Pohnpei is part of the Eastern Caroline Archipelago and is made up of 163 islands broken up into 9 different areas which are all low lying coral atolls, except for the Pohnpei district itself. Pohnpei is a mountainous lush tropical island and the township is Kolonia.
We are currently anchored in Mangrove Bay and will spend a few days getting to know the area. Dean has already been out on reconnaissance and found the bakeries. No bread but he did manage to locate some cinnamon scrolls for afternoon tea.
From where we land the dinghy at the Mangrove Bay Hotel it is a steep walk up to the main road. There is a bit of a verge to walk on and sometimes there are footpaths but you have to pay attention where you walk. You may be on a footpath and suddenly there will be a massive hole down into the drain. When cars are going both ways it is often safer to squeeze yourself into the bushes and let them pass. This is looking down at Run to Paradise at anchor.
I can’t see any ryhme or reason to where shops are located. You walk past a bunch of houses, then there may be a few shops. There are lots of small shop fronts that sell sweet pastries and donuts and sandwiches for people to pick up for lunch. Often a branch of Betel Nut is hanging out the front. It reminded me of Christmas mistletoe and I felt like sneaking a kiss under it with Dean, but showing of affection in public isn’t quite acceptable here!! People pick the nuts off the branch and must pay per nut.
The large supermarket is a bit of a hike and I haven’t been there yet, but there are some smaller ones on our side of town where you can get essentials. There is also a green grocer. Some of the items such as apples, oranges and potatoes are from the US but there are locally grown items available as well. There are all kinds of bananas, and apparently some are only for cooking. I did manage to pick up a cabbage. There were none of the local cabbage that is like lettuce but I did get a normal cabbage so at least we have some fresh greens now. I wasn’t sure if it was imported, but it looked fine.
There was a mesh door leading from the greengrocer into an attached room and it had quite a few people in there. So I had a sticky beak in and a man invited me in. It wasn’t airconditioned, and had a large table in the middle filled with all kinds of fish from the overnight catch. These were really fresh, bright eyed still. People were just rummaging through finding what they wanted. I have never seen anything like it. To the side a few fish had been separated out into different kinds. We still have plenty of fish in the freezer at home so didn’t buy any, but we will definitely go back if we need to restock.
As Dean was sipping on his cappuccino on his sole visit to town, police cars went by with lights and sirens blaring escorting an SUV with blacked out windows flying the Australian flag. Penny Wong and Pat Conroy were on a bipartisan visit with Simon Birmingham and Michael McCormack as part of their tour of some of the Pacific Nations. It is really really good news to see this visit happening.
When I visited town we went in very early while it was cool and also to try and snag a loaf of local bread. As the work and school traffic started up the roads became quite congested. So much so, a policeman was directing traffic at a busy intersection.
Soon after we arrived we discovered the bay side bar called Mangrove Bay Hotel and that seems like it will be our “local”. They have an extensive choice of sushi and shashimi that Dean is loving. But you can get seared tuna or salmon; I had burger and chips, and I also had a Japanese curry, both very nice. I saw an Australian sparkling wine on the drinks menu but no, just a choice of either red or white wine available. Sigh. There’s a couple of choices of beers, definitely no craft beers here! Everything reasonably priced.
We are planning on booking a room at the ajoining hotel to stay a night so we can have a bath. Not all of the rooms have baths, they aren’t fancy, but they will do! They also have a laundry service so we can get our washing done here rather than taking it into town to the laundromat.
Kumar, the owner lives in a modest house nearby on the water. His sister owns the hotel further up the hill that we intend to visit as it offers breakfast. Below you can see Kumar’s house behind Dean’s head on the other side of the canal.
The hotel didn’t approach us for money, but we heard from a fellow yachty that the done thing is to pay them $10/pp/week while you are anchored here. Then you are free to tie your dinghy up to their jetty, use their garbage bins, top up water. You can also use their showers. Dean and I have already taken advantage of that one and had a long hot shower after dinner last night before heading back to the boat.
I have had heard mixed reports about how safe the water is but with the high rainfall on this island we have no need to use their supplies as we can catch our own. In saying that I have now had ice in my water from the bar a couple of times, and haven’t got sick, so I am thinking it is ok.
There is a small marina at the back of the hotel. It has mainly smaller type runabouts, but there were two catamarans there. We met the owner of one who was a local man and lives on it. It was the end of the road for one sailor and he sold it here and flew home, so while we didn’t ask the price, we think he got a good deal.
Most people here speak very good English. They are very different from the reserved Kosraeans. We are back in the land where people actually approach you to ask where you are from and make conversation. The expats that live here seem to be respectful of local people as opposed to some of the behaviour we saw in Vanuatu that I was quite horrified by.
Mangrove Bay is clearly a thriving ecosystem. Fish are jumping all over the place, and birds fishing. I am not sure what were chasing these fellas but they were trying their darnedest to be flying fish to flee whatever was in pursuit!
There are quite a few wrecks around the bay. We had fun having a poke around some of them. But can you see those black clouds in the background? We’d left all the hatches open on the boat so had to speed back to close them all when the heavens opened. Just as we arrived the downpour finished!
There are four yachts anchored in Mangrove Bay at the moment. One, while anchored has been abandoned, and is just waiting to sink. Another one, a ketch, has a man living on board but he is a recluse since his wife died 7 years ago and he hasn’t moved. The last one arrived the day after us.
Run to Paradise 