Abaiang (Kiribati) ‘Land-in-the-Wind'

We have about a month to spend in Kiribati, our first trip out of Tarawa is to the next atoll group of Abaiang, 30 miles by sea. A beautiful day’s sailing. Smooth seas for a change. Enough wind and good light to get us in through the pass, so shallow we could clearly see the bottom. Anchored off the village with the only radio tower on the island (flashes green at night) and a full moon rising, we look out on a VERY few lights, around to small twinkles from 14 or so villages around the shore, we are happily anticipating tomorrow’s trip ashore, especially as we can give away more stuff.

What a full day! First a courtesy check in with the Police, the two Special Constables argued over who would take down our details then graciously received a shirt each and were heard to exclaim ‘Holy Sh*t’ as we left the Station. About 5,000 I-Kiribati folk live here and we’d been told that the only permanent I-Matang resident lives 30 minutes’ walk away…….or maybe one hour.

2+ hours later we were still walking along the sandy track under the palms and breadfruit trees; even by mid-morning people were retreating to the shade, piglets and I-Matang being slow to learn the sense of getting up EARLY. The change in the way of living from nearby Tarawa was a surprise: here all the houses are made from natural materials, each consisting of a series of thatched and raised platforms, some open-sided, some with woven screens; we were aware that more eyes were observing us than revealed themselves. It is obviously easy to add on another room, by the same token many were on their last legs. Most houses were fronted by deep stone-lined babai pits, Cyrtosperma chamissionis is of the same family but considered tastier than ‘dry’ taro (Colocasia esculenta). Cultivated in groves fine crops of these great elephant-eared plants, lodged in their woven surrounds and thriving on lens water, add a lush touch.

On we plodded, through the tiny villages set back from the lagoon shore, each with its own school; meeting people and having fun but getting very, VERY hot. We visited a tiny kindergarten, most of the children paying attention but a few participating by lying on the counter of a nearby minute ‘sitoa ‘’ (store), one of the ‘yes, we have no drinks variety’. Not at all shy at our surprise visit, the kids swapped songs for combs and hair elastics and we wandered on.

Deciding we’d have to raid a coconut palm, someone called ‘Come’ and we went to join a group of guys lolling in the shade, drinking…… something home made. Mmmm, not quite what we had in mind but they quickly produced a couple of moimoto (green drinking coconuts). Conversation was a little difficult but with good intention on both sides we exchanged basic information and won hearts with pre-loved t.shirts and caps, these very basic blokes were models of (slightly drunken) politeness in the number of times we were thanked and told ‘This cost $20 in Tarawa’.

It was a pleasure to meet John the Boat Builder, to see the sturdy vessels he builds lagoon-side and to see how well he and his workers get along together. Always pleased to get visitors he cheerfully told us ‘Bless you, but I’ll forget your names the moment you leave’, we’ve invited him aboard for dinner and I’ll make sure he doesn’t forget the meal! He showed us the way to flag down one of the very few passing trucks, just make motions like a dog swatting away flies! It was a great relief to get a lift back to our dinghy parking spot, sitting atop a load of cement bags chatting to the guys from Butaritari (‘The-Smell-of-the-Sea’) Atoll, they’ll be here for 3 or 4 years building a new church, working for food, no pay.

By now we needed to rest on board but – of course – the tide was way out and the dinghy stranded so we tried to find ways to keep cool, and wandered over to the Women’s Centre, one of the few buildings of western-style construction and sat in the shade, drinking tea and listening to the island Council’s yearly Budget Meeting. Luckily it wasn’t in English!! The tide crept slowly over the sand flats, the Skipper pulled and rowed the dinghy across the shallows, passing locals out on the edge of the reef catching fish by a variety of methods. I spent the rest of the afternoon dipping in and out of the lagoon with smiles of anticipation for the chilled moimoto which will be my evening Sundowner. Blessed with cool breezes at night, Abaiang slips back into almost total darkness. Mellow describes the way of life here.

Thanks for this report.

Angela - just wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying your reports.