Mokil Atol by Andy -

It is always good to go ashore after a few days at sea. It is even more exciting when the one travel guide which mentions your destination covers it in three sentences. This was the case with our trip to Mokil Atol near Ponape. With a short paragraph of information we did not know what to expect.

After being invited ashore by the Island Chief, who passed his message on to us via a boat messenger, we crossed the outer reef which was more ‘exciting’ than anticipated. There was a strong swell and between each wave the reef was revealed. Timing was critical and with the right moment Clemens gave the dinghy full throttle and with the aid of paddling, to prevent us going fully sideways, we crossed the reef while others bailed the boat. Once in the lagoon the water was very calm and the village lay before us. Instead of the expected collection of simple huts we were greeted with the sight of bungalows and even a large Church and municipal hall.

Everyone we met was very friendly and welcoming. It wasn’t long before we were given a tour of the Island and fed lots of coconuts. Our tour guides were; Romeo a school teacher and Benjamin the Chief of Police (although there was no police station, car, other policeman or even a uniform on the Island….). The Island was incredibly clean and all the houses had well kept gardens and their own dinghy with outboard engine. We were shown the school, which has a fantastic location beside the beach. Romeo told us that a problem they have during class is children going to the ‘toilet’ and coming back soaking wet having been for a swim instead!

That evening there was a party in town to bid farewell to a scientist who had been their guest for a week and we were invited. We were fed many local dishes until we were full including; crab, different fish, cakes, tarot bread and papaya shakes. Since the reef is dangerous to cross at night the Islanders insisted that we stay overnight and that they would look after us. Not only were we given a beach house for the night but in the morning we were brought breakfast. Our host brought us fish, coconuts, cakes, banana fritters, papaya and a neighbour brought us coffee and a rice dish.

The entire time we spent on Mokil we were treated like family. The generosity and friendliness of these Islanders was beyond belief, especially since we had just met and there were eight of us. Before escorting us safely through the reef, we were given a gift of; papaya, sugarcane, a couple hundred bananas and a hundred or so limes to take back to Infinity.

Our thanks go to the wonderful people of Mokil as well as first mate Sheridan and the rest of the crew for watching the boat while we were ashore.