We were anchored at Chagos when we looked at the charts and realized that the Maldives were only a few hundred miles north. How, we said, can we sail across this part of the world without seeing the Maldives? So, we turned north and here we are. Here are photos of the cooperative and friendly customs, immigration and quarantine officials who came to our boat and processed our paperwork, even though it was their weekend. Rob hoists the Maldive courtesy flag under our starboard spreader.
A lovely country with kind people. A poignant moment this morning when I told a shop owner that he has a beautiful country, and he replied "yes, we have a beautiful country but we have no money." That is the problem in so many places that we have visited.
There were four garment factories on this island that sewed items for American stores under some sort of quota program that provided quotas for garments in underdeveloped countries. The law changed in 2004, the U.S. abandoned its quota program, and all four factories shut down. (I will add more info if I have a chance to do more research about this issue.)
These photos show a typical street, a shop that sells head coverings for the muslim women, a motorbike (very few cars) in front of a home (all the homes have names - you can see the name plate over the gate), and a traditional boat in the harbor.
