Saturday, October 15, 2011

Battle of Tarawa Tour

Those of you who know John are already aware that he's a history buff. Especially war history. He loves the stuff.

So, for his birthday treat, I booked us on the WWII Betio Battlefield Tour by Molly's Tours.

Molly has a few odds and ends in her front yard!

Molly picked us up at the wharf in the bus, and took us back to her house to watch a dvd on the Battle. The Battle of Tarawa was one of the bloodiest battles in US Marine Corps history. After the video, we jumped on the bus and walked to the various war remains that lay scattered across the islet. Although we'd seen many of the sites on our own previous explorations, Molly's descriptions and additional information added to our knowledge and made the tour interesting!

Remains of an American Tank

An unexpected surprise was walking through various villages on our way to the beach relics and buried bunkers. We was how the locals are living in very cramped quarters. We talked to a couple of men who were digging a new well, and had come across machine gun parts, and ammunitions. In some cases, we saw bunkers, gun mounts, and search light bases in yards and between homes.
Tank track buried in the sand

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Around Abaiang

Oct 5

Our friend, Ngaluenga, offered to tour us around the island for an afternoon - we jumped at the chance. A few of the sights we saw.

First we had to fill up with gas. Here, the two guys are measuring our gas into 2L plastic bottles. 
Measuring the fuel

Full service

Boat repairs - notice they are stitching the boat together!

The tower of the catholic church - built in 1907

View of the village's large canoe shed from the tower

Cutting toddy - collecting the sap from the tree, to be fermented into a local brew

Our host, Ngaluenga, and his granddaughter, Merri



The best singer on the island...performing in a private concert just for us!

Kids of Abaiang

Oct 5

The kids at Abaiang LOVED to have their photo taken. They love to look at the camera's screen and see the pics of themselves. Here's a few: