Tonga June 2007 experience

Remember me? I'm the one who was asking more experienced people on that forum about their Tonga view. And I got it. I also got a big help from amaile, who arranged Visas for my husband and me for what I'm very grateful. Let me say few words about our vacation there.

Nerima lodge: very comfortable, domestic ambiance with Japanese origin hostess - Naoko. She's such a helpful person. If Nuku'Alofa worths staying between transfers for few days, she's the right address to be informed of all important events there. Her enthusiasm about Tonga helps you discover many things, which you'd easily miss. I've to mention also the internet connection for free, air condition + warm water in the room, etc. Those are to be mentioned, cause it's not easy to have them elsewhere. Or not at all. We will return there.

Tony's tour: he's such a funny character. English by origin, staying there for 18 yrs, still annoyed by Tongan slow motion, delays, flight cancelations etc. But he's proud having Tongan passport. His tours are nice and he did 9 transfers for a very reasonable price. Honest and fair chap.

Matafonua lodge, Ha'apai islands - Foa island. Kiwi owners, Sally&Dave are doing the very best for having a full comfort in a fale, near the beach. Absolutely worth staying there. Nice atmosphere. Nearby Happy Ha'apai divers are taking you to experience diving or showing you some nice snorkeling reefs. Both above mentioned aren't very cheap, but worth the price. The Matafonua lodge is clean, nice evening atmosphere, Sally cheese cake (famous!), Dave respect and knowlidge for local cultures, Glenn (Happy H.divers) is very educational about see life, sharks, whales etc. He broke the ultimate fear for sharks so we were prepared to get face to face with them. They never appeared, of course. But if, we'd not be so affraid to be confronted with them. We will return there, that's for sure.

Eua island: Hideway resort. Basic accomodation with cold water, but comfortable rooms. Funny dinner, not bad. Nice atmosphere there as well and perfect guides. We'd like to thank our trekking guide of 2 days, Peter, who knows a lot about his island, the culture and is one of the finest representatives of Eua. We hope to see him again and we highly recommend him for a tour.

Hope I wasn't to long. The only bad experience was Lindsay's guesthouse at Ha'apai. I wrote to editors to put into the book so you can read it on our review of the book. Absolute horror show with burning tyres, nest of red, tiny ants under the blanket etc. Next day, a backpacker Miles, being on the road for 3 years, escaped from there as well. He allowed us to mention his name about that issue.

Tonga people are nice and their culture is rich and unique. The only annoying thing are their flight cancellations, but you should always plan at least one day between flights. Or you have very good chance not to go at all.

My husband and I are looking forward to go there as soon as possible. We still haven't seen the whales. But whales...are nothing but good excuse why we want to return to a little paradise, called Tonga. Many thanks to all, who made us feel comfortable there and put a big effort to host us. Naoko, Sally, Dave, Glenn, Peter... carry on with good work. See ya! Text

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<hr>Absolute horror show with burning tyres,<hr></blockquote>

The burning tyres outside were not so bad... It's when they burned them in the lounge one morning that made me scratch my head.

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<hr>Tony's tour: he's such a funny character<hr></blockquote>

He's weird.

Well, Islandboi - Tony's weird but in a good way. So many weirdos today elsewhere... Tony's a refreshment.

What the heck is it with Lindsay's guesthouse, burning tyres anyway? Ok. We got used to burnt trash, but tyres?

And Islandboi - I was reminded of your title " The land of the golden teeth" many times! It's a phenomenon indeed!

I remember your posts. Thanks so much for coming back and giving us your report. I'm going to save it for future reference.

Hi Euglena - that was a great report - I enjoyed reading it and not too long - I was disappointed when it ended!!! So nice to hear how your trip went - I'm glad you feel like you want to go back. I'd been wondering how you got on - so it's nice to know!!!

Hi, jay dee.

Thanks. I didn't want to bother people, so I choose a short review. I can write novels, but I chose to get loud when someone would have specific question on which I'll be able to help. Islandboi321 wrote already a nice report and since I cannot top his "Land of the golden teeth" - I gave up. To be honest - I have a severe post holiday depression. Both, my husband and I would love to return to Tonga. And we will for sure. I'm comforting myself with 1000 photos, sorting them left and right. Just to keep myself busy and pretend I still am at that part of the world. Reality is...I already am at work.

You go to Tonga at September, don't you?

Islandboi321 - I was desperately looking for part deux - Ha'apai experience, as you promised, but I'm not able to find it. Is it possible you never post it?

At risk of making an ecologically incorrect post I can't understand why Tongans don't dump solid waste out in the Tongan trench-it's 10 kilometers deep-the stuff is never going to wash up on the beaches or do serious harm to anyone/thing.

Vavau in particular has all kinds of old cars hanging about rotting in the bushes-tow them onto a barge, haul the barge out on top of the trench and use a front end loader to dump 'em.