This post is part 10 of a series of stories recounting all the ups and downs of my ~6 year journey around the world to all seven continents and seven seas.
After ringing in the new year at sea, our first port of call in 2016 was Malé, the capital of the Maldives.
As part of Peace Boat’s mission of spreading awareness of social and environmental issues, we had guest speakers cruise with us who hosted lectures and seminars about various issues facing their home countries.
For the Maldives, the issues at the forefront were the lack of proper waste management and the ever-rising sea level due to climate change.
Contrary to what luxury resorts and social media would have you believe, this seemingly picturesque and tropical island of honeymoon bliss and paradisiacal dreams is not all pristine beaches and private overwater bungalows.
The reality is that much like other developing countries, this is only partially true— for tourist areas.
The capital city on the other hand, where locals live, is a bustling town, full of the usual city sounds, and, unfortunately, a lot of trash littered and in the waters.
Despite this, the city was friendly and vibrantly chromatic. Unlike the dull and muted neutralized colors buildings are normally painted, here, brightly swatched homes and boats brought the city to life.
Malé definitely solidified my love for beach towns, even if the local law required us ladies to be conservatively covered in public. (Resort islands are exempt from this.)
We hired a tour guide to take us around on his boat and once we were far enough out at sea, I was able to strip down to my beach bum uniform.
It was the perfect day: beach hopping, tanning on the back of the tiny boat in open waters, lounging on a secluded sandbar, and wandering around town.
It would be the first of several ports I’d be genuinely sad to leave but luckily our next stop, Mauritius, was just a few days away— albeit through pirate waters, which we prepared for with drills and nightly blackouts shipwide.
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