Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Day hike to Abatao

We left late and had to catch up with the rest of the seniors.  They rode the motorized canoe across the portage but missing it, we had to wade.  The tide was up to my chest (Sis Waldron's chin) but the current wasn't overwhelming so we made it in fair time.
These kids were cute and greeted us warmly.  They even sang a few bars of I am a Child of God. 
We have seen several of these kind of  statues near the Catholic Mwaniebwas.  They are kind of fun with their primitive coral rock shells and the Madonna standing inside.

This is a typical homestead with the thatch roof and about 30 inches off the ground.  Primitive but very tidy.  We loved seeing it.  

Here was one beautiful beach, undefiled by the pollution of people and tide.  With the tide in, this would be a great place for a beach outing.  You can see the water mark on me about chest high from the crossing.  I held the bag over my head with the car keys in my hat.  Sis Waldron was nearly up to her chin.  Tricky wading.

We saw a fun picture of the young missionaries attempting to capture them as if they were all jumping off the bridge.  Trying to duplicate it was lost either on the enthusiasm or inclination of the seniors.  

A picture of all of us on the "Broken Bridge," a landmark in the area.  Nothing tourist about this crowd.  

There was this nifty piece of driftwood sitting there and I thought the picture would  be complete with Sis Waldron sitting on it. This is all under water at high tide.

I picked up a tiny fiddler crab as it skittered along and had Sis Waldron take a picture of it in my hand.  See those tiny little legs in there.

We found a larger cousin of the Fiddler crab and tried to take a video of it but it was too fast.  It was gone in the blink of an eye.

This is a Pandana tree.  It grows the most amazing root structure.  Also the roots are protected with some vicious thorns.  You don't want to brush by one of these puppies.  

This is the fruit of the Pandana.  They are shaped like Halloween dragons' teeth and colored with this green on the outside and yellow on the inside. 

For size comparison see the tree behind and the fruit in my hand.  Eating them is like trying to chew the raw kernels off a cob of corn except much tougher.  Similar taste but a tad sweeter.  I wasn't inclined to risk my incisors on the fruit--too far from a dentist.

The canoe already having left and the Olsons wanting to try the wade accross, we took off back to the main island and the village of Buota.  This time the tide was only up to our thighs.  A much quicker crossing.

1 comment:

  1. Just received our call to Kiribati Welfare Office. Dave and Jody Reese. Would love to email or Skype with who we are replacing. Email: "reesej6@gmail.com"

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