Page 49 - Fiji Traveller 7

tour guides or tour agencies in town. The local currency is the a scooter or a car, or if you are up to it, you can walk up and
Australian dollar and you need to carry cash to get you through down the island. Most locals use motorbikes and some have
your holiday because hotels and shops don’t take credit cards trailers to transport kids and goods. Twice, a local man offered
– even Australian ones. And, if you happen to run out of cash, me a free ride on the back of his motorcycle, when he saw me
there are no ATMs on the island, nor is the National Bank of walking in the hot midday sun.
Tuvalu willing to help you to draw cash from overseas. They will, I also hired a car for a day from one of the car dealers (there’s
however, change US or Fijian dollars into Australian dollars. only two of them) for AU$120 a day. After I gave him the cash, he
Tuvalu is a unique destination that could do with more attention gave me the car without checking credentials or any paperwork.
from airlines. But the airport runway is too small for jet engine Later, I thought it made sense because I would not be getting
planes. very far if I stole the car!
Tuvalu is halfway between Australia and the United States There are no pubs or nightclubs in Funafuti, and eating out at
West Coast. Vasa Saitala, President for Women in Maritime night is not a choice, except for one café and the three tourist
(Tuvalu), told Fiji Traveller that Tuvalu is not a popular tourism hotels.
destination because of high airfares. A local contact took me to a community festival to see a
“When we first started to develop tourism, women were traditional Faitele dance and song performance to celebrate a
encouraged to provide rooms for tourists, like Airbnb homes. I special occasion where some 130 years ago, Tuvaluans had to
was one of the ladies that offered. There was no business and pay off a European copra dealer who threatened to take over the
that discouraged us, because we may have one visitor for the islands. The groups performed in colourful dresses and jovial
whole year. Not worth preparing for such an industry.” expressions, and everyone, including guests like me, sat on
Tuvalu makes for the ideal holiday destination for a quiet mats placed on the floor of a community hall.
vacation among people that do not rush with their daily living. The Faitele is an energetic dance to the rhythm of a communal
They are friendly people and most locals speak English. It is very wooden drum played by a group seated around it on the ground.
safe – even the Prime Minister’s residence next to the runway The tempo gradually increases until the dancers get tired and
is not guarded. it ends with laughter and chatter. This could be a great tourism
Funafuti atoll runs 20 kilometres north to south and 20 to 400 spectacle, but I was told that it is performed rarely and at special
metres wide at various points. The road that connects the two occasions – not even at weddings or birthdays.
ends is the only main road on the atoll, with a few small lanes Tuvaluans have been burying their dead near the beach,
branching into suburbs in the town area. At the northern end in but now every new home has a tomb in front, because coastal
particular, a long stretch of the road is a narrow strip of land with erosion has begun to wash away some of the original burial
the sea on either side. A house and a few coconut trees stand grounds.
precariously against an encroaching sea. Tuvalu does not have any wet markets (selling fruits and
On the west side of the atoll is the surf sea with hardly any vegetables) nor a fish market. The only vegetable farm is run by
beach at high tide. On the east side is a large lagoon of 275 a Taiwanese group under a foreign aid program, just next to the
square kilometres. At low tide in particular, there are some good airport by the sea. Twice a week, they sell produce from the farm
sandy beaches with shallow calm seas where local children cool – cucumbers, spinach, and pumpkins – which is sold out within
down and play. This idyllic scenario may not last long. 30 minutes. Some houses, though, have small vegetable plots
“Sea has reached our main road … even here, you can see for their own consumption.
some island beaches are going down. Most coconut trees on the This unique travel experience lasts right up to the time you
coast are down,” lamented retired civil servant, Seleta Kapua leave when a fire truck with its sirens blowing will drive alongside
Taupo. the runway to warn traffic along the parallel street to take a
To save Funafuti from the rising sea levels, the Tuvalu detour. The roads have to be blocked because the plane needs
government has gone into a partnership with the UN to cross the road to reach the terminal building. Meanwhile,
Development Program and the Green Climate Fund at a price departing travellers can buy some necklaces and belts made
tag of US$36 million to reclaim land and build a three-to-five- with seashells and locally woven purses from three women
metre high platform from coral sand pumped from the lagoon selling them outside the terminal building, the only way to buy a
to protect the land from submerging. It is a tourist attraction local souvenir.
by itself, especially in the evening when locals come there for
walks, fishing and playing. Kalinga Seneviratne spent five days in Tuvalu in November
Presently about the size of two football fields with white sandy 2023.
earth, it will have a new town built on top of it in a few years.
A tourist wanting to explore the island has three choices – hire

49