Missed Opportunities
1. Tuvalu
Tuvalu, 4th smallest country in the world, was our first missed opportunity. We didn't stay long enough to get a really good feel for it, we didn't visit any islands or atolls other than Funafuti, where the capital is located, and we didn't even visit that properly. (Clem, who had scheduled arrival in Tonga for June 6 is suddenly in a rush to make it there by May 26 (for reasons unrelated to our trip) and this has him stressed and the rest of us discouraged.)
Tuvalu is at first glance similar to other pacific nations we've seen though it's joined the modern world very successfully making 10s of millions by selling it's .tv web addresses, it's extra phone numbers, and even Tuvalu passports. It has put at least part of this money into infastructure.
In the capital, Fongafale, the airstrip, built by the US during WW2 and covering almost all of the fertile land on the island, is a social hub. People go there in the evenings to play soccer, hang out, and eat huge platefulls of rice, curried chicken, and cerviche and whole families arrive at dusk and spread their sleeping mats right on the runway to spend the night taking advantage of the breeze.
In town, houses look (to me) like houses, by which I mean they have brick or plywood walls and standard roofs, but the interiors are still very traditional, by which I mean that the only furnature many contain are woven mats and pillows. Front yards are small, often dominated by large ornate burial plots, and there is no sign of garbage whatsoever. The pigs all live in a veritable city of stys on the far side of the airstrip.
Tuvalu, like Pitcarian Island, is known for its stamps. The post office has every stamp ever made laid out under glass topped tables, all still available for sale at face value.
A large section of Funafuti is a protected conservation area; uninhabited, restricted access, and no fishing. Guidebooks claim it is spectacular even for this part of the world so we pay $5/each to have a guide accompany us there on a day trip. We do a couple dives and visit one of the islets but, really, compared to what we've seen other places it's nothing to write home about. 'It was a must but also a bust', sums up our collective opinion. Though we did see manta rays up close. We've seen sting rays and eagle rays before but not mantas, and, according to Clem, the difference between a sting ray and a manta is like the difference between a donkey and a unicorn. So that was special.
The most interesting thing I did in Tuvalu was read Where the Hell is Tuvalu by Philip Ells, and then start up an e-mail correspondence with the author, now head of a law school in England, who wrote back prompt and comprehensive answers to my questions and added a list of suggested activities, which, unfortunately, we didn't have time for. So, yes, very much a missed opportunity.
2. Wallis and Fortuna
We were supposed to stop at Wallis and Fortuna. But we didn't. Another missed opportunity for sure. Did I mention that the captain is stressed and the rest of us discouraged.
3. Niua Fo'ou
We sail right past, as in just beside, Niua Fo'ou without stopping. Its hills, the first we've seen in months, and interior crater lake, beckon but I am powerless to do anything. We sail by. (Sob.)
Hopefully Vava'u, Tonga, which we will now have 2 weeks to visit, will NOT also be a missed opportunity.
