My first impressions of Kiribati pronounced Kiribas by the islanders, was that it's the same as Tuvalu or Niue etc. I was picked up from the airport by Richard the guesthouse owner. British guy born here during the colonisation. He's in his 70s and once we set off I suddenly realised how different Kiribati is to all the other islands. Size wise there's almost 70 thousand people in South Tarawa alone. Approximately 120 thousand altogether. That's huge compared to the few thousands on the other islands like Tuvalu and Nauru. I thought I saw lots of rubbish there but this is on another level. There are so many shops, stalls and a number of supermarkets. There's even a super mall. The biggest I've seen on any island even Fiji. All owned by the Chinese of course. It was also the first time I experienced traffic on an island, Fiji not included. Even with all that around me, the noise, the people , the traffic and rubbish, all I could see was the blue sea. The beautiful blue colours of the ocean was just stunning. Unfortunately anywhere on South Tarawa swimming isn't really an option unless I walk through the littered beaches. Thank goodness for Richard's guesthouse. He rents out two self contained rooms which has sea views from every angle. When I arrived before 11 the tide was out so it didn't look quite as spectacular as the sea across the road on the otherside. There was a strong breeze which made it so cool and the garden was huge. In fact the back garden was the ocean. When the tide came in, the ocean view was glorious. The neighbours and kids were already swimming. Although the neighbour's backyard was full of rubbish, Richard's part of the property was immaculately clean. I was happy to go swimming. The water was warm and so blue. I followed Richard as he went shopping for his restaurant. It's a good 30kms of road from airport to the furthest island of Betio. We went to buy fish, yellow fin tuna for $60aud which would be $500aud if bought in Australia. We bought smoked fish and we couldn't find fresh potatoes. Ones we saw were in a sorry state. I stocked up on snacks and my favourite Fanta grape. Street food was cooked at homes and repackaged and sold on the street stalls from $3 to $4. Doughnuts and pancakes filled with mainly coconut or fish was about 50 cents. The currency is Australian dollars.
When you look around this is obviously a third world country relying heavily on foreign aid. Religious institutions mainly Mormons cone here to convert the poor people. Religion is a business after all. They only recently got sanitation. They have weekly rubbish collections too which should help but with more people moving from north to south, it's an uphill battle keeping the beaches clean.
On my second day I wanted to visit north Tarawa. I crossed the friendship bridge to Buota and suddenly I was transported to another world. Less people, hardly any vehicles, humble wooden shacks as homes and naked children playing unsupervised in the low tide sea. The school looks run down and it needed the aid given by New Zealand. Right next door is the brand new Mormon church campus with its own basketball court. The stark contrast is glaring. I walked to the end of the island. I wanted to get to the next island of Abatao. The tide was out and there's no friendship bridge on this side. The only way was to walk across. So I followed the locals and walked across the ocean. No idea how deep it is. The deepest point was mid thigh. Safe enough and fun to do. I went further up towards the ocean as it looked cleaner and less chance of cutting my feet on glass. This island was even quieter, less people and zero vehicles except for the two motorbike taxis from the mainland ferrying people and things from island to island. I don't think there's even power on this island. This is probably why people are moving to the south. Once I got to the end of the island I hurried back as I knew the tide was rising. It wouldn't have been an issue as a guy with a boat would charge 50 cents to get you across but that meant waiting for the tide to get high enough for his boat. I crossed back and the deepest point got my bum wet. I dried off pretty quickly in the hot sun. I walked the 4 hours back to the guesthouse stopping along the way to buy dinner and looking at points of interests. I found out that Kiribati is the tuna capital of the world. It's also the only country in 4 hemispheres. Signs and posters are dotted along the roads leading from the airport. The only museum is never open. There are so many churches of all denominations and a tiny mosque without a minaret.
The next morning after a beautiful sunrise, I headed back to Betio. I didn't bother to walk the 28kms. I took a minibus. It was so full and hot. It was $1.40 so worth the experience. In Betio there are a number of WW2 relics from the Japanese occupation. The main highlight was the Sherman tank submerged on the beach. It's surrounded by other shipwrecks although much further away. Richard told me he used to play on it as a child. Kids still play on it when the sun isn't as hot. The beach in this area is littered heavily with rubbish, dog waste and even bits of appliances and vehicles. As you walk along the coast you see more and more rubbish. Along with the rubbish dotted around the coast are many bunkers of various size and shape. Some used by locals as accommodation or even toilets. Then I bought more food and hopped on another full bus back to my guesthouse. The next day I flew back to Fiji and this part of my Pacific island adventure was over. I will miss that backyard.
