April 11

Yesterday, was a laid back – “takin' it easy” day. We got around and about, started a load of laundry, then went to breakfast at the Blue Moon Cafe. It is definitely different going to a restaurant for our free/included breakfast. We each had our new favorite👍.

Finished we went back to our Inn and hung up our laundry to dry. We hung it in our AC room, because the humidity outside would make it take forever to dry! We just chilled out the rest of the morning and early afternoon. Jeff did more planning, as always😁🤣. Our manager met us and gave us each a little gift – me a manta ray necklace and Jeff a whale shark magnet. That was nice and unexpected, like the T-shirts!

For late lunch – early dinner, we went to a new place we discovered the night before. It is called Breezy and Bliss. We shared two mains: first – Chicken Kalupool (Black Pepper Chicken) served with rice topped with a fried egg, and a side salad with a mango(?) dressing; and second – Alio Olio Volhamas Spaghetti, which is the sliced smoked tuna with garlic and spiced – like BBQ -sauce. both were great.  We were glad we found this place for our last big meal here on Dhangethi Island.

We went back to our place and started to pack up stuff that was now dry. Tomorrow we leave for this island and head to the capitol island, Hulhumale, city of Male. We did go out for our last gorgeous sunset from the island. Jeff then went and paid for our diving excursion. All told, he did a total of twelve dives and I did eight. The diving was glorious and very beautiful🪸🐠🐚🦈🐬. We were so blessed and thankful to be able to witness God's fantastic work in the ocean!!! We turned in earlyish, around 2100.

Today, we did notice the call to prayer is back to normal – meaning it is a brief call of couple of minutes, not an elongated “service(?)”. So the extra broadcasting was for Ramadan, which just ended. This is good to know, for future reference – don't come to Maldives during Ramadan!  We got around, finished packing, and went to breakfast earlier than our norm – around 0730. We had our favorite breakfast, of course. Finished, we went back to our place and gathered our stuff.🥲 Sad to go – we have enjoyed our time here! The “Inn Keeper” (how often do you get to say that?) met us and had our luggage taken to the dock. The ferry we are taking is the slow ferry, not the speed boat we took to arrive here. It is way cheaper, but way slower. We are not in a time crunch, so no problem. The ferry was late arriving, so we started out 30 minutes late. It's “Island Time”🏝️!

At 0900, we were under way. A couple of young ladies sat with us – one German, and one Austrian. Jeff and I talked to them for quite a while. They had just spent 3 weeks in Sri Lanka and that is where we are going in the morning. They even gave us contact info for two local drivers in Sri Lanka as well as other tips. It made time pass a bit quicker, and was nice. We arrived at Mahiradhoo Island around 1000.

Here we transfer to another ferry that actually goes to Male. We had a hour lay over. I just sat in the shade of an awning. Jeff explored a bit. He said this island is a little smaller (maybe) than the one we were on. This ferry left 32 minutes late. It was a longer ferry and was supposed to be four hours and twenty minutes long. Crossing the wide expanse of the ocean, without any land in sight, and going at a snail's pace, gives one lots of time to reflect. Jeff and I did think about our year in review. Tomorrow, as we fly to Sri Lanka, it will be one whole year since we started our new life!!! Unbelievably hard to believe! I was able to type up this blog – to post later. Jeff read on his phone, like others on their phone- but they were probably on some media; some others tried to sleep. There was one exception, a cute little girl – she was a bundle of fun energy!! She kept her parents busy!

We arrived into Male dock by 1610 – 50 minutes late. We part company saying goodbyes and well wishes to the two ladies – they catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur tonight. Anyway, we hailed a taxi and he accepted the fare. We arrived at our Airbnb, Jeff had booked for tonight. It is above a shop, so Jeff had them call him. The owner came right down and escorted us up to our room in their two bedroom house. He briefed us on the in and outs. We have a private bathroom, a kettle, and a double bed with a spare twin bed. It more than we need for this one night, but appreciated. We unloaded and asked for food recommendations – as we are starving. For fish, he mentioned The Catch 78 Restaurant. We went and checked it out.

We stayed and ordered: one dish, a Maldivian Style Reef Fish (which was White Snapper) seasoned with Maldivian Spices (we choose medium heat) served with Biryani-type Rice and a side salad; and other dish, Sesame Tuna  (which was tuna coated in sesame seeds and drizzled with a sweet Balsamic glaze) served with Butter Couscous and a side salad. Both the dishes were super excellent!! The only thing missing was a nice bottle of wine to complement the fish dishes😉!  We even had room to get dessert – a Maldivian Kanamadu Cake, which is made with “Sea Almonds” – a nut of the Maldives!

Finished we went back to our room and repacked stuff for our morning flight. I finished this blog and Jeff planned/read. We plan for early bed as we have to leave around 5AM (Yikes😲!) for our 735 flight in the morning!!