Maldives | FindPenguins

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Trip start
November 26, 2022
Maldives skip's retirement travel
Malé
November 27, 2022 on the Maldives ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Malé is the capital and largest city of the Maldives. Almost 1/3 of the population of the Maldives lives here. The largest part of the economy of the Maldives is tourism followed by fishing. The nation is considered to be 100% Muslim.
The 1st picture looks back at the city from out on the harbor. The 2nd picture is a new mosque built here by the Saudi royal family. It is the largest in the Maldives. The 3rd picture is the Islamic Center that had been the largest mosque. It is an architectural landmark in Malé, and houses a conference center, an Islamic library and the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. The 4th picture is one of the oldest mosques and is original except for the steel roof. The 5th picture is a religious center where offerings are traditionally presented. It was said that the little building predates the arrival of Islam and is still considered to be a holy place.
The 6th picture is the national parliament building, and the 7th picture is the official residence of the national president.
The 8th picture is the memorial of the nation's successful defense against an invasion by the Tamil Tigers in 1988. The 9th picture is their tsunami monument remembering those who died in the 2004 tsunami.
The last picture is a small portion of the central market.Read more
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Maldives skip's retirement travel
Maldives Crusin'
November 28, 2022, Laccadive Sea ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
The nation of the Maldives is made up if several atolls that have a number of islands in each. We cruised among the atolls, snorkeled a lot, visited some out islands, watched dolphins and more (see other posts to come.
The 1st picture looks at 1 of the resorts with over water bungalows that this place is so famous for. The 2nd picture is a pic of dolphins swimming with of boat. The next 3 pictures look across the water at some of the islands, giving a sense of what it is like to be here. The final picture is a sunset over the ocean.Read more
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Maldives skip's retirement travel
Dhiggaru Island
November 29, 2022 on the Maldives ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Dhiggaru Island was the 1st out island we visited. It is a small island, but it is being doubled in size by landfill. They are dredging sand from the center of the lagoon and piling here. This is a government project for the local population rather than making room for more resorts.
The 1st picture looks out over the large area of new land. Most of the inhabited islands have a clinic and a school. The clinic in the 2nd picture serves basic health care needs. The only hospital in the country is in Malé. The school in the 3rd picture goes up to 10th grade. The last 2 years of high school and university are only available in Malé. The 4th picture is one of the streets in town.
The main industry here is fishing. The next 5 pictures are various parts of cleaning, preparing for smoking them and drying some.
In the last picture, if you look closely, you can see a sting ray in the water. I'm told the rays hang out here because the offal from cleaning and preparing the fish for market is dumped into the sea. The rays eat the waste.Read more
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Maldives skip's retirement travel
Thinadhoo Island
December 1, 2022 on the Maldives ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Thinadhoo is another of the out islands, though distinctly different from Dhigaroo Island (see another post). Dhigaroo is primarily local people and residential. Thinadhoo is much more touristic.
The 1st picture looks from out on the water towards its small port. The next 2 pictures are of the town's main street that is lined with souvenir shops and similar stores geared for tourists. The 3rd picture looks across the main square to one of the many hotels and resorts here.
The 4th and 5th pictures look at and through open sided buildings typical of the islands. In one you can see new construction and the other is a restaurant.
The last picture looks across the beach to a nearby related island.
Our visit was cut short as thunder and lightning began and we had to return to our boat.Read more
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Maldives skip's retirement travel
Maldivian Drums & Dance
December 2, 2022 on the Maldives ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
This is really dark because the ambient lighting is so low. In fact we dubbed it Maldivian Disco.
The light on my phone was even on. You can certainly hear the drums and the singers. I hope you can see some of the musicians and dancers.Read more
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Maldives skip's retirement travel
In the Indian Ocean
December 2, 2022 on the Maldives ⋅ 🌧 26 °C
Thanks to fellow travelers and local staff who have GoPro cameras, I can share a bit of what I saw while snorkeling. The local guide tells me that the coral is healthier now than it was 5 years ago. That is good news.Read more
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Maldives skip's retirement travel
Swimming with the sharks
December 3, 2022 on the Maldives ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C
These are nurse sharks. They are friendly, curious about us in their environment, and not dangerous. I swam with dolphins and sea turtles, too, but no pictures.
And, yes, that's me in the Cressi swim shirt.Read more
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Trip end
December 6, 2022