Mounu Island, Tonga

Three flights, one 40 minute boat ride, and over 24 hours later, I have finally arrived in Tonga and am at the Mounu Island Resort (www.mounuisland.com) where I will be spending the next (almost) four months! I had a 5-6 hour delay in the main island, Tongapatu, so I decided to check out the island. A local Tongan taxi driver acted as my guide for these few hours. We went into Nuku’alofa to the market where locals were selling produce and crafts. The weavings were incredible. As we were driving through the countryside, Lata (my guide) told me that all Tongan families were given 8 acres of land, which is then passed down through the male line. On each of pieces of land, familes grow a number of crops, the main ones being tapioca, a sweet potato (I don’t remember the name), and coconuts. They were clearing the land through controlled burns, which makes it easier to turn the soil and plant new crops. We ended up at the “Blow Holes”, the rocky coastline where the waves come crashing through and over the small holes in the rocks and look like whales blowing.

Blow Holes, Tongapatu

Burning crop fields, Tongapatu

My final flight was from Tongapatu to one of the smaller islands, Vava’u. I noticed on this flight that another American couple had brought on the coconut with a straw in it onto the plane. I laughed thinking about how the airlines are so strict back at home, that you aren’t allowed to even bring water into the terminals, but here it is perfectly acceptable to bring a drink and snack of coconut! I got a kick out of it. I was met at the airport and driven down through Vava’u, which is more mountainous than Tongapatu, but still is covered with plantations. It is very lush and just stunning. We hopped onto the Mounu Island Resort boat and motored for about 40 minutes through the islands. The sun was just setting (6pm) and the light beams were piercing through the clouds.

Flying into Vava'u

Vava'u headed towards the harbor

Mounu Island

I arrived on the island and met the owners, Allan and Lynn, their daughter Kirsty, and the other staff, Ed and Marta. They are all incredibly nice and very welcoming. It is a small resort that consists of 4 fales (small huts) for the guests and one main dining and kitchen area. Allan and Lynn live here yearround, so their house is behind the main dining area. There were four guests here, so my first day, we went out and found 3 whales – two males who were trying to win over the one female. Not only is Tonga a place where the whales come and give birth, it is also a mating ground. I’ve been told that it is possible for the females to become pregnant again very soon after giving giving birth. These whales were staying in one general area, but weren’t too interested in having a long interaction. They would surface, and then dive down for 15 minute intervals. We did get the guests in the water with them a couple of times and they had some good sightings. Unfortunately, there were too many of them to allow for me to get in as well, but I know I will have plenty of opportunities to swim with them! It was very exciting being in such close proximity.

Sunrise (yes, I was up at sunrise.. I won't mention that it's at 6:30!)

I went for a walk around the beach to see the sunrise which comes up on the other side of the island.

Humpbacks!

Guests swimming towards the humpbacks.

Marta, one of the guides who works at Mounu.

Clown fish on the reef in front of the resort.

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Ulli playing with a fiddler crab!

This blog is much longer than I promised, so I will write more later! We do have internet connection here, but it is quite slow, so I probably won’t be blogging daily, but will try to get one out every few days. I can’t believe that I’m actually here. It hasn’t really sunk in yet.