Tales of Tonga
Posted By Sara-Lise Haith on 13 February 2009
Sacrificed in a Revival of Cannibalism
So was written an article in the New York Times, 8th May 1910. Two Presbyterian missionaries were captured and eaten by local Tongans, where some of the earliest and most success attempts of missionary work were done. The Kingdom of Tonga, or Friendly Islands, as they were known decades ago lie south to Fiji on the 20th parallel. They were acquired by the British in 1899, when Great Britain ceded all her rights to Germany in the Samoan group. Today, Tonga is the only sovereign monarchy among the island nations of the Pacific Ocean, as well as being the only island nation never to have been formally colonized. Fortunately, incidents of cannibalism in the Pacific Islands no longer reach the press or have been recorded since 1957.
Tonga is an archipelago in the south Pacific Ocean comprising 171 islands, 48 of them inhabited, stretching over a distance of about 800 kilometres (500 miles) in a north-south line. The islands lie south of Samoa and are about one-third of the way from New Zealand to Hawaii. The word tonga means 'south' in the Tongan language, an apt name for the islands as they are the southernmost group of all neighbouring Polynesian islands. The word tonga is pronounced with the ng rolled together like sing.
One would wonder why a person would travel for 2 days to reach such a destination. If you're flying out of Dubai, you have to fly to New Zealand and then take a flight to the capital, Nuku'alofa which is on Tongatapu. We then took two internal flights to reach our destination, the island of Ha'apai. After hours of travelling, changing of planes and making a million excuses for the weight of my hand luggage, reaching Ha'apai was like landing in heaven itself, almost. They have to chase the pigs off the runway before planes can land, in fact, I have never seen a country with so many free range pigs running round everywhere. Pigs in Tonga run amock, cause accidents, they are strewn about gardens, streets, fields, and seem to breed countless offspring that run wildly across the bumpy lanes while the adults seem to lay out on lawns lazing in the sun like tourists on the French Riviera.
Haapai Airport
We were picked up at the airport by the co-owner of our resort, Dave, who had about 20 boxes of fresh bread in the back of his 4x4 and explained that one should make the most of trips "to town". This comment alone made us realize that we were indeed far from civilization, supermarkets, shops, malls and other day to day amenities that we take for granted. Fantastic! We threw our bags in the back and Dave drove us to our resort, Matafonua Lodge on the island of Foa, deftly avoiding pot holes in the road, while the scent of fresh bread played with our senses. It was clear already that dieting was not going to be on the agenda for the next 10 days.
After many years of living in the ever growing and fast paced Middle East and Asia, a destination like Tonga seems like one of those countries you could only dream about. The beaches are natural, without a dredger or plastic water bottle in sight. Even the Maldivian islands have fallen succumb to massive dredging projects and some are losing their natural beauty. Here, there was no oil, no "plastic bag trees", no remnants of construction floating in the water, and in fact, there was nothing but white sand on the beach and crystal clear sea water lapping up the edges. There were no empty cans of Coke, no old shoes, no empty packets of KFC or leftover Macdonalds thrown on the beach, it was just sheer virgin white beach with pristine blue water, and it left me speechless, which in itself is a feat. No man can create this paradise. This can only be sketched in an artist's mind, painted on a canvas, imagined, dreamed, or splashed in watercolours, but there is no way that be reproduced. Upon first sight of the beach, it was raining and cloudy, but even so the crystalline waters shone and displayed seemingly untouched waters. My travel and freedive buddy Rebecca Scott, and I, stood on the beach gaping. We picked up sand and let it flow through our fingers, and stared out to sea at neighbouring islands. It was time to discover, explore, and also rest.
One of the beaches on Matafonua
The plants and fields of jungle were filled with indigenous plants and huge bananas that grew naturally with the natural resources of abundant rain and mineral wealth of the soil. Hidden within the dense vegetation of the northern tip of Haapai, on Foa Island, Matafonua Lodge sat quietly and unobtrusively,. Matafonua is an eco-friendly resort, and they do not brag about it, they just do it. Lip-service to conserving the environment is not part of their language. New Zealanders Dave and Sally were doing things right, and as much as possible. The water was heated by solar panels, and they had a back up generator as local power supply can vary in reliability. We had a power cut one afternoon and it was gently raining. In spite of the low power supply, Sally and her team pushed on in the kitchen with the generator power, Dave pulled down the clear blinds so we could all still enjoy the ocean view from the restaurant verandah while protected from the winter wind. Red wine flowed and kept us warm as did the beautiful smiles of the Tongan chefs and the resort dog Tui, at our feet. The showers in the ablution block are low pressure to save water, the lighting is minimal and there is no air conditioning, just open vents in the walls to allow air flow. We may have shared the shower room with a spider or two, but this was just a reminder that we were off the beaten track.
The first sign of environmental consciousness was seen in the building of their new beach bar. Every glass bottle consumed in their establishment was saved and then broken up and used for aggregate. The beaches surrounding their resort were kept clean, the gardens are natural and little irrigation is needed to keep the beauty of the local plants and trees lush. Drinking water was served in recycled bottles and the need for plastic was minimal. The resort was not pretentious; the accommodation was made up of simple "fales" which are small wooden bungalows on stilts with an open air verandah, twin beds and the basic essentials. Sheets, blankets, mosquito nets and coils, drinking water were provided. The windows were louvered and allowed for natural "air conditioning" throughout the night. Needless to say our sinuses cleared within days and the feeling of polluted skin disappeared within a day or two. The ablutions are communal, and the sunnier the day, the hotter the water. The sound of the waves crashing over the sound rocked us to sleep at night, and the whistle of the wind through the islands was a lullaby before sleep. This was a getaway indeed.
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