Pitufa.at » Photo Galleries » Bougainville Strait, Solomons

The islands belong to the Solomons, but lie closer to Bougainville. White sandy beaches, aquarium-like reefs, some uninhabited islands in the north, small, friendly villages on Fauro island. The currents make navigation tricky and anchoring is difficult as the water is deep almost all the way to the reef or beach, but the beauty of the place makes it worth it.

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1/38: Strong_tidal_currents_in_the_Bougainville_Strait_make_for_difficult_conditions
2/38: We started at Oema Atoll that belongs to the Solomons, but lies close to Bougainville, PNG.
3/38: Impressive vegetation!
4/38: Families from Bougainville come to fish and stay in camps
5/38: They have no means to cool the fish, so they smoke it and sell it later on the market.
6/38: We bought some fish from them.
7/38: The first rainy days of our whole "rainy season" that was very dry in PNG
8/38: Dry spot with a view
9/38: Home office on rainy days
10/38: Drying out after the rain!
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12/38: Navigating between the islands with the help of sat images (and Smurfy).
13/38: Rip currents between the islands and squally weather!
14/38: The white beach wasn't quite as perfect as it looks--we got eaten by nonos (sandflies) ;-)
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18/38: The bay of Masamasa Island
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20/38: Dense vegetation
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22/38: The remnants of a planned eco lodge that wasn't finished
23/38: And the remnants of a saltwater crocodile! You don't want to go swimming near mangroves there...
24/38: But the snorkeling out on the reefs was phantastic!
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30/38: Later on we visited Kariki Village on Fauro Island
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33/38: Chief James gave us a tour of the island.
34/38: Remnants of Japanese planes and a seawall funded by the EU
35/38: Laundry with a view
36/38: Most of the islands are destroyed by logging companies, but Kariki villagers have stopped all logging on their side of the island!
37/38: They would be happy to have sailboats and tourists coming to the island!
38/38: Rachel gave us plenty of veg and fruit!