After a small, 2 week personal vacation visiting a dear friend in Canada (and doing all sorts of outdoorsy shenanigans), I was back in action with my next trip being a Lindblad Expedition! I had been given the generous offer to join a Lindblad trip and I had chosen the expedition from the Solomon Islands through Vanuatu to Fiji. Coincidentally, Ben had chosen the same expedition (I think it’s cause he just wants to do everything I do!) and we made plans to meet up in Brisbane two days before the flight to Honiara. On Monday, October 12, I flew from Vancouver Island all the way to Brisbane, landing on Wednesday morning.
Wednesday was spent in a half-stupor of jetlag and lack of sleep, with a strong-willed attempt to stay up until 10 pm Brisbane time. Ben picked me up from the airport and we spent part of the day hanging out in our hotel room, catching up with each other and with some scholar duties, then wandering out for the afternoon to explore some of the nearby neighborhood. Ben had invited me that evening to go out to dinner with him and his aunt, which I was all for. That is, until 6 pm came and I realized I was struggling to keep my eyes open. At this point, I politely declined dinner, knowing I’d have a very hard time staying social at a dinner table. I promptly crawled into bed and fell asleep, practically straight on through until 6:30 am Thursday morning.
Ben and I decided to make a small roadtrip up to the Gold Coast to do a bit of sightseeing since neither of us had been to Brisbane before. After a small breakfast, we jumped in the car and headed up the coast, soaking in the beautiful day. We spent the rest of the morning until early afternoon on the Gold Coast before heading back down to Brisbane to pack and get ready for our adventure the next day. We were both excited for the trip to come and all the new and exciting places we would visit. We had an early night because we wanted to rest up for the early morning tomorrow.
Friday morning came bright and early and before we knew it, Ben and I were on our way to the airport. We got checked into the charter flight from Brisbane to Honiara with the rest of the group going on the Lindblad Expedition. Shortly after, we were through security and getting boarded on a plane to the Solomon Islands. Upon landing, we passed through Immigration and Customs and were greeted by tour guides and buses, who showed us around the capital city of Honiara before we embarked on the National Geographic Orion. We stopped at a WWII moment, a local museum and a local art gallery before heading to the port where we would continue the rest of our trip onboard the Orion.
The ship is a beautiful blue and white, with golden yellow highlights, beautiful teak decks and full of the inspiring images of National Geographic photographers such as David Doubilet, Brian Skerry, and Enric Sala. The rest of the evening was spent doing a safety briefing and getting to know the crew onboard for the expedition. After a scrumptious dinner, I went almost straight to bed, exhausted from excitement of the trip to come!
Saturday I woke up bright and early to catch the sunrise out at sea. The boat was moving from the Honiara port down to Santa Ana Island, towards the south of the country. It was a beautiful flat day at sea and as I watched the early morning sky, one of the onboard naturalists came out to scan the seas for wildlife. Sure enough, not long after he started looking, a pod of pilot whales was spotted up ahead and we slowly cruised up to them. It was awesome to see the group of about 50 marine mammals, coming up for breaths of air all around the Orion. The pod slowly moved off and we headed down to breakfast on the back deck. Before we knew it, the boat was at the moorage and we were dropping anchor and lowering zodiacs into the water, getting ready for our trip ashore. We would spend the morning and early afternoon on Santa Ana Island, getting to experience some of the unique cultural aspects to the Solomon Islands and exploring the three villages that are on the island.
As we slowly loaded into zodiacs and motored to shore, a group of villagers dressed in traditional tribal costume leaped out of the bushes brandishing spears and weapons, a greeting that ancient explorers would have received. Although it appears aggressive, it is not a hostile act, just the way in which the villagers greeted foreigners to their island. We were led through the village, which was decorated with flowers and braided palm fronds, to the center, where chairs and seating had been set up for us. There, we watched about an hour of tribal dances and music – each dance with a different story to tell. It was an excellent welcome to the island and a beautiful display of culture.
From there, we split into different groups to explore the island. I joined a group that was doing a long hike to the third village to see the spirit houses, where the spirits of chiefs and elders are kept after they pass away. It was a lovely hike through the island, waving at every villager we passed by and occasionally stopping to admire the landscape.
Upon reaching the spirit houses, the men were invited to step inside and look around, while the women were asked to respect the customs of the village and remain outside. It was incredible to visit a place where longstanding tradition was still a large part of everyday life and even though I couldn’t enter the spirit house, it was still an honor to see one and learn about its importance. After everyone had the chance to see the spirit houses, we made our way back to the beach and back to the Orion. It was a good morning full of culture, but it was time for our ship to pull anchor and start out to Vanuatu. We ate lunch while moving and the afternoon schedule included two lectures about the area and some time to get to know our fellow passengers. Dinner was another delicious meal and before I knew it, I was in bed, eager for the next day to begin.
Sunday was a day at sea, as we moved from the Solomon Islands to Vanuatu. I woke up early again to catch the peaceful early morning before heading down to breakfast. After breakfast, we had two lectures by the onboard naturalist Mike and onboard NatGeo photographer, Kevin. They were both informative and funny, giving me fresh perspectives into their different lines of work. After lunch, we had a bit of free time and then two more lectures on the cultural aspect of the Solomon Islands by the onboard anthropologist. Before I knew it, dinner was served and another day had passed by. I was impressed by how fun the day at sea was, filled with interesting lectures to pass the time so quickly. I was loving my first few days on the Lindblad Expedition and couldn’t wait for the adventures to come!
