. FOREVER GETTING IN THE WAY OF THE VIEW.....

THERE - THAT'S BETTER...

Wonderful looking flowers...

THESE FOUR ARE FROM MY SHIP. UP TO THEIR KNEES, WALKING ON SOMETHING OUT THERE, CORAL MAYBE.

WAITING FOR THE FERRY.....

& that's about it for the Maldives. Very pretty & the weather was great. A nice little breeze & not too hot considering it's on the equator. Two more islands & a couple of nice boat rides. Relaxing & in days gone by I would have been quite satisfied to spend hours getting some sun on a beach. Not anymore.