To The Maldives

 Aman welcomes us on the pier.

 First our luggage...

 Then we are transported to....

 Our home for the week.

 The jammed packed city of Male.

 Our cramped but functional berths.

 The inside dinning quarters, with some of the crew sitting up front.

The passageway to our room, second on the left.

Friday, February 16^th.

When John and I checked in we were surprised that we were in business class, we thought that we were bumped up, but it turned out that Denise had booked them for us (not sure why). But, that came with an invite to hang out in the Sri Lankan Airlines business lounge. We headed off quickly to make the best of the time and had a great lunch from the buffet. We also had a gin and tonic, which must of have a triple. We stayed in the lounge for over an hour and then went to the gate a bit tipsy and excited. We were on time but were the last to board the plane. We settled into our spacious seats and we given a glass of champagne as a welcome. The flight was only an hour and a half and for the first time I wished the flight was longer.

We arrived at the airport in Male, said goodbye to Adrian and Tamsin, collected our luggage and then exited and met our GAdventure guide Aman, along with five other passengers who were on the same flight after doing the Yolo Sri Lankan tour. He gave us some information, including the fact that we didn’t need any money and then he called the shuttle boat that took our luggage first to our boat for the week, and then came back to get us. I was surprised that the boat, The Surf Sojourn, did not look like the one in the brochure and seemed more modern than expected. When I asked Aman about it, he said that G was renting this boat for a month and didn’t have an explanation of where the other boat was.

When we were all aboard, Aman gave us some information and we introduced ourselves. There are eight of us, six guys and two women, four Brits and four Canadians. Along with Aman, we have another six crew members: a captain, an assistant, two cabin boys, a waiter and a chef. All meals will be on board as we have no access to restaurants anywhere. 

Then we began the trip with an hour-long trip past the main island of the Maldives, where the capital Male is, and across a channel to our first night’s mooring at Lagoona. You could see how jam-packed Male is on the island and how rising oceans due to global warming would be a threat to the city.

Once we were secured to a mooring, some of us went for a short swim. We were in deep water and there was no reef there. John and I got our kit sorted in the room. The room is small, but manageable. We have bunks, (John wanted the top), a private shower that washes the whole room including the toilet, in the process, an air-conditioner and several power plugs. Not surprisingly, there is no wi-fi for the duration of the trip.

John and I sat at the main table in the cabin and typed up some notes from the last couple of days. Then dinner was served in the inside eating area of the boat. I was still very full from the two lunches and didn’t eat a lot of the chicken, rice, salad, and fruit.

The group hung around on the front deck of the boat and we got to know each other a bit. We have a fertility doctor, a dentist, a male nurse, a lawyer, two teachers, a HR person and a geography student. The girls saw some fish in the water that were attracted by the boat’s lights and threw them some bread. They were remoras, the ones that swim under sharks and other large fish to get the scraps from their meals. John and I sat up on the top deck for a half hour and talked and thought about Dottie who was going through her hysterectomy at about the same time. It is tough on John as we will have no internet for the week. 

We also noticed by looking down through skylights that the crew members were curled up and sleeping on the floors. We asked Aman if they had cabins and he sheepishly indicated that they don’t.

Then we retired, and John regretted his choice of top bunk, which is quite narrow. He slept fitfully, and I slept pretty well.