Kiribati - a Few Updates

With the Micronesian countries no longer covered by LP and Kiribati in particular rather rarely posted about on TT, I thought the following might interest some:

Getting there

Three airlines fly to the country nowadays:

Air Pacific from Fiji to Tarawa and both Fiji and Hawaii to Christmas Island
Our Airline from Nauru and Fiji to Tarawa
Air Marshall Islands from the Majuro to Tarawa

Getting Around

Air Kiribati and Coral Sun should serve all atolls in the Gilbert group, but in practice both CS planes and one of the 2 AK ones are grounded right now. The remaining AK aircraft seems to stick to published schedules pretty well nowadays. Fares are in the $30-150 range OW, plus a $20 tax.
Cargo boats are still a very realistic option in Kiribati, with deck fares roughly 50% of the airfares. Most offer cabins, too.

Information

The KNTO is now staffed by very enthusiastic and knowledgeable young guys, one of whom goes to meet incoming international flights at the airport, giving them a free "Tarawa and Outer Islands" guide and a schedule of upcoming events even before they reach immigration.
Their website is great, and they seem to try and keep it updated.

Accommodation & Food

Tarawa has maybe 9 decent places to stay, mostly in the AU$50-70 range for an AC room.
Cheapest of them is the Temaeu Motel (close to Laggon Breeze) charging $50 for an AC room in a concrete block. The cheapest place listed in the old LP guide, Sweet Coconut, is now kind of permanently occupied by Cuban doctors serving in Tarawa.
None of these decent places are really geared at holidaymakers so they tend to concentrate on providing basic comforts rather than atmosphere, views, etc.
For budget travelers who are not too picky, a cheaper option is the Seamen's Hostel in Betio - it is every bit as sleazy as the name should suggest and very run-down, but costs only $25 and is close to the port. Generous supply of complimentary condoms in the rooms! ;-) Single women should go elsewhere.
Lots of basic places to eat around town, and cheap rice and fish meals can be as cheap as $1.5 from takeaways.

In the outer islands, council-run guest houses still seem to charge a standard price of $30 for accommodation and food. Again, they are not built for romantic holidays, but will offer the basics. Food varies from dismal (sardine sandwiches) to great (tuna steaks with lots of fresh pumpkin, taro etc).

My Impressions:

This is perhaps as close as one gets to "Old Oceania" outside Melanesia, with almost everyone in the outer islands still living in traditional, open-sided wooden homes with leaf roofs, readily smiling at foreigners. Theft just doesn't seem to be an issue, at least outside the city, and in general, no one is after your money. Compared to other "English-speaking" areas in the region, little English is spoken, even in Tarawa!
On the other hand, this also means that there is "little to do" and no really "nice places to stay". The "city" of South Tarawa is friendly but scruffy/dusty, with no landscaping, shopping and eating options geared at visitors.
KNTO has now adopted the slogan "For Travelers, Not Tourists", and while this is a strange slogan for a tourism organization, it is probably spot on. Those looking for a pleasant, comfortable holiday as can be had in more touristy Fiji, Tahiti, Samoa etc. are likely to get bored and frustrated very quickly, while those interested in an untouristed, traditional environment and are ready to "rough it" and to pay more than they would in Fiji, Tonga etc should still find Kiribati a unique destination.

Thank you for this fantastic post, Laszlo, I'm hoping to head to Kiribati in 2012.

My goodness, Lazslo, you get around... Kiribati, my.

I hope you will write a detailed trip report when you return... Happy travels.

Sorry Greg, I'm just not that trip-report-writing type!

But I have uploaded a few photos on a forum in my native tongue here:
http://forum.index.hu/Article/showArticle?t=9156867&la=104864238

Scroll down to post 1171 for pix of the capital, South Tarawa, and 1172-74 for outer island ones. Click photos to enlarge.
Only a few, but they do give a realistic impression of the country, I think.
Those "fales" are real ones, that's how they still live on the outer islands.
I guess Samoan villages would have been similar maybe 30-50(?) years ago...
Those huge, traditional village halls (1174) are unique to Kiribati though, I believe. Village social life still revolves around them, rather than around the churches! And life does not come to a halt on Sundays, unlike... ;-)

Hi,

thank you for your post.

Edited by: viajar

I too found this an immensely helpful post.
I'm adding to the "getting there" part of this post with some recent (March 2012) details, having just bought a ticket for a work trip.

Air Marshall Islands does scheduled flights every 2 weeks Majuro to Tarawa CW117 returning the same day. The next scheduled flight is Monday 19th of March at 5am, and return departs Tarawa at 10am, and then April 2nd 2012 etc..

Current price is USD$330 if ticket bought in Marshall Islands.
They cannot issue a one way ticket unless you can provide proof of an onward ticket or Kiribati/RMI residence/work permit.

The email address Air Marshall Islands gave me on the phone is amisales@nta.net, but I also had found amisales@ntamar.net which to me seems more correct based on other Marshall Islands emails, but I received no reply from either yet.

The phone number I reached them on is +692 625-3733. Lily was very helpful, so would suggest just calling them.

Our Airline (former Air Nauru) just restarted (March 5th 2012) weekly flights to Tarawa from Nadi. Not sure how long it will last. It is good in that Air Pacific has now reduced fares a bit, when in the absence of competition it went up to almost $1600 one way.

If I have any issues with the travel I'll do another post when I get back

$1600 one way! No wonder nobody was making it to Kiribati. That is insane!

So, are you going this year, tilos?

Sadly no, I have a sick relative in India and need to use money & spouse's vacation days to head there. With luck, I'll go up for tenure early in 2013, and then could have a celebratory trip in 2014. Further off than I had hoped :(.

Is there any idea to go to kiribati in november-december? Has anyone used the ferry from fiji to get there and how long does it take?

It takes 3 days each way, costs almost as much as flying (hundreds of dollars each way) and only goes ca 4 times a year. Not a really practical option.

Wow, I look back at my 2010 and 2012 self and realize that I've changed. Now when I read your post about Kiribati, I think, why did I want to go there? I'm going to celebrate tenure in May in the Cook Islands (because my frequent flier miles could get me there) and will save up for trips to the Solomons and Vanuatu. I will live vicariously through others for Kiribati.

And why wouldn't you?
It is a unique place, though of course larger and more diverse countries like Vanuatu and the Solomons have more to offer in terms of sights and activities.

I am still very happy to have been able to visit both Kiribati and Tuvalu.

Perhaps Fiji will bring back the Bula pass one day, so I won't have to choose :D. Too many places to visit! I've barely scratched the surface of the U.S., but I figure that I can save that for old age. Now is the time for 30-hour transit time.

I have always thought the Bula Pass was too good to be true, and thus had to be grabbed while it was around!
I doubt it will ever be offered again.

I have just come back from 2 weeks in Kiribati,

As with everywhere that I have read about Kiribati I can say DO NOT stay in Tarawa it's only worth staying there to see the WW2 relics, withdrawing some cash & waiting for a boat or plane to the outer islands... the outer islands are Kiribati, although I was still I was greeted with Kiribati hospitality on South Tarawa finding a ride to & from the airport 3 times because they actually wanted the chance to meet & offer an I-Matang (White Person) a ride

I visited the Tourism Info centre in Betio after receiving a free ride from the airport to Betio & told them I wanted to catch the ferry to Abaiang but there is no schedule, they told me to just go to Betio wharf & ask to which I eventually found out they were the next day (it's how the locals do it) Betio - Abaiang is $15 & 3-5 or 6hrs it's Kiribati & you need to adapt to no sense of time, it with make it less stressful, I heard they leave Betio, S.Tarawa Mon, Wed & Fri & leave Abaiang Tue, Thur & Sun but it's Kiribati so just ask locals

I realised that I would in this case have to spend my 1st night in Tarawa & I am a really cheap traveller, I've been backpacking for close to 5yrs so I have learnt to be very cheap & refuse to pay $50-$100AUD per night with no food but having read on here about "Seaman's Hostel" for $25 I told the tourist info centre & they said "No we really don't recommend it for foreigners just single Kiribati men" but I persisted & they came with me to see the room which they quoted $20 I haggled for $15 but she said she couldn't make that decision, I ended up staying, I would really not recommend it unless you are as cheap as me & there aren't many...

In the morning I was greeted by the same woman standing outside my door, she looked in my room, looked at me "Alone?" she looked in my room, looked at me "No Girlfriend?" "No Wife?" "Single?" then looked at me again... "Can I kiss you???"... to which I responded "Err... No..." to which she seemed quite disappointed then when I went to leave I gave her $15AUD & another woman said it's $30 so I responded "You said $20 yesterday & I have no money" & she just said ok, bye (it is barely worth $15)

To catch the ferry to Abaiang involves turning up at the wharf on the day & just looking for the person that has many people crowded around them paying them money & just say "Abaiang?" there was 3 boats that day all $15, the slowest I was told is 5-6hrs then 4-5hrs then 2-3hrs (2hrs is the $600 speedboat time so it's really not possible for the ferry to be close to 3hrs) all the boats left & my boat "the fastest" stayed & a passenger told me that they had to go & buy a spare for the engine, maybe this is why the journey took 5.5hrs because a local said it should be faster than this, they will drop you at your destination in Abaiang by running a little "tinny boat" to shore, it's shallow but they overload this small boat & it feels like the slightest turn could sink it, just some advice in case it might scare you

I stayed at St Joseph's College, Tabwiroa, Abaiang on the advice of the tourism info in Betio & landing on the beach it's just a short walk across the road & onto the campus. SJC is a Catholic Secondary boarding school with a Guest House so I found the Principal & Head Sister to ask about staying & was told yes but I would have to join there Graduation Celebration (you would be really stupid to say no), my 1st night was awards presentation so there was traditional dancing, singing, feasting & at these you will receive "Te Mwae" a head piece made of fresh flowers, they seemed very happy to have an I-Matang (White Person) to join their distinguished government & catholic guests so along with other guests I was called upon to present certificates which also seemed like a treat for the students (don't underestimate how happy many Kiribati people are to meet, talk with or touch an I-Matang... really)
The next day was a full day starting with graduation mass, singing, dancing then a big lunch for the official "I-Matang" guests from the Australian & NZ High Commission along with 2 senior education people from Tarawa followed by more dancing, singing, awards, "Te Mwae" & me become an attraction by having many of the female teachers dancing with me around the Maneeba then more food to which point I couldn't move too much...

I was lucky by arriving when I did because 2 days after was also world teachers day which was more celebrations, dancing, feasting, "Te Mwae" & a sports program made by the children for the teachers which of course involved me (by 10am, Kiribati is hot so strenuous exercise after a big breakfast isn't so smart) after the sports they had a dancing competition which somehow I won (I think this was more because of being an I-Matang than my useless dance moves)

The next day after walking through Taburao village I was invited into a primary school class & invited to another celebration feast at Waakam in the north for the Form 3 students that start their JSC Exams the next day but only if I could give a motivational speech, I have never given a speech in my life so it was short & sweet but went down well which was followed again by more singing, dancing, feasting & another "Te Mwae" but here more children approached me & tried to ask the same questions that I-Kiribati ask "Name, Age, Country, Wife? How Many Siblings & Parents Names" the "No Wife" response is usually met with giggles from teenage girls & occasionally as I am walking away "I/We Love You!!!"

There is a flight from Abaiang to Marakei on Fridays
http://airkiribati.net/schedule.htm
Has a schedule but it can change the only thing you can do is walk to the terminal which is a small concrete building with no signs & usually open only on flight days or ask a local for the Air Kiribati clerk & go to there home & "put your name down" & wait until the day before your flight when they radio Tarawa for the schedule because it can change, the website shows an afternoon flight but I flew at 11.30am, Abaiang to Marakei is $25 +$2.50 Departure Tax (Paid to another person) they have a 15kg luggage limit & as my bags came up to 21kg they said the freight would be $33 but I couldn't afford this & because I had made friends with him, he decided to share my weight across other passengers allowance (Leaving Marakei I packed everything heavy into my hand luggage & my checked bag was 17kg but she wrote 15kg on the tag)

Marakei to Tarawa airfare is $34 +$5 Departure Tax

In Marakei I was walking to the Council Guest House & a nun asked me where I was going & offered me to stay at the Catholic Guest House along with giving me a free ride there on the motorbike (All the locals call it the hotel, it's a nice guest house not a hotel...), I saw the Council Guest House & spoke to a foreigner in Tarawa who had stayed there & the Catholic seems a lot nicer

Marakei has no Senior Secondary School so after 13yrs the children study mainly in Abaiang or Tarawa so the age of the children is young & there is a lot of children, even after 5 days in the same village the same children would still point & say "I-Matang, I-Matang, I-Matang" it's hard to take natural pictures of the kids because as soon as they see the camera they start to pose with gangster signs also if you plan publish pictures online it is difficult to get some shots without realising there are naked children in the shot because on Marakei more than Abaiang or S.Tarawa the young kids are always fully naked or just have a small t-shirt on, but if you walk around any school, kindergarten, primary or secondary they are always fully clothed & you will be invited in by kids or teachers & half the time become the lesson "Meet the I-Matang" after visiting the primary & telling the children "My I-Matang name is Alasdair & my I-Kiribati name is Aretita" the children around the village would shout "Aretita... Mauri!!!" then giggle

If you you just walk around the villages in Kiribati on the outer islands you will find yourself invited into "KiaKia" (Small traditional homes) or "Maneeba" (Large traditional meeting hall) many times & always offered "Moimoto" (Young coconut for drinking but they will only ever call it Moimoto but you will learn this very fast) even at night they climbed the tree for me, this is usually accompanied with toddy (Kiribati Coconut sap drink) which is good because the GH's don't make toddy & every single time I was offered food, I don't eat cooked fish but love raw fish so I had a lot this with rice, sometimes fresh crab, sun dried octopus, 1 family in Abaiang invited me to come back & they would catch me "Te Waro" (Mantis Shrimp) & make me a feast but I was ill the next & couldn't make it, so the next when I went to apologise they seemed very sad that I couldn't come the day before because they waited all day then finally ate in the evening but they still wanted to try "Te Waro" so went out again to catch me one & apologised that they could only catch 1 because the day before they had caught 4.

I have travelled a lot but Kiribati is my favourite country, because the people by western standards are really poor... they just catch fish to eat, grow vegetables & sell coconuts for copra (about 20c each) & live in houses made from Pandanus tree trunks & leaves but they don't really need money except for their children's Secondary School education which they just sell more coconuts to fund but these people are always happy.
There was days on Marakei & Abaiang that I was the only white person so you would constantly hear "Te I-Matang" & maybe some giggles, I was offered my choice of any woman in the village to be my wife, only the best because one of the elders said it was ok.
With the language barrier I found myself learning at least 1 if not many I-Kiribati words everyday...

Some useful words
Mauri - Hello
Ko Araba - Thank You
Tiabo (Saa-bo) - Bye
Moimoto - Young Coconut
Kangkang - Delicious
Tiki Raoi (Seek-ee Roy) - Good

If you can say these then they will be received with a smile

About the International flights, Air Pacific (now Fiji Airways) is the only operator running the Tarawa - Nadi route because they wanted the route & revoked Our Airlines Nadi landing rights which as an expat official in Tarawa described as bullying which is true, I found my fare in February for October at $900FJD return but I was told by a representative on Ministry of Education that when they try to send their scholarship students to USP in Suva, Fiji they are paying $2000FJD return even when booking 6 months before, this might be Fiji Airways purposely over charging them because I saw the fare in Nadi the day before I left for just $900FJD return

And Tarawa has NO foreign exchange, ATM or duty free so try to have at least $2AUD for the bus & use an ATM in town (many people have been to Australia & I'm sure many will have left over coins so ask you friends at home before going)

The Guest House's I stayed at are $30AUD including 3 meals which vary but they have a limited variety of ingredients especially meats/carbs so expect tinned meat, fish, crab, instant noodles & rice but they always make it nice & always way too much to eat & if you eat with a family the food will still be waiting for you & you feel bad so will end up eating there food as well (some days I would eat about 5 meals)
The GH in Marakei is $10AUD without food but how are you going to cook, I know that I could of just walked around & not needed their food with the amount of meals offered to me & usually I would opt out of paying for meals but I actually want these places to make money & benefit from me staying there because the Marakei Catholic GH told me the last I-Matang guest they had was 3 months before me & just the occasional Kiribati guest

The tourism info guys don't meet international flights any more but go to their office to pick up their free Kiribati guide
"Kiribati... for real travellers"

I took many photos & videos & in about a month I will start to upload them to Facebook so will post a link on here for anybody wishing to view pictures from my experience

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Travelling away from tours is always going to be a different experience for everyone so I don't expect anyone to see or do the same as me but at the same time I can't imagine anyone have a bad experience in Kiribati unless you just stay in Tarawa but as with anywhere in the Pacific you would be stupid to spend all you time around the capital"

I think that's most of it....

Edited by: toir1987

Wow, awesome trip report! I will once again reconsider my traveling priorities.

While I am happy to read new reports on Kiribati, I also find it very disturbing when Westerners boast about how they've managed to rip off locals much poorer than themselves.
Not paying the quoted $20 rate AFTER staying at Tarawa's by far cheapest accommodation using the very obvious lie of not having enough money in a country where the locals themselves have not yet learned to overcharge foreigners is hardly something to be proud of. If anything, it will lead to foregners being refused stay there in the future - and the next cheapest options cost $50!

Incidentally 900 FJD for a RT ticket from Nadi to Tarawa is a pretty good price considering the distance, I think.
It is a much longer flight than those to Tonga, Samoa or Vanuatu, for example.

Laszlo... I agree

What's puzzles me is how toir1987 can spend as much time he does among really nice people and then brag about ripping them off.

Edited by: MrJacoSanchez

Edited by: MrJacoSanchez

How is it boasting about ripping off locals?

The tourism info centre didn't even want me to stay there for $10, they came with me to have a look & thought I was crazy... please go & stay in Seaman's Hostel & tell me if it's worth $30 or even $20 per night & as they told me at the tourism info centre foreigners DON'T stay at Seaman's, it's just for single I-Kiribati men who are clearly not spending that much on a bed for the night

I can only assume the woman that told me $30 was the manager & I had asked the previous day for the rate of $15 I was just told by the woman at the time that she couldn't say yes or no because she's not the manager... I'm sure that you can probably afford to stay somewhere for $50 per night but I can't... I would of been happy to just sleep at the port & wait for my boat if it hadn't been raining & there was any shelter as I have done many times before at airports, train stations throughout many countries along with Port of Manila & in the open on top of a Chinese mountain to save money

How can you say "a country where the locals themselves have not yet learned to overcharge foreigners" the woman in the morning decided that I should pay $30. I was also told by my sister in Marakei that if I went to Betio that a t-shirt would cost $20 but the I-Matang price would be $30, I didn't go & see if this was true & after all the nice people I met around Kiribati I found it hard to believe but this was a local telling me this

$900FJD is a good price but it doesn't explain why the locals can't get this price when they try to book it the same time that I booked as the government could do with these savings sending their scholarship students to Kiribati

It's easy to judge cheap travellers when you have the money to do so but I need to travel cheap & was just providing information on my experiences in Kiribati & I highly doubt that any other foreigners would contemplate staying at Seaman's Hostel you have obviously seen it, even most backpackers I meet are fussy about where they sleep & the KNTO had actually got the price of another place down from $45 to $40 (I can't remember maybe Mary's) because they REALLY didn't want me to stay there

A lot of countries around the world charge foreigners more than they do locals. Just deal with it, locals should come first IMO.

I am also a budget traveler but don't think that entitles me to ripping off locals.
I stayed at the Seamens Hostel too, and posted its rate as $25 in the OP above. And it was actually the guy at KNTO who took me there.
You had obviously read it, and were told that it cost more than $15 when going there, yet you refused to pay the owner's/manager's quoted price and paid what YOU liked when checking out.
Even at $20-30, it is far cheaper than anything else in Tarawa, and if you felt it was not worth the asking price, you were free to go elsewhere.
Not paying the quoted rate AFTER taking a service is called ripping off people, and the ridiculous excuse of not having the extra $10 or so is just pathetic from someone who had the not small amount of money to fly to Kiribati in the first place.
Dishonest cheapskates like you just give a bad name to budget travelers in general and spoil places to those coming after them.

Please explain how being told that the rate has gone up to $30 after staying there is any different...

This belief that "because I am a foreigner means I should pay more" is what has encouraged me hearing local people in China refer to white foreigners as "qian ren" (Money Person), I had a taxi driver in Samoa also say to me that if I had managed to afford the flight to go there then what would it matter if I paid a few Tala more than the bus to take his taxi & "locals should come first" so this applies the world over? A local I-Kiribati man told me that when he visited London Heathrow he was at the wrong terminal & a taxi driver offered to take him to the right terminal but then charged him £50 for the 10min journey so the local taxi driver was right for ripping him off because he could afford the flight there so obviously he could afford the taxi price

Do you not think that after all this time travelling I haven't been called a cheapskate, stingy, blah blah... I am cheap it's not a bad thing but it is the first time someone has called me a thief which I don't agree with, not paying more than something is worth is not stealing

Obviously you're going to continue thinking that I am everything wrong with the world of budget travel so if you want to come & reiterate the fact to me some more then I am about to cycle around NZ not because I am fit or healthy but as you said because I am cheap & I can save money

I only posted something on here because I found it hard to find any really information on Kiribati & wanted to share my experience in an amazing country but as you seem to just want to sit up on your pedestal & believe that I am the scum of the world then as it's your original post then I can remove all my posts & I will just go back to using word of mouth on my travels to express my experiences with travellers as I have been doing for the last 5yrs

I am following this discussion and I can only strongly support Laszlo's view. They gave you a quote and you accepted by staying there. That's what people call a deal. Not honoring it they call it cheating. Or worse. Not "budget travel".

What they quote you is up to them. Yes, it is. What anyone else tells you or what you read somewhere how much it costs doesn't matter either. And if they quote someone else less or more for whatever reason it is up to them.

It's not fair to be charged more than a local? In fact it can be very fair in some cases. Like this one. And if you don't like it go somewhere else where they quote you less. But don't cheat and call it budget travel.

Incidentally, in my 1992 Micronesia guidebook by David Stanley this place is described with a room rate of $20. So in the at least 22 years that have passed since researching that book, its rate has gone up by a mere $5 or so.
And this moaner actually paid less for a room than what it used to cost 22 years ago.

Yes, it is old and run-down.
That is exactly why it costs half of the next cheapest places.
If you don't like it, don't stay there, as simple as that.

But it still offers an aircon room with a private bath in a super-central location.
I was very happy to be able to stay there, and it is very sad if thanks to such a dishonest person cheating them they will in the future outrightly refuse to take other, probably more honest budget travelers, too. In such lightly-touristed places as Kiribati, the impact of every single tourist may well be remembered for long.

Aircon? As there is only one Seaman's we obviously stayed in the same place but there is no Aircon in the whole building, no working taps, maggots eating some left over food next to the bed, a toilet that leaked out of the bottom all over the floor & a shower that stinks of sulphur because in Betio the ground water is tainted & which is why residents in Betio are the only people in S.Tarawa that have to pay for their water which obviously Seaman's are not paying

This has gone from me apparently bragging/boasting about ripping off locals to you calling me a cheapskate & ruining the world for future travellers, I have haggled the world over & yes it has always been before never afterwards that I have haggled but she told me that I would have to wait to speak to the manager to get a rate of $15 & I did, they also knew that I was going to catch the ferry to Abaiang so that even if I didn't have any more money on me that I could go & get some more but I really did run out of money when I returned to Tarawa & was lucky enough that a local I had met in Abaiang told me that instead of sleeping outside the airport as I had contemplated that I could stay with him

As for ruining places for other travellers that will visit after me, why am I constantly being told to come back & stay at these places if I visit again not just in Kiribati but almost every country that I have visited