Maldives, where are they?

I was reading tonight about the Maldives and thought I would let you know what I am reading. If you are like me you are not sure where they are. I am looking it up, because I wasn't sure.

The Maldives is in the Indian Ocean to the south and west of Sri Lanka and India, the Seychelles to the southeast. So from the southern tip of India, with Sri Lanka at it's east, you go west to the Maldives. Keep going west in the Indian Ocean to the Seychelles, and then on to Mauritius, and then you are at Africa. The capitol city is Male. There are 1190 islands, all surrounded by white sandy beaches. The white sandy shoreline is what makes them atolls. Our island we are going to, looks like half of it is green and a full half of it is white sand, in to the turquoise water. Heaven? Paradise?

I think.

The sea covers about 99% of the Maldives, there are over 5,000 coral reefs and the marine life is spectacular. Sea turtles, dolphins, whales. Yahoo.

It will be the first country to feel the effects of the sea level rising. The highest point of land is 2.4 meters above sea level, the average 1.5 m.

The Portuguese invaded for 15 years in the 16th Century, the Dutch for 4 months, and it became a British Protectorate 1887-1965 (because of the proximity of the Suez Canal). As of 1965 it is a republic with an elected president and an authoritarian government. It has a population of 300,000, the capital Male 100,000. (pretty small, in comparison to the other countries we have been visiting).

It was devastated in the Indian Ocean earthquake of 2004. The country is greatly influenced by India and Sri Lanka. It was in the news 2012, when a young girl of 14 was sentenced to 100 lashes for premarital sex, when in fact she had been raped. It was a story world wide. It has one of the highest divorce rates in the world, but because the marriage laws are very loose.

We fly in to Male, and then get ourselves to the island of our hotel. We can go by boat or fly (twin Otter on floats !!!!. I hope one way of each service. It sounds fantastic, and is a fine way to wind up our travels.

I am thinking a lot about going home, thinking of what I will miss, what I will not miss, what I can't wait for, and what I can wait for. In the next two months we will be wrapping up a most exciting adventure. I am planning to keep this blog going when I get back, more to ruminate on adjusting back to "real" life. I hear it is harder than adjusting to being an expat. Given how hard it was for both Tim and me, I really can not imagine that. But I will find out.