COS & 'Eua Trip

Last week I attended the Close of Service Conference for Peace Corps Tonga Group 72. Although we live on different island groups and have had dissimilar experiences over the past two years, whenever the nine remaining members of group 72 get together we enjoy sharing our experiences living and working in Tonga. The conference was held at Likualofa Resort on the main island of Tongatapu and was the perfect opportunity for the group to catch up, relax, and prepare for life after Peace Corps.

The majority of our conference dealt with life after Peace Corps, with resume and interview help being the most significant component of the program. During the conference we took the Myers-Briggs personality test to discover what types of careers fit well with our diverse characteristics. I discovered that I have an “Extraverted Feeling with Introverted Sensing” personality. My knack for organization and outgoing persona apparently makes working with small children and bi-lingual education a fitting career choice. This insight into my personality is extremely reassuring as I consider a future in teaching English as a Second Language.



It is a bit daunting thinking about returning to the states after volunteering in Tonga for two years, however, the conference offered some much needed closure. Luckily the Peace Corps coordinator for the island of Vava’u where I've been living for the past two years was able to attend our close of service certificate ceremony and serenade his Vava’u girls one last time.




Shortly after the conference concluded the first member of group 72 to officially complete her service, Sarah Kate, left Tonga. To celebrate Sarah Kate’s completion of service some of us hired a taxi for the afternoon to tour some of the archeological sites on the main island of Tongatapu before Sarah Kate's flight home.

This past weekend I traveled to the island of ‘Eua with my friend Jessica. The island of ‘Eua is located a 40km boat ride off the southern coast of the island of Tongatapu, and is said to be approximately 10 million years older than the rest of the islands comprising the Kingdom of Tonga. The untouched natural beauty of ‘Eua is extraordinary and is the perfect destination for hiking, caving, rock climbing, bird watching, whale watching, biking, camping, or simply lounging on the beach, and is well worth the three hour, slightly nauseous boat ride.

Luckily as soon as we arrived to the island Jessica and I ran into Jason, a volunteer from group 73 who works closely with the Ministry of Tourism in an effort to make ‘Eua an eco-tourism destination.

Although Jessica and I only had one full day to take in the sights, Jason made sure we made the most of our short stay, guiding us to many well-known sites including a giant banyan tree which we climbed, “rat’s cave”, a stunning waterfall as well as several spectacular lookouts. Luckily we spotted the elusive green parrot indigenous only to ‘Eua during our walk through the rainforest.

After our morning hike we joined a tour of the south of the island where we saw wild horses as well as whales playing, among countless other breathtaking sites. Altogether we walked well over ten miles, a very long yet wonderful day!

B&W Hunga Photos

Last Trip to Hunga

Last week my good friend Jessica and I made our final trip to the island of Hunga to visit Sarah Kate who will be finishing her work in Tonga this month. The trip was the perfect combination of relaxing island getaway coupled with extreme outer island cultural experience that I’ve come to expect in my visits to Hunga.

The two hour boat ride to the island was thankfully uneventful. Clear skies and seas and a nearly empty boat offered the perfect environment to do some much needed catching up.

Upon arrival to the island we made our last walk up “the hill” from the lagoon to the village – an infamously muddy and steep trek that’s nearly ½ mile long. We were at once greeted enthusiastically by about 20 unaccompanied small children.

The kids predictably followed us to Sarah Kate’s house and bestowed us with gifts of fresh papaya, mangoes, and flowers for an hour before we asked for some time to rest. After dinner the three of us sat around Sarah Kate’s transistor radio hoping for some coverage of the presidential debate that had taken place that day. I noted how faka-1930’s it was of us to be sitting around the radio, awaiting news of our future president - a far cry from the SAT TV at Mango Restaurant where I’ve been getting my election coverage lately. We ultimately did get to hear some clips from the debate, something about Barack Obama and jello- politics as usual.

The next morning the three of us set off in search of a tiny isolated patch of beach located on Hunga’s west coast. Sarah Kate had been there only one time and it had been over ago but the three of us had high hopes we would be successful in our mission of having a “palangi” beach day, no matter how high the odds were against us i.e. no decipherable trail to the beach...

After over two hours of walking we were pointed in the right direction, so to speak, by five semi-aggressive giant bulls and found what we were looking for- paradise!

After a full day of wandering (somewhat) aimlessly around the island, lounging in the sun, and floating in the ocean (my personal favorite) we made our way back to the village. As soon as we arrived we were greeted by children who had been looking for us all day in the hopes that we would go swimming with them. The Hunga kids have great memories, apparently, as the previous day when we thought we were tired we had asked them to wait until tomorrow to go swimming, however, words cannot describe the exhaustion I felt on that second day after our little island excursion.

On the way to go swimming we had a “snack” of fresh mangoes – Hunga is one of the only places in Tonga that mangoes are currently so plentiful and ripe.

After an hour or so of swimming at the wharf we made our way back to Sarah Kate’s house for some much needed bucket baths and dinner.

It was an incredible couple of days. I’m so grateful I’ve had the opportunity to visit Sarah Kate and share a bit of her Peace Corps experience on the idyllic island of Hunga.

On the boat ride back to town Jessica and I were fortunate to see humpback whales breaching. So beautiful!