Loltong Bay on Pentecost Island
We are resting after another long morning, getting up late, getting the dink ready to go in and walking around the village here. It was a beautiful night with a good breeze which means it was cool and no flies. The flies just about ran us out of Ambryn and the heat just about did too. It is now Spring here and we are at about 15 degrees south of the equator, which is very close, and it is stifling hot without a breeze, and sometimes even with a breeze. I am talking about where you sweat in the shade and can't drink enough water to keep the headaches away, where you have two t-shirts every day with one drying out at all times. Deodorant cannot keep up with this stuff. Forget antiperspirant. No way. It is hot!! We are not happy campers when it is this hot and it is not even close to summer yet. The humidity is what kills you though and it is not the wet season. When we think of what it would be like to live here year round in "paradise", we don't know how you would survive. Even the natives complain - now. We don't think they move around very much in the summer but of course they still have to work the gardens and tend to things. Glad we have a choice.
We had another magical moment here on Pentecost at Loltong Bay this morning. We had not even planned on getting off the boats on the way north to Maewo Island. Pentecost has a reputation for a lot of petty theft and unfriendly people in past years and we have plenty to see and do on other islands with better reps. But when we put in the bay last night, we decided we had to check it out. It is a tremendous natural amphitheater of a bay with vertical walls on three sides completely covered in jungle and gardens. The village is at the middle of the bay and partially up one side. There are a bunch of European style houses made of concrete or cinderblocks and it just seems idyllic here. So, after the hard rain this morning we got the dink ready and picked up Bob and Dianna from White Swan and went in through the shallow reefs protecting the sand beach.
On the beach, forming a natural landmark, is a huge banyan tree. It is the only one you can see from the water and it is a darker green than the rest. Banyans are majestic trees with many, many "air" roots coming down around the central core so that it looks to be made up of many smaller trees but the core is huge. We are talking twenty feet in diameter or more. The locals place special significance to them and often have houses or whole villages close to the really biggest ones, and you can see why. They awe you like the sequoias do back in California. Not as tall may be, but special nonetheless.
When we got in and beached the dink we were met by Mary, wife of Chief Luc who was at a meeting at the local Nakamal with some Australians planning to help them build a wharf for landing the freighters. Last night one came in and stood off the outer reefs and sent in smaller tenders completely full of people. The bay shallows really far out so anyone getting in and out of the tenders has to walk in the saltwater for about 10-20 feet before the dry beach. A wharf would really help them. Mary told us we needed to repark the dink on the other side of this little mini-point so we did that. She asked us to come over to her house and showed us a "program" - her word for a menu for a local food meal at her "restaurant". We booked for tonight and also booked the local string band to play for us, and the village. The whole village will show up for any music but we get to pay for it, but it is only about $10, so what the heck.
But, what happened later is what was magical. We walked through the village and noted how different every island and every village has been. Everyone was friendly and we met Mary's kids and her sister's kids, and her sister's kids' kids, etc. Children were everywhere, including naked little ones. Kids out here tend to have gross looking snot hanging from their noses with no Kleenex in sight. The big ones get out of the habit I guess since they look more sanitary. All are friendly though and very interested in us.
After our walk we got back to the beach and there was a gang of ten kids from about 4yo to 10yo, boys and girls, all giggling and wanting their pictures taken. They are the biggest hams out here!! We did that and learned all their names and one of the older girls (about 9) is named Cindy. She thought it was great that her name was the same as my Cindy's and just started giggling for all she was worth, then ran off a few feet before coming back. Turns out she is one of the ring leaders of this pack and one of the most precocious. She has a beautiful smile with sparkling white teeth that should be on a toothpaste commercial, or a glamour ad, what with her intelligent and beautiful eyes. We started yucking it up with the these tykes and ended up trying to throw skippers out in to the bay. They knew exactly what kind of flat rocks to find and threw the best ones to put us older folks to shame. Some had flip flops on and others were barefoot. Even the barefoot ones would tear off down the beach with its rough coral rock rubble as if they were running on grass. Just to tiptoe on this rock would send us to the foot doctor but these guys run full out on it no problem.
While we were running around and laughing and taking pictures, it started to rain. These guys knew exactly how to run up under a big tree that was undercut low down. We could not get under where they were so got wetter. Most of them did not have on shirts so they got chilled and huddled together to keep warm and to stay under. Then Cindy (the young one) started singing and the rest of them started to follow. They were singing mostly church songs for kids but they put everything in to each song, even the littlest and youngest. They had no embarrassment at all and looked us right in the eye while they belted out the tunes. It was amazing and made you just smile on the inside and outside. We all had a blast out there on the beach under the big tree while it rained.
After several, several songs the rain quit for a bit and we made a run for the dink and out to the boat. I found that I have a wound on the back of my right leg that may be getting infected. This is bad as I have to jump out in the water to get in and out of the dink each time and seawater is a nasty soup of bacteria and this is a big no-no. However, I don't have much choice so I will just have to keep doctoring it up and put on antiseptic each and every time and hope for the best. Others have had real problems out here with similar wounds on the legs so I am a bit concerned. I am pretty tough after all this and is should be OK. We go to the restaurant at 6pm tonight for our meal and the string band. We are hoping it does not rain to spoil it.
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see:
posted by Joe and Cindy @ 10:25 PM
<< Home