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s/v Surprise: Tonga contrasts

Posted 1 year ago

s/v Surprise: Tonga contrasts
Lest you wonder if we have disappeared underwater, here's a brief update on our surface activities. We've been in four delightful anchorages and back into the town of Neiafu for supplies and laundry. We were there on Friday but the race was cancelled for lack of wind, so we didn't get to defend our title. While we were anchored in the cove at Vaka'eitu Island we visited the small village on the island of Lape. As we pulled up to the coral jetty a woman came down and opened the lid of a cooler to offer us bananas. We didn't need any but bought a bunch anyway-as Steve termed it-an entry fee. We asked permission to walk about, and she told us how to find the primary school. There are six students (photo), in forms 1, 3, and 5 and their teacher, a young man trained in Neiafu. As you can see the children are neatly dressed, and the classroom was spacious and tidy. There was a solar panel outside the church, but the woman living next to the church was cooking over an open fire fueled by coconut husks. She and another woman were preparing pandanus leaves for weaving-a craft which is functional and also provides items to sell to tourists. They weave interesting placemats and baskets. A village like this is, I'm told, pretty typical of the subsistence existence the more remote Tongan villages have. In addition to fishing and raising taro, bananas, manioc and cassava, they live on remittances from overseas relatives. In contrast, six miles away, there is the Mounu Island Resort-four units and a common bar/restaurant on a stunningly lovely small island. Shallow turquoise water and a white beach surround about six acres of garden and palms. There are a couple of moorings for yachties who wish to have a meal there. We did and it was delicious and beautifully presented. But I guess the tropics have a long history of palangi (foreigners) who've imported their lifestyle into an idyllic climate-side by side with the natives who begin to straddle both worlds. Last night we dined at La Paella, another strange juxtaposition. Five Spanish cruisers sailed in here over 15 years ago and stayed. They built a restaurant and a tradition of a complete Spanish meal followed by guitar music and flamenco dancing. Since there were just the two of us last night we didn't get the dancing, but had varied tapas, gazpacho, cheese croquettes, tortilla Espanol and paella, with a guitar serenade, under bullfight posters. Time to get the cook back into the galley! Full Story »

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