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sy-maya · 7 years ago

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Tongatapu & Pangaimotu.

Since we arrived in Tonga, nobody told us anything good about Tongatapu. Reason enough for us to go. As so often when people told us bad things about a place they have never been to, it turned out to be a hidden jewel and a must-see. Tongatapu is the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga. This means that the king (Tupou VI) lives here in his palace. Not as big as Buckingham, but a nice two-floor building. The capital Nuku’Alofa has a big market, some Chinese stores and a couple of cozy cafés, and very important: a nice playground ;-)

The harbor offers fresh fish and again a fresh produce market. By the way, the market here offers more than we ever expected. After a long time in the islands with not much more than coconuts, we feel like in Schlaraffenland. Honey-sweet, fresh pineapples, watermelons (Asma’s fetish fruit), vegetables of all sorts, fresh Cilantro, and much more. The prices are ok and even cheap compared to French Polynesia. However, still island prices.

We are anchored one mile away from the capital, at the “Big Mama’s Yacht Club” in the tiny island called Pangaimotu. We are here already for 2 weeks. When we arrived, there were about 15 more boats. They all left towards New Zealand, but too early. They are all “stuck” since already more than a week in Minerva. A reef 250 nautical miles south-west of Tonga. We couldn’t understand why they left Tonga. The weather was and is not favorable for crossing to New Zealand. Big Mama told us that “…all sailors make the same mistake. They all go too early and then get stuck for weeks in Minerva. They never learn.” How right she is. New Zealand is still cold and rainy. Here it’s warm and sunny. So why all that stress?

By the way, Big Mama is a Tongan lady running the place with her husband and two sons, with much energy and drive. A ferry is organized to bring us back and forth to town (very handy especially for those who have a small dinghy and engine like us ;-)). At the Yacht Club, there’s a restaurant, a volley-ball field. Almost every day, there’s a nice game between sailors and staff. Paradise for Asma :-)

Yesterday, there was a very important rugby game: Tonga against New Zealand. we watched the game with the Big Mama’s staff and the few sailors who are here. Quite funny. When they won, Big Mama offered us all free drinks and a yummy Tongan lamb stew (sopu sipi) instead of the usual burgers and fish’n’chips. Malo au pito! (Thanks!)

The main island has a lot to offer given its relatively small size. We made an island tour by taxi and enjoyed the different tourist attractions. We will not bore you with detailed descriptions here, but two places are to be emphasized. Firstly, the south coast is very rough. The cliffs are porous and have what is called *blow holes*, Mapu ‘a Vaea. When a wave arrives, the water gets pressed through those holes and fired about twenty meters up in the air with a loud blow; Impressive. Secondly, there is a very beautiful cave, ‘Anahulu, which features stalactites (the ice-pick-shaped calc stones hanging from the ceiling of the caves), stalagmites (same as stalactites but growing form the floor upwards), thousands of bats, and a deep fresh-water pool. The latter was the attraction of the kids. It started when our young Tongan guide Thomas started showing us his jumps in the pool from the high cliffs. Adam wanted to do the same (from a lower level of course) and Samy followed his big brother. They had a blast.

So, that was it for Tongatapu. We are ready to leave with the next weather window. Until then we are enjoying our last swims, dives, BBQs on the beach, etc. Stay tuned…

-Asma&Herbert

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#sailingonmaya #sailingwithkids #tonga #tongatapu #pangaimotu #bigmama

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