Tag Archives: parrots

Taking a Break from Paradise

After six weeks in paradise, in the lovely Kingdom of Tonga, we decided at the last minute to spend the weekend on nearby Fafá Island in Nuku‘alofa Lagoon. It turns out that, even living in paradise, one needs (make that two need) to take a break from day-to-day routines and relax in a slightly different atmosphere.

Actually, I quite surprised Sūsana Friday morning with my last-minute plans. We’ll go for the evening and, if we like it, we will extend an extra day, I told her. That’s exactly what we did. It took less than ten minutes being on the island before we announced to our concierge that we were staying two nights. It was love at first sight.

View of sky and palm trees on Fafá Island–quintessential Polynesia.

View of sky and palm trees on Fafá Island–quintessential Polynesia.

Fafá Island, 18 acres of unspoiled white sand and palm trees surrounded by crystal blue and green waters, is about four miles (6.5 km) north of the shoreline near our home in Fangaloto, a suburb of Nuku‘alofa. We can see it whenever we travel Vuna Road along the coast to and from town, usually several times each day.

Approaching Fafá Island in the launch at sunset with three of our fellow travelers sitting on the top of the cabin.

Approaching Fafá Island with three of our fellow travelers riding atop the cabin.

It’s farther out and just to the left of Pangaimotu Island, itself only a mile (1.6 km) off our coast, famous for Big Mama’s restaurant and swimming place with the half-sunken ship that people like to climb on and jump off.

Motu means “island” in Tongan so Pangaimotu Island is redundant, but everyone calls it that, reminding us of when we lived in Fort Myers, Florida, USA, situated on the Caloosahatchee River. Yes, hatchee means “river” in native-American Seminole language. Redundancy abounds, but I digress.

We took the 5:30 pm launch from the wharf near the fish market and were landed on Fafá about 40 minutes later. The ride was delightful. The Pacific in the relative protection of Nuku‘alofa Lagoon had a slight chop and the occasional spray of seawater splashed our faces, but it was refreshing and ever-more exciting as we approached our weekend resort.

Süsana on the launch getting ready to leave Nuku‘alofa for Fafá Island.

Sūsana on the launch ready to leave Nuku‘alofa for Fafá Island.

Without a dock on the island, we were transferred from the launch, actually a motorized sailboat, onto a motorized platform that gently ran aground on the beach. With a long gangway extended, we were able to step ashore onto dry land.

Landing on Fafá via motorized platform and gangway.

Landing on Fafá via motorized platform and gangway. Our launch, in the background, lies anchored in deeper waters.

How do I begin to describe Fafá Island? The food was amazing. No, really! It was amazing. We ate six meals during parts of three days and did not experience a single forkful of doubtful culinary craft. Flavors were bold when they needed to be and nuanced when subtlety was called for.

We ate fresh fruits, delightful salads of all kinds and main dishes made of beef, fish, chicken and eggs, all garnished with sauces ranging from beans, stewed tomatoes and bacon ranchero salsa to delicate freshly-made tarter to robust gravies and a light and sweet essence of Tongan-grown vanilla beans that we drizzled on marble cake.

Music in the restaurant was melodious and, for the most part, traditional Tongan repertoire. On Friday evening, there was a live band of men who sat around a kava bowl and crooned heavenly strains in their native language and accompanied themselves with four or five diverse stringed instruments. The volume was kept low, as it should be, so that we could converse over dinner without difficulty.

They then performed Tongan dances after dinner, but we didn’t stay, choosing to retire early.

Our accommodation was a traditional Tongan fale or house with the roof rounded at both ends. When Tongans arrived in the islands centuries ago, they mounted their upturned boats on poles to create houses. Or so they story goes.

Our fale on Fafá Island with private yard.

Our fale on Fafá Island with sun deck, shaded porch and private yard. We did not lack for places to sit. Bedroom on the right demonstrates one end of the traditional curved Tongan roofline.

The overriding theme for our weekend at Fafá Island Resort was leisure time. We relaxed. We played rummy. We slept. We watched the bats, butterflies and birds, including a trio of beautiful blue, green and red parrots that took up residence near our porch. (Or had we taken up residence in their front yard?) We picked up shells. We swam and snorkeled. We laid in the hammock and read. We napped some more.

Sūsana relaxing in the hammock with the beach just through the trees.

Sūsana relaxing in the hammock with the beach just through the trees.

We walked island trails to and from the open-air restaurant. We even hiked the beach all the way around the island, exploring tidal pools, sedimentary corals on the shore and experiencing the force of the prevailing wind in our faces as we moved from the sheltered, leeward side to the blustery, windward side of the island.

Tēvita on our hike around Fafá Island.

Tēvita on our hike around Fafá Island.

Most of all, we marveled that such a place exists just four miles from our Tongan home.

This morning, as we drove Vuna Road into town, we cast our eyes toward Fafá Island and, with an immense appreciation for the beauty of the earth, promised ourselves that we would go back again soon, when we need another break from paradise or just for the fun of it.

Fafá Island Resort has completely spoiled us. I’m sure that when we do make a day trip to Big Mama’s on Pangaimotu, with the draw of her sunken-ship diving platform, we will be quite disappointed, yet smug in our cleverness for having discovered Fafá first.

Fafá Island tidal pool at low tide.

Fafá Island tidal pool at low tide.

eautiful and unusual shells were collected on the beach in front of our fale.

Beautiful and unusual shells collected on the beach in front of our fale.

We could not convince this hermit crab to give up his shell home in exchange for another, less elegant abode. No matter what we did to gently coax him out, he would not budge. So we returned him and his spiraling shell to water's edge on the beach–his beach.

We could not convince this hermit crab to give up his shell home in exchange for another, less elegant abode. No matter what we did to gently coax him out, he would not budge. So we returned him and his spiraling shell to water’s edge on the beach–his beach.

Elegant bathroom and private garden shower in our Fafá Island fale.

Elegant bathroom and private garden shower in our Fafá Island fale.

Pacific Flying Fox (Pteropus tonganus), a species of large fruit bat, beka in Tongan, peers down at us from a palm frond in our yard on Fafá. This guy and several of his companions put on an aerial show at dusk each evening as they patrolled the island with their wingspans approaching six feet (1.83 meters). Though they appear menacing and remind me of the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz, they only eat pollen, nectar and fruit.

Pacific Flying Fox (Pteropus tonganus), a species of large fruit bat, beka in Tongan, peers down at us from a palm frond in our yard on Fafá. This guy and several of his companions put on an aerial show at dusk each evening as they patrolled the island with their wingspans approaching six feet (1.83 meters). Though they appear menacing and remind me of the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz movie, they only eat pollen, nectar and fruit.

Front-yard path to hammock and Pacific Ocean beach.

Front-yard path to hammock and Pacific Ocean beach.

Day's end on Fafá Island.

Day’s end with pre-dinner sunset on Fafá Island.

 

When Life Hands You Lemons, Bring on the Lemonade

Sūsana and I spent this spring and summer preparing for 27 months of Peace Corps service in Tonga. We shopped for luggage, clothes and supplies. It consumed our thoughts and actions most days. We tied up loose ends as we looked forward to making a difference in a beautiful part of the world.

I retired from American Airlines in March, the same day Sūsana returned from eight months of Peace Corps Response service in El Salvador. I picked her up in Miami after working my last shift and we celebrated with steak, grilled asparagus and chocolate cake at a favorite restaurant.

Susana teaching butterfly biology in El Salvador during her service with Peace Corps Response. Click on this photo to read about her experience.

Susana teaching butterfly biology in El Salvador during her service with Peace Corps Response. Click on this photo to read about her experience.

Renting a car in Salt Lake City in April, we traveled 6,000 miles through eight western states, taking two months to visit family and friends, many of whom we had not seen in decades.

In June, we sorted through personal belongings and consolidated everything into 75 square feet of climate-controlled storage.

By July, we had traveled to Spain, one of our favorite destinations, to participate in a week of Pueblo Inglés, a total-immersion English program for Spaniards with intermediate and advanced language skills.

Hotel Doña Teresa in La Alberca, Spain, our favorite Pueblo Inglés venue.

Hotel Doña Teresa in La Alberca, Spain, our favorite Pueblo Inglés venue. Click on this photo to read about volunteer opportunities at Pueblo Inglés • Credit: Diverbo

Later that month found us house-sitting in Costa Rica on a lush 26-acre estate in the Orosi Valley, taking care of four parrots, chasing blue morpho butterflies along the cascading Rio Negro and enjoying the ¡Pura vida! lifestyle.

Then our Peace Corps plans crashed and burned. Word from Washington arrived the last day of July that I was not medically cleared for Peace Corps service. I appealed and lost.

Over the next six weeks, I continued to importune Peace Corps to allow me to accompany Sūsana to Tonga. Multiple positive medical opinions from my long-time physician failed to change their minds. By mid-September, with our Peace Corps group already two weeks into pre-service training, it became clear that Peace Corps service wasn’t going to happen.

What do you do when life hands you lemons? You squeeze them, add a little sugar and make lemonade, of course. That’s just what we did.

We bought tickets to Tonga to create our own adventure. We arrived in early October and have spent the past month falling in love with this place.

Turquoise Wave at Blow Holes

A turquoise wave crashing ashore at Tonga’s Blow Holes near Houma on the main island of Tongatapu.

Tonga is tranquil. Tonga is peaceful. Tonga is the epitome of relaxation with tropical breezes and Polynesian sunsets, a different masterpiece in pastels each evening with the melodious call of wattled honeyeaters in the bush as twilight falls on the kingdom.

Tonga is its people. They’re friendly. They’re polite. They laugh heartily. They sing into the night in multi-part harmonies.

Tongan landlady and her granddaughter

Our Tongan landlady and her granddaughter dressed in Sunday best.

There’s a church across an open field from our house, perhaps a quarter-mile away. We hear the choir practicing every Saturday night as we play cards on our front porch. They sing Sunday mornings and during Sunday afternoon services. Most Wednesday evenings they are back at it, filling our world with angelic praises.

Two doors down from us, a group of Tongan visitors from New Zealand laughed and sang into the early morning hours as we fell asleep a few nights ago. Far from being disturbed by their merry-making, we were lulled once again by the rhythms of Tongan life.

Our future in Tonga is starting to take shape. Last week, Sūsana was appointed senior information and communications technology (ICT) teacher at Ocean of Light International Schools. She starts her two-year contract in January.

Ocean of Light International Schools

Ocean of Light International Schools in Nuku‘alofa, Tonga. Click on this photo to read more about the school. • Credit: Ocean of Light International Schools

Ocean of Light is the premier K-12 school in Tonga and the only one in the kingdom with an international curriculum. Plantations of coconut, papaya and breadfruit surround the peaceful campus three kilometers (1.9 miles) west of Nuku‘alofa, Tonga’s capital. I’ve signed an agreement to volunteer at the school on a regular basis. We’ve applied for employment visas in Tonga to make our residency official.

So, we’re creating our own Peace Corps-like adventure in Tonga. We will still make a difference in this beautiful part of the world. Had we come here with Peace Corps, we would have been assigned a site and told where to live. We would have been restricted in our movements and transportation options. We would have had pages of rules to follow. For us, it’s better this way.

Life’s lemons are indeed a gift. Squeeze vigorously. Sugar abundantly. Sip, savor and smile.