Day 479 Male, Maldives Day 3 of Christmas vacation

After spending the first two days on sleepy little
Hulhumale getting caught up on R & R, we
decided to hop the ferry over to the capital city, Male.

The short hop across the bay had me smiling, with the
sun on my face and the wind in my hair.  I just love boats :)

Ziad had warned us that Male was pure chaos.  It is the fifth
most densely populated island in the world.  The streets are
very narrow, most are one way, and they are filled with
scooters, scooters, and more scooters.  It was nuts.

Armed with a local map, we set out to find
Grand Friday Mosque, which was across the
street from Sultan Park.

 

This was the mosque, but at the time of day we were there,
no visitors were allowed.  It was a beautiful building and grounds.

We then got directions to the local fruit and vegetable
market which was along the waterfront.

The fruit and vegetable market also sold dried
fish which is very common in the local cuisine.
Um, no thank you. It was very stinky.

I also read on trip advisor that the local fish market
was not to be missed.  It was something else, alright.

Fish were simply laid out on the tile floors for the picking.

All along the side of the market walls were men
manning fish cleaning stations, like this guy.

It was interesting to walk around, but very slippery
when wet!  We saw many fish we have never seen before,
and Len knows a lot about salt water fish. 

While Male has been the sight of much political unrest in recent years (and even months), we did not witness any demonstrations or see an unusual police or military presence.  We had been warned before our trip, and I registered our vacation with the US State Department, just in case, but it really wasn't necessary.  We felt very safe, and the people were more than friendly.  I have to say though, after a full afternoon on the capital city, we were all too eager to get back to our quiet island for the last night.  Tomorrow we board another ferry to take us to one of the southern atolls, to the island of Maafushi, where we have three nights booked at the Masaaree Boutique hotel.  Whale sharks here I come!!!!

G'nite, y'all!