22 Oct 2019

Invoking a Deluge on Choiseul Island

Axe and spear weilding Supizae warriors came out to greet our Zodiacs as we approched Choiseul Island on our first expedition day in the Solomon Islands. The spirited mock attack took many of us by surprise, but it wasn't long before the fearsome faces were replaced by wide smiles and we were invited ashore to experience a morning of Solomon Islands hospitality and culture.

Having spent the earlier part of the morning Zodiac cruising up the Sui River we watched as the mangrove-lined banks of the salt water passage narrowed, making way for clear, fresh water and a rainforest of ginger, rosewood, palm and coconut trees. Leaves spiralled down from the canopy above as we made our way to an impressive waterfall.

The trees, aflutter with birds, kept our birders happy with 5 species of Kingfisher (including Ultra-marine), Solomon's Cockatoo, Cardinal Lory and Blyth's Hornbill among others spotted along with a monitor lizard. Alas there was no sign of the resident crocodile along the river.

Back on Choiseul Island the children stole day as they reinacted traditional songs and dance, however it was the passionate performances of the adults which invoked a deluge. As expeditioners huddled under umbrellas and under the cover of the school, the show went on as rain flew from flailing limbs and was shaken from hair during the energetic, and often comical, routines.

The rain eased, as if on cue, as the peformances came to an end and we enjoyed an authentic taste of village life with delicious baked sweet potato and fish along with fresh fruit and delicacies of ngali nut slice and cassava and coconut rolls offered.

After lunch expeditioners divided among the three afternoon activities of advanced ocean snorkelling off the Zodiacs, beachcombing/snorkelling and visiting Taro, the region's small provincial capital rounding out an excellent first day in the Solomons.

Image (c) E.Bell, Heritage Expeditions