Day 480 Maafushi, Maldives Day 4 of Christmas vacation

It was a day of leisurely travel on the water, my
kind of travel.  The ferry didn't leave Male until
3:00pm, and we scoped out the ferry terminal on
the opposite end of the island when we were in Male
the day before.  We didn't want to be rushed.  We
packed some avocado and cheese wraps, beef
jerky and chips for our lunch. We parked our
backpacks under an awning with the locals, and
after we finished eating, Len entertained them with
his guitar while we waited on our boat.  

We made it! (he barely tolerates selfies, lol).

This was our two hour boat ride, leaving one atoll and entering
another....

The water was absolutely gorgeous- the
pictures simply do not do it justice.

I was in my happy place up on the bow :)))

I love hanging my feet over the rail and watching the water :)

We passed many islands in the distance...

...and about two hours later, Maafushi came in to view.

We were greeted by this guy, 'Moon', from the Masaaree Boutique
Hotel.  We walked along a sandy road to our hotel and got checked
in.  We shared with Moon the things we'd like to see and do while
we are on Maafushi, and he set to work making some phone calls
for us (whale sharks, please!). We decided to take a quick walk
around the island before the sun went down.

Though the frame is made of rebar, these
swings are surprisingly comfortable :)

As we pulled up to Maafushi, Len remarked that it looked like there
was a prison on one end of the island.  I was like, "No, surely there
isn't a prison way out here!" Well, guess what we stumbled upon
as we made a lap around the island?  Maafushi has less than
2000 inhabitants, and that doesn't include the 800 prisoners on the
island.  In fact, it is the largest prison in all of the Maldives.
I guess I should have done my homework once again, and I
would have learned that their most famous prisoner was
incarcerated there about eight months ago- the former
President of the country who was overthrown in a coup.  We
noticed one guard tower looked bigger and newer than the
others- that one tower is the former president's cell. Wow.

As we circled around the back of the island, this group of locals
was playing a rousing game of cricket in the late afternoon sun.

We passed the only mosque 'in town', and
listened to the evening prayers over the loudspeaker.

The opposite end of the island is where the village is- a few
tourists shops, a handful of restaurants, dive shops and inns...
However, it also is the home to "Bikini Beach"- the only place
in all of the Maldives where you can wear a bikini publicly.
(Well, you can wear your bikini at the private resorts, but
many of those start at $5000USD a night- and even more.)
Still, no alcoholic beverages available, though Moon did offer
us one option.  There is an enterprising boat captain that has
his power yacht anchored off Maafushi.  For a 'fee', Moon
can call him up, and he'll send the dinghy to shore to
pick up folks who want to sit and drink on his boat.
We wanted to do it, just for the experience to say we did, but
we were afraid of the 'fees' and most likely the $20USD beers!

We went to dinner, (more delicious Indian food!) and I checked my phone on the wifi connection.  It turns out Beijing did make the right call with the Red Alert; the AQI was at 546 on December 23. That is nearly triple of what is considered seriously hazardous (AQI of 200).  I am so glad I got out of town early.  Some of my friends who did not change their tickets had difficulty getting out of Beijing. Some flights were cancelled and many, many more were seriously delayed, 12 hours or more. Several friends said you couldn't see across the street, and there was no way for pilots to see the runways. My original plan would have had me arriving in the Maldives just today, but instead, I have already had three days of R & R in the glorious sunshine and clean air.  I am so blessed :)

And the news just kept getting better....we got back from dinner, and Moon hurriedly escorted us down to a dive shop.  There was a dive master trying to get a group together to go see the whale sharks tomorrow, but he needed 10 passengers to make the trip go. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself....until I found out it was only a snorkel trip.  There was no shop on the island taking anyone out on scuba.  I wanted to DIVE with the whale sharks.  I am terrible on snorkel.  I can't get down but a few feet.  I have no wind, invariably I choke on salt water, and I can't clear my ears.  I just wanted to put a reg in my mouth and breathe....ugh.  I had a decision to make.  I looked at the expectant faces of the eight other people who were banking on us to make the trip, and I couldn't say no.  The dive master assured me that the whale sharks often come close to the surface, and that it isn't necessary to be on scuba to get a good look.  They offered to get me a weight belt if it would help me to stay down.

Ok, I'm in.  

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I came to the Maldives specifically to cross "Diving with a Whale Shark" off of my bucket list.  So let's do this thing!  

We've got an early morning start, as the whale sharks are a nearly 2.5-3 hour boat ride away, at the end of yet another atoll.  I was like a kid on Christmas Eve; I could hardly sleep that night for the excitement and anticipation.....

Stay tuned!

G'nite, y'all!