Solomon Islands Sojourn

Solomon Islands Sojourn

Honiara is the capital of The Solomon Islands. The country counts 6 larger and at about 900 smaller islands. Honiara International Airport is where we arrive right after our trip to Papua New Guinea. A guide was to meet us here to take us to domestic flights but as we hear days later (when we meet Floyd in Honiara) he was so busy that day he forgot. So we take a taxi. The domestic flight hall is more like a cosy shop. You can drink a little, eat a little, buy some souvenirs and behind a small desk now and then you can check in.

In a small plane we fly to Munda. Here we are picked up by Norman. With a boat we reach one of the many islands. Our resort is called ‘Zipolo Habu’. We enter a nice home with a view. This place will be our home for some days. It’s neat and clean. But the house and the main building were built long ago and maintenance has been neglected for some time. It looks a little like going back in time. A lot of magazines in the ‘library’ are from the fifties and sixties of the last century.

During dinner (Lobster!) we meet the owner. A nice man of a certain age. Married (?) to a local woman. The way he looks and acts makes clear he is the most important client of his own bar. Every time we see him he is sipping from a well filled glass.

We take a WW2 Tour. You can do that anywhere in the Solomon Islands by the way. First we see a Sherman Tank. Still looking impressive after more than 70 years. Then we are headed to a Japanese field hospital. We image to see a wooden structure of some kind. After a long walk through the jungle our guide proudly point to the hospital. It turns out to be a cave! We are invited to go in but it is too muddy and slippery. While making a picture we spot a big snake in the hospital. Walking back we are warned for possible coconuts falling down. In the water close by there is a sunken Japanese boat. So nice snorkeling here.

Next day a boat trip to Manta Ray Island. On our way we spot a lot of water birds but also flying fishes. What we do near the island is mainly what we do all day : swimming and snorkeling.

Simple but very nice is the Sanbis resort. We are met by a man we think works here but it turns out to be a guest as well. He is Peter, a stock broker from Australia. Later he tells me about advising clients about buying/selling stock shares ‘You do a lot of talking, pretend to know and hope to be lucky.’

We sleep in a small cottage next to the water. A mosquito net covers our bed.

Close to the resort is Kennedy Island, named after President Kennedy. During WW2 Kennedy was commander of a boat named PT-109. After their boat was rammed and wrecked by a Japanese destroyer Lieutenant Kennedy and his crew swam to this island and stayed there till they were picked up by another American boat. In doing so Kennedy saved the life of a wounded crew member which made him a War Hero.

While visiting the Island we see a big commemoration sign and some leftovers from the war. Probably brought here much later. Not much to see or do here.

A couple takes care of the island. We meet the lady care taker. She calls ‘Kennedy, Kennedy’. Then a parrot, probably tame arrives. He comes very close and is fed some bread with water.

That night my wife wakes me. ‘Everything is shaking’, she yells. Then it’s over, we go to sleep. This small earthquake, we later learn was a 6.3 volume one. The other guests walked to the bar cause maybe a tsunami would follow…

We experienced an earthquake and barely noticed it. The rest of the day it’s swimming and snorkeling again.

The capital of Solomon Islands is mainly a large street with big buildings on both sides. We stay in the Heritage Park hotel. A nice place, more or less in the center of town.

Our guide Floyd first takes us to Central Market. This is a big market. Mainly all kinds of food (and fish of course) is sold here. Because of the climate everybody comes early. The food is still fresh then.

A big cemetery and commemoration signs for all the Americans who gave their life to liberate Solomon Islands from the Japanese. Located on a nice spot with a view. Huge and impressive.

A long road filled with potholes takes us to the next stop. The road is really bad. Floyd calls himself a snake driver because he has to avoid all this holes. Standard joke here is that Honiara should be called ‘Pot Hole’ because of the bad roads.

We visit a WW2 open air museum. A young guy shows us around. It turns out his grandfather collected all kinds of leftovers from the war – a lot of planes also – and put them on display in his (big) garden. He had a clear view for the future. His family still makes a nice living from the museum!

On our last day Floyd is to take us to the airport. But, and who can blame him, he obviously forgot. Too busy again, we think. We take a taxi instead.

This trip was made in 2018.

If you have any thoughts or questions feel free to leave a comment!

 culture nature oceania