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KHULULA |
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Click on thumbnails (where available) for larger pictures. |
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Chagos - BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY ISLANDS |
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| BODUM - situated in the Solomon attol, this island still has some ruins of the last inhabitants, which make fascinating exploring. I think what makes it more interesting is the way the jungle has completely taken over the ruins and  added
an almost 'eerie' beauty to the place. Although it is some 50 years
since the last people lived here, the old wells still provide brackish
fresh water - ideal for showering or doing the laundry!!! All that
remains is the front wall of the church, an overgrown graveyard, and
even more overgrown school house. The inside of the Island has very few
remains, the large palm trees completely dominating the interior, and the only inhabitants being large coconut crabs which have front
claws the size of my forearm, and stronger than the human jaw. They are
evident by the large piles of coconut husks outside their hideouts - and
if you are interested to see them up close - can be coaxed out of their
dens by a stick employed into the entrance. The British have signs
everywhere telling you how many years imprisonment and how large the
fine , if anyone is caught eating this endangered species. The
view from the beach belongs on a postcard, crystal clear water, unspoilt
coral gardens, an amazing variety of colourful fish and palm trees
swaying in the breeze. This place really is paradise, and we were
pleased to be able to sail everywhere in our mirror dinghy and explore
around the coastline.ILLE DE PASS - this small island situated in the 'pass' of the Solomon attol, was rarely visited, but had the largest population of coconut crabs, of all sizes, that we had seen. The jungle here is more dense, but a clearing had  already
been made, which we adopted as our 'camp' for a few weeks. Our group
consisted of Mercedes and Ronan (English and French), Kevin and Sue
(South African), Tommy and Sandra (German) and ourselves. We made a good
combination of different island skills, and combined our resources to
eat our major meal at our camp everyday. Tommy was an excellent
fisherman, and always had a good catch of coral trout, red snapper or
grouper. Sandra was a fantastic bread maker, which she cooked in a
cast-iron pot on the camp-fire, by stacking the hot ashes on the lid and
around the pot and everyday she came up with a new recipe - fresh
coconut, onionbread, garlicbread, etc Mercedes made the most incredible
ginger beer (despite her recipe I still can't reach her quality), and
Ronan was responsible for the larger fish catch by trolling with his
dinghy (yellow-fin tuna). Sue had a store of interesting pickled
vegetables, and was still the best at sprouting mung-beans for the
salad, whilst Kevin made some really mean brews with orange peel and
anything he could get his hands on!!!! We became the 'pub' with
interesting fruit wines made from a bag of out-of-date dried fruit, and
Graeme became the expert at harvesting the heart of the Palm - the only
'fresh' vegetable, apart from sprouts, available to us. We all really
enjoyed this time together, and it holds fond memories for us all.TAKAMAKA & FOUQUET - the two most stunningly beautiful islands in the Solomon group was the beach chosen for the 'Millenium round the world yacht race" beach barbecue. I think all the yachts at Solomon where surprised to see 4 identical 65ft racing boats anchoring for a few days R&R, obviously stocked up with cold beer, meat and probably fresh vegetables!!!!! I think everyone made it clear to them that our diet of fish, rice, coconut and home-made wine could be supplemented with a few of the luxuries on their boats, in exchange for our island knowledge! We showed them how to recognize drinking coconuts (and how to get them, and open them), eating coconuts, heart of palm and how to  find
the coconut crabs! We also supplemented their barbecue with fresh fish
of all varieties, lobster, octopus and squid (which they ate). We
were invited aboard 'Spirit of Diana' for Roast Lamb dinner the
following day, much to our delight, and left with multi-vitamin tablets
and a bottle of red wine (and what was left of a large bottle of scotch
whiskey).PAROS ATTOL - Much quieter than Bodum, this attol is larger, but with a  restricted
number of wells and very little sign of any habitation. Most of the
islands are impenetrable because the palm trees are so dense, but still
offer the same beautiful clear waters and marine life. One morning we
woke to find a large manta ray (2m wing span)
swimming around the yacht. We watched it for over 20mins elegantly
gliding and somersaulting for our entertainment. From the sea, whichever
island, on whichever attol, they all look pretty much the same - very
flat, other than the dense palm-trees, bright white beaches and crystal
clear turquoise waters. I can't wait to go back!!!!!!!
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