Our primary activities included snorkeling, reading, snorkeling, eating, reading, snorkeling, walking around the island, reading, snorkeling…I know, tough life. The snorkeling was fantastic. The coral reef is just filled with hundreds of bright, colorful, and exotic fish. They ranged from tiny little dart fish and gobies to much larger parrot fish and even unicorn fish (yes, they do have a horn on the front of their head). We also got to see a sea turtle – not very large but totally cool to watch. The “recommended” place to snorkel was up by the main jetty but we found that if we went beyond the breakers in our lagoon, we had many more fish to watch. Plus, we didn’t have to go anywhere…we just put down our kindles, pulled on our beach slippers and snorkeling masks, and walked into the water. We were amazed and how noisy the fish were – we could actually hear them scraping the algae off the rocks!
As we walked around the island, I noticed the tracks in the sand. When you got up close to the bushes and trees, the sand would be undisturbed – by people anyway. What I discovered was tracks in the sand, made by various animals that traveled through, unnoticed. Looking at them, they probably were the tracks created by various sand crabs, hermit crabs, birds and I’m not sure what else. The patterns were gorgeous and intricate – really beautiful to look at.
All too soon the time came to leave. The tradition at the restaurant is to have a set table, right on the water, with candles and flowers on your last night. We had the prime spot with a gorgeous view of the ocean, the sunset, the sharks playing in the lights (the lights set in the water, just to attract sharks). It was a very nice way to end the fabulous week.
Male, the world’s smallest capital, was our next stop. Our flight was too early in the morning so we spent the night in a hotel on the island of Male. It’s the capital city of the Maldives and it is located on its own island.
The airport is located on its own island also – across the way from the capital. We debated about going out since there’s been so much unrest there but the decision was made for us – we got in late enough and just about at dusk that we simply went upstairs to the restaurant with a view of the harbor and the city, sipped on ice tea and the sun went down and enjoyed an open air dinner. You can just make out the airport on the island across the harbor - it's also on its own island. The next morning was a 5:00 wake up to eat breakfast and grab a water taxi back to the airport and our flight home.
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