1/46: Of course we invited our friends back to Pitufa.
2/46: We anchored Pitufa in a beautiful, sheltered anchorage on the E side of Matuku
3/46: At high tide it's easily reachable by dinghy, but at low tide it's a muddy walk from the boat.
5/46: Not far from our anchorage lies the little village Lomati
6/46: We took our sevusevu (kava present) to the chief and were welcomed to the family and accepted as guests in Matuku. "You are part of the village now".
8/46: The kids took us around to see all sights:
10/46: New solar panels bring electricity to the villagers
11/46: The forest behind the village
12/46: The gardens up in the hills
13/46: As always we tried to encourage awareness for environmental issues. We'll try to organise recycling for the village.
14/46: Children as well as adults were interested in the role parrot fish fish play to keep the reef clean and healthy.
16/46: Christian did his best to mend dodgy devices.
17/46: Headman Cama and his wife Luvu also invited us for lunch.
18/46: Drinking Kava in the assembly hall.
19/46: There's a school in the neighbouring village Makadru.
20/46: We went there for a little presentation on environmental awareness and sustainability.
21/46: Many houses are built on stilts in case of floods caused by Tsunamis or cyclone surges.
22/46: In Makandru lots of ruins remain from the last cyclone.
23/46: Invited at the women's organisation.
24/46: Open boats are the only means of transport on the island, there's no road system.
25/46: The Red Cross organised a first aid course and we came to watch.
27/46: The school in the main village of Yaroi.
28/46: Making coconut oil
29/46: Thee doctor at the very basic medical station in Yaroi ...
30/46: A ship with specialist doctors came and the villagers spent the whole day queueing for dentists, cardiologists, etc. It was the first visit in 3 years!
34/46: Pulling teeth is a quick job here... No fillings done.
35/46: Each time we returned from the village with fresh bounty! No plastic involved...
36/46: We also did a few boat jobs, like installing the spinnaker pole track on the mast (we brought it from Austria on the plane...)
37/46: The underwater world of the pass and surroundings is wonderful and mainly healthy.
41/46: Some areas are overgrown with algae, due to overfishing there aren't enough fish to keep the reef clean...
42/46: Lots of anemones and clown fishies!
44/46: Sharks are a rare sight here
45/46: Turtles are also still hunted...
46/46: We did our best to share our knowledge about reefs and sustainable use with the villagers. They are planning to install Tabu areas (protected zones) - hopefully it'll work out!
