Princess Cruises - Male in the Maldives.

Princess Cruises – Male - Maldives Islands.
Our Walking Tour of Male – the Capital of the Maldives.

We are now heading in a southerly direction back towards the Equator - but before we go back into the Southern Hemisphere we are going to visit the Maldives.

The Sun Princess drops anchor.

The Sun Princess will be dropping her anchor not far from the Capital – Male and then all who wish to go ashore will have to use the ships tender to get to the main island. The Maldives is a republic comprising of 26 coral atolls and 1,190 islands draped along the Indian Ocean like a string of pearls.

Sun rise in the Maldives.

Male is one of the smallest capital cities in the world and the most developed island in the Maldives -  but it has no natural beaches and is protected and bordered by a large sea wall. The outer islands are where most of the tourists choose to head to.  Here tourists can enjoy the white sandy beaches, placid lagoons and diving and snorkelling on the coral reefs – these islands have crystal clear waters which are a haven for beautifully coloured corals and tropical fish. It is said to be a Honeymooners delight and I think that they charge a high price for the privilege of staying on these islands. The day tours organised from the ship out to the islands are very expensive.

Shells from the Islands.

 

Coral - which is found on many of the reefs.

All these islands are being greatly affected by climate change and it is expected that this area will be one of the first island resort areas to disappear as the sea water rises. We were even told that the President has started negotiations with other countries (including Australia) to purchase somewhere suitable to move all the 150,000 residents to if and when this occurs.

Male is the launching place for getting to the other more attractive islands. Boats, water taxis, ferries, launches and sea planes continually leave the port area heading out to the islands.

We are not venturing to any other islands today, we are going to conduct our own walking tour and just see what we can find in Male. The trip to the main port is quick and well organised aboard the ships tender taking only about 10 minutes to complete the journey.

Independence Square Male.

Unfortunately there is not a lot to see on Male. It is a Saturday morning and a lot of places are closed. The streets however are very busy with mainly young men riding about on motor bikes and the footpaths are very narrow and rough in some parts. It is hot and very humid. We walk for about 3 hours visiting Independence Square, the large Friday Mosque and Islamic Centre, Sultan Park, the Old Friday Mosque which was built back in 1656 by Sultan Ibrahim Iskandhar and the former Sultan’s Palace.

The New Friday Mosque.

 

Inside this very large Mosque. It was very impressive.

 

Funny trees in the Sultan's Garden. They are covered in different coloured lights.  Would be very pretty at night.

 

The Old Friday Mosque.

 

The remains of the Old Palace.

Eventually we find the small tourist shopping area where we purchase a few reminders of our visit to the Maldives. We are then more than happy to walk back to the port and catch the tender back to the ship.

Our tender waiting for us at the port in Male.

The Sun Princess tender boat takes us back to the ship.