Before going to the Maldives in February 2004, I was not sure I knew anything about it. To be honest, I didn’t know if The Maldives was a restaurant, a dessert, or the name of the new Ford coupe. When we were looking for places to go from Saudi Arabia, our travel agent (remember them?) told us about a great introductory deal that Emirates Airlines was offering, including airfare and accommodations. Two weeks was cheaper than a round-trip ticket to Thailand. It was an awesome trip of diving, swimming, reading, eating, and napping.
The Maldives is a small island nation in the Indian Ocean, southwest of India and Sri Lanka. It is composed of about 1,900 coral islands and grouped into 26 atolls. It has a population of 530,000 people and an elevation of just 8 feet. It is the lowest-lying country in the world and is at great risk of being completely underwater due to global warming and rising sea levels. The national government in Male has plans to evacuate the entire nation as this crisis worsens.
Ministry of Islamic Affairs Building in Male, the capital of the Maldives
A government office building
A quiet residential street on the densely populated island of Male
The island of Male is only 2 km long and 1 km wide
It was surrounded by salty, white sandy beaches
and warm, crystal clear water.
Male, the capital of the Maldives
A street market
An average street in the capital
Public graveyard
Many of the rooms were over the water
The country survives on tourism, and it is slowly sinking into the ocean.
With very expensive gasoline prices, motorcycles are the number one means of transportation on the islands
A public elementary school with open air classrooms
It is a predominantly Muslim country.
This is the main mosque in Male.
The city square. A meeting point for most people
While Male was interesting, we did not stay on the main island. Our hotel occupied one whole island, about a 10-minute boat ride away.
We had the beaches to ourselves