MALE, MALDIVES (2/18/2007)

From: Sherman Rootberg (biggiroot)
Date: Feb 20, 2007 11:51 AM
Subject: Sunday, February 18, 2007

Sunday, February 18, 2007

MALE, MALDIVES

Boys and girls. Be sure to take notes. You definitely do not want to mistake Male for Mahe. If Mahe was a 10 then this is a minus 6. We have finally found that stupid little hole that we must have stopped at only to break up the sea days. You can sometimes tell these things just by the name. Mal in French means sick. Mal-e must mean sicky. Then there is the second name, Maldives. We now know that mal means sick. We already knew that dive in English refers to a less then optimum establishment. So the correct translation must be sick place for sick folks.

It was beautiful as we approached this group of islands, starting this morning. It is one low, sandy, tiny atoll after another. Most are beautiful. Some had buildings that were obviously hotels and resorts. There are streches of sand bar that go further then you can see. It is only two degrees north of the equator and the sun is always very hot, but the water is very cold and we saw no one in it.

We finally anchored at about 1:00 PM. The only way to shore was by our own slow tenders. Quite a few had bought expensive shore tours to go to hotels on near by atolls. I don’t get it. I’m already paying for this ship hotel and why do I want to buy another lunch that never is as good as the one I would still have paid for on the ship? If I wanted a beach, why wouldn’t I have stayed at home? They don’t get much better and the water is warm year round.

Male is the main and most populated island. It is about 2.5 miles square. The tiny harbor we used was also a harbor for ferrys that go to all the islands. It was far too crowded as is the island. The main attraction is nothing anyone in their right mind would want. Some of the out islands might be great as resorts but as afore mentioned, this one is the pits. There is nothing made here except for a few crops from the out islands and tuna they catch.

We tendered in to a pier of dozens of lost looking people. We rented a taxi to take us to every street and spot on the island. I thought I made a great bargain. $10 US for the two of us. How was I to know the whole ride was 7 minutes? No, it was really about half an hour and everyone speaks good English. The driver was very good.

All the people used to be Buddhist, but obviously that was too peaceful. Now they are all, every one of them, 100% Muslim, or else soon dead. The most magnificent buildings are the Mosques, Presidential Palace, the former Presidential Palace and the huge police building. The police building seems far too large for this tiny island. The president is elected for a five year term. Surprise, surprise. The president is on his fifth term and 28th year in office.

Every square inch is covered by buildings or paved roads and the perimeter of the island is surrounded by small ships and boats to move people and supplies from place to place. There are cars of every price but not many. There are motor bikes by the thousand. Must be seven for every resident. I think there probably has to be. There are so many you would never be able to find the one you came with. So you just take another one you left there some other time.

After our very informative tour we took a walk down the street they call the tourist area. Pushy is not a word to describe the businesses here. They don’t just have people standing outside each store to drag you in, they come from a block or two away to try to drag you to their store. You cannot walk down a street without having to just about walk on them. They have no products to buy and the junk they try to push costs them more then we pay retail in the states.

It was very interesting, once, and we always enjoy seeing some place we have not been to. I’ll try to remember not to come back.

This evening the temperature out was just perfect. There was just a very light breeze. The humidity was also mild. So it was decided to stay anchored for a BBQ extravaganza up on the pool deck. They had music playing and singers singing. There were buffet lines around the whole deck and enough tables and chairs for the whole ship. They had most anything you could think of to eat. Lobster, prime rib, ostrich, steaks, sausage and on and on and about 100 salad and appetizer items including fantastic nova and grav lox. The only thing missing was BBQ. No ribs, burgers nor hot dogs. I know the whole thing was done just to celebrate my birthday and I know we would never get a bite to eat with everyone coming up to congratulate me so we went down to the main restaurant and ate there. Ah, the things one must endure when one is so popular.