Life in Paradise

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Well, here are a few chosen pics to give you a snapshot (literally) of life here in Paradise where the water really is turqouise, the tuna is plentiful and it's always 32 degrees.

The last three months have flown by and I only have a few weeks left in the Maldives. It's been fascinating and great to travel around the islands a fair amount to see different volunteers and meet their colleagues. I've had lots of time to do a lot of reading, snorkeling, diving and swimming and will hopefully spend some more time diving once I finish work. But the best thing is that the pace of life is sooooooo much slower and it's been great to change gear especially as the office closes around 3pm every day.

So work has been good and life in general even better, not least as I'm well looked after by Debu who comes in to cook, clean and do the laundry every day in between his main job as a Chef in the President's Palace. Not bad eh? So lots of fish curry, rice, dhaal and fresh fruit to go with the lovely desalinated water.

Those are the best bits, as are the pics - as I haven't taken any shots of my office or the rainy days or difficult meetings with people who can't take decisions!

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Photos

Male
Here's the capital island, Male' where I've been living since beginning of Feb. It's a busy place with 100,000 people all crammed in on an island around 2 square kms.

Life in Male
Busy place with lots of mopeds wizzing by through the narrow streets and this is one of the only two wide roads ond the island

Male
Male' has become a lot more buit up over the last few years with high rise blocks being built, floors being added to buildings and rather swanky buildings on the seafront like this one where the Govt offices tend to be

Sunrise, 6am on my birthday
Travelling by speedboat and the water is completely still as if we're hovering across glass... and just after I took this shot, there were dolphins jumping!

Around 1200 islands
Of the 1200 islands, less than 200 of them are inhabited and the highest point in the country is only 2 meters above sea level.

Reefs
This is what you see as you fly over the Maldives - coral reefs, coral reefs and more coral reefs

And more coral reefs
The Maldives covers around 90,000 sq kms but 99.9% of the country is water

Resorts from the air
Tourism is big buisness - 20& of the economy. Resorts are built on islands that are 'leased' mostly targeting the high end of the market. Tourists don't see much else though as resorts and islands are kept very much apart, to keep the Maldives 100% Muslim and lots of resort staff are from Sri Lanka and India.

More posh resorts
The MUST for every resort - the ubiquitous water bungalows

Airport Island
Hulhule island, next door to Male', where the airport is and also a hotel with a great outdoor pool and the nearest bar to Male' - only 10 mins away by boat

The hotel pool on the nearby island
So this is where I go and do my 30 lengths after work while the sun sets behind the palm trees...

Tuna fishing
Somehow when visiting one school, I ended up fishing for the afternoon with the Head and Deputy Head...

And I caught...
14 tuna with just a line and my bare hands!

Fishing boat
But 14 isn't really a big deal as 18% of the economy is based on fishing... mostly tuna... so guess what's in the fish curry every evening?