Page 39 - Fiji Traveller Issue 10

Pilgrimage to serenity

Kiribati’s quiet appeal

By Samantha Magick

Journeying through tunnels of green in Butaritari Island in Kiribati, we have
little idea of what awaits us. Spilling from the vehicles we have rented, we
take a short walk to the seaside and are greeted by a table shaded by trees,
festooned with vibrant tie-dyed fabric, and groaning with basins of food.
The scene could not be more idyllic.
Lobsters are lined up on a second table, alongside fresh drinking coconuts.
Other bowls hold fish done several ways, pumpkin, cooked bananas, and
root crops. It is warm; there is not a wisp of cloud in the sky, but we’re
comfortable, cooled by the sea breeze and the shade.
Everything tastes incredible. The combination of fresh air, the fact we are
eating together at leisure, the curling of our toes into the sand, the views of
verdant vegetation on one side and countless shades of blue ocean to the
other, seasons the food.
We have come to Butaritari with my mother-in-law Winnie and her
extended family. They left the island of their birth in the upheaval of World
War Two for Fiji. Now her extended clan has converged in Kiribati from Fiji,
Australia, Canada and New Zealand, to trace their roots. It’s a trip filled with
deep emotion and memory. While their departure from Kiribati may have
been difficult, the return is joyful.
It is also an opportunity to experience some of what Butaritari, in the
north of Kiribati’s Gilbert Island group, has to offer visitors. Kiribati tourism
authorities are keen to promote the destination for travellers seeking deeply
rooted community experiences.
Certainly what we experienced felt like it was driven by the communities
who hosted us, natural and genuine, and not over-rehearsed.
Landing in Butaritari, we wander into an open sided, concrete block
building flanking the airstrip. Taking the seats and a sip of the coconut
juice awaiting us, we are welcomed by a community leader, and explain
our group’s links to the island. Then it is time for song and dancing, first by
young women from the nearby village and then with us. Be ready to dance
in Kiribati; we found ourselves many times on the dance floor or being asked

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