Nauru trip report June 2017

As there is not much information on Nauru here I decided to write a detailed trip report.
In the post before this one https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/australasia-pacific-pacific-islands-papua-new-guinea/nauru/visa-and-invitation-for-nauru I gave quite a detailed description how to get the visa so I’m not retelling that story here.
Nauru Airlines is connection the island to the world with three weekly flights to Brisbane (stopping on Sundays on the Solomon Islands). On Fridays Nauru Airlines has a flight from Fiji to Nauru and on to Tarawa, Majuro and Pohnpei. On Sunday that flight takes the reverse from Pohnpei via Nauru to Fiji. Try to get a window seat (not so easy with Nauru Airlines) as this, with luck, allows you to get a view of the whole country.
There are now four hotels on the island. The long-running Menen hotel that looks rather aged (haven’t seen the rooms though) and demands a price of 160 AUD. The newest hotel is called the Budapest Hotel and is the most expensive one at 220 AUD. I was told that the rooms are nice but from the outside it looks incredibly ugly and unwelcoming. It actually does not have a sign and looks more like accommodation purpose-build to house Australians busying themselves with the refugees Australia brought to Nauru. An ugly fence surrounds the whole property. I myself stayed at two hotels, I spend the first night at Ewa Lodge (which has been around for a few years) as they helped me getting the visa. It is also unmarked and on top of the Capelle & Partner supermarket in the northern district of Ewa. The rooms are really nice and stylish and at 150 AUD even a bit cheaper than at the Menen. There is a well-equipped kitchen that one could use and as one local told me it is the best location on the island as you can get everything in the supermarket. Visiting the government supermarket in Aiwo district the next day I know what she meant… Berlinda, the lady running Ewa Lodge, is very nice and responds quickly to emails. The Capelle & Partner supermarket also has a bakery, a restaurant, a digicell office and ten minutes down the road is another local (that means Chinese) restaurant. For my second and third night, out of financial considerations, I switched to the Od-N-Aiwo Hotel (100 AUD for a single room). Quite a change as this reminded me more to simple Christian guesthouses I know in Africa. The lady running it is very charming and on my second attempt even answered my email. ;-)It does no longer seem a problem that all the hotels are fully booked by Australians working in Nauru. All hotels I managed to contact had available space.
With my switch to the Od-N-Aiwo I had also hoped to be in a more happening part of town but, although this is Nauru at its most urban, it is still pretty quiet. The Od-N-Aiwo is still in the most interesting part as it is right next to the broken cantilever loaders, close to the still existing phosphate-processing plant, the functioning cantilever loaders, the post office, the (fairly useless) government supermarket, the bank and the post office. It is also right at the spot where the road to the Buada Lagoon and Topside meet the ring road. The Chinese restaurant in the hotel has great food.
What to do? Of course I took the obligatory walk (16km) around the island. There are a few nice areas with pinnacles, some in the ocean and some on land. The cantilever loaders make nice pictures, especially the broken down ones shortly before sunset. The Buada Lagoon is actually quite a nice spot. One annoying thing about Nauru is the lack of places to swim. You see the Ocean all the time but the coast is a single shallow reef covered in inhospitable pinnacles. People actually swim in the Community Boat Harbour close to the Menen Hotel, there is even a lifeguard there (no joke). Swimming in choppy waters surrounded by concrete walls is not my idea of the Pacific. A bit nicer is the boat channel at the western end of the runway but you have to get out if a boat comes.
Close to the cargo harbour (another place where I have seen people swimming) is a monument to the Nauruans forced to perform labour for the Japanese on Truk during World War II and between the runway and the sea you will find the Parliament and the President’s house. Generally Nauru is a good place if you like dilapidated buildings as you will find a lot of those. Especially in the former area housing the workers.
To get around the island road there are some newly introduced buses (50 cents), I’m speaking about the ones without windows because the others are buses for the refugees. The buses seem to run highly irregular though and the one time I wanted to use one it just didn’t stop despite me standing at the bus stop and waving my arm. I found Nauruans to be really kind though and when needed always found a lift.

On Nauru’s highest point, the Command Ridge, you can find old Japanese guns and a former prison nestled into the pinnacles. To get to the guns I took the road towards the Buada lagoon and took the small road to the left shortly after the junction of the dusty road leading to topside (the interior). On this road you go around a few big tanks and then reach a fenced area with shipping containers inside. You have to go around outside the fence and you come onto another road (you can of course also get onto this road if you take a left from the Island ring road after the stadium, ;-)). If you follow that road for about 20m a small path leads to the right into the fascinating world of the pinnacles overgrown with trees. If you follow that path it will eventually lead you to the radio towers on top of command ridge. (there is also a small road leading direct to the radio towers but I do not know where that starts (shouldn’t be too hard to find out) but I’m sure this would be only half the fun.) One of the Japanese guns is only like 30 meters behind the radio towers. Unfortunately there are plenty of pinnacles in between but with a bit of mountaineering fun (you should like scrambling around rocks) you will find your way. Having reached the first gun and bunkers you will see the second in the distance and it is actually possible to get there through the pinnacle forest. A few chairs are standing around along the way and they are apparently used by people hunting birds. Shortly before you reach that gun you will notice that there is a much easier way to get to that one, you just have to follow the right road!
To get to that road from Aiwo you take the one leading to the Buada Lagoon and as the road starts to descent there is a small road to the left with a black and yellow barrier blocking vehicles (possibly manned). Right after the barrier a road branches to the left and that one will bring you right below the gun I described before. To get to the prison you have to look to the left (while still on the main road to Buada Lagoon) between the trees right before you get to the black and yellow barrier. You will see a door nestled between the pinnacles. Around the prison is maybe also the nicest area with trees growing between and on top of the pinnacles. Thanks by the way to fellow ThornTreer https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/profiles/bkester whose descriptions (on his website) made me aware of the prison.
I would also recommend a visit to topside, the interior of Nauru. This is where the phosphate was mined. Things to see include more pinnacles, a very dusty road (on which every fifth car stopped to ask if I wanted a ride), some phosphate mining activity and refugee camps. I walked all the way to the end and took a picture (with a big camera) of the entrance of one of the camps which an Australian guard did not like. Walking around topside you will realize how it was possible on Nauru to completely hide the refugee camps from public view as just no one else is living up there.
Well, what to say about the refugee issue. Things have obviously improved and the refugees can now leave the camps and plenty of refugees actually work in the community. Plenty of them live all around Nauru. I found it interesting to hear their stories but always found it difficult to tell them that I was going to leave in a few days when I knew that this was what they wanted so badly. It is a small island and they have been here for years without a real perspective. An armada of Australians is actually working with the refugees but I do not have much of a clue what they actually do. It seems that the Australian government is paying people to help the refugees deal with the fallout from absolute lack of opportunities that is caused by the Australian government’s policy.
There are a few ATMs around the island, for example at the Menen Hotel, the Cappele & Partner supermarket and of course at the bank office in Aiwo. SIM-cards are 10,50 AUD (they open a counter at the airport when flights arrive) and an additional 10,50 buys you 500MB of data.
Ah and if you meet someone responsible for Nauru Airlines ask them why they have so many airplanes. At their base hangar (which is actually Brisbane) I spotted four Naura Airlines planes on a Saturday. Another plane is spending its Saturdays in Pohnpei (as staff told me) so they must own at least five planes for a flight schedule that can be handled with two. I understand having a spar plane but not three. Maybe I’m missing some information like additional flights taken with Nauru Airlines planes under another airlines banner etc., but the suspicion is that someone is again wasting Nauruans’ money.

Happy travelling!

Very interesting and useful....Thankyou. I bet the other planes were bought years ago when the govt. was super flush with money and now cannot handle the expense of running them.

Nauru airlines flys on behalf of Norfolk Island Airlines, to Norfolk Island from Brisbane. Which explains the additional planes in Brisbane. They also do charters with the whole refugee thing.

Thanks for that info. I'm always happy to learn. ;-)

Cheers,interesting report.One day maybe I will get there.....

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.