Maldives Continued ...

Friday 17th April

The water is so crystal clear & flat calm this morning you can see everything. It's like peering through the glass of a huge fish tank. Because the water's been so still (and I don't snorkel) I've been able to see all the baby fish as well. The colours are amazing from the neon blue to the orange of the clown fish, from the pale gel pen green to the yellow of the butterfly fish and every colour in between.

We've seen bottom feeders that seem to love my feet? Beige & cream striped pipe fish with their sea horse shaped heads, baby picasso fish & even a baby puffer fish. Not only that, it's as warm bath water and (I know I keep repeating myself,) it really is paradise.

This afternoon we went a walk around the island while Elena played on her DS. We went down to the point past the diving school to have a look at the neighbouring island Reethi Rah. Then up the breezy side to the bar & coffee shop to get drinks & fish bread. After a cup of tea and biscuits we carried on & sat on the swing drinking coke. We walked past the spa & wove in and out of the bungalows until we found the beach again. The sun was lovely and warm. We walked along the shoreline, ankle deep in water and saw 2 small rays swimming in the shallows. The only noises we could hear came from the parrots flying above and the diving boat returning from a nearby reef. We soon reached the bungalow & couldn't wait to go for a swim. It's still hot (28-32 degrees) even at the end of the day, the temperature never seems to change.

While we were bobbing about, Andrew spotted a porcupine fish just ambling along right in front of him. In the evenings the sea has an oily glow to it so it was difficult to photograph him. Andrew & I stayed in the lagoon until it was dark. As we walked back up the soft white sand to the room the fruit bats were flying about, landing on palm leaves & hanging upside down.

Had a gorgeous BBQ for tea with proper, PROPER coconut ice for pudding, made with fresh coconut. It was fabalicious :O)

After tea (and a trip to bar of course for cold drinks) Elena & I entertained ourselves taking photos of the jetty lights. We'd tried taking photos of the stars (of which we could see millions again because it was pitch black) but we had no luck. So Elena invented this game of putting the camera in 'night mode' and zooming in on the jetty lights & wiggling about as much as possible. We even tried writing our names lol.Great fun!

We've also been entertained tonight by 2 geckos doing their spider man impersonations on the veranda ceiling. We're off to the bar again now because it's still HOT!