Tonga - whale encounters!

Tonga, a Polynesian kingdom in the Pacific is incredibly fascinating. It is also very very far, a couple of tiny volcanic and coral island groups scattered in the area of the international dateline.
I am in Nuku'alofa, the capital of Tonga, invited by a women's organization to train a group of female interviewers on how to interview women on domestic violence in a safe and sensitive way.

Between July and November the majestic humpback whales migrate to Tonga to breed in the warm waters of the Southern Pacific Ocean, and they can be seen bearing young, caring for new calves (conceived here 11 months earlier) and engaging in elaborate mating rituals. Swimming with whales is allowed in Tonga – one of the last places in the world where you can still do this.

Having heard about this, and having made it already this far, I decide to make a weekend trip to Vava'u, a picturesque and tranquil island group in Northern Tonga, regarded as one of the world's great sailing locations and one of the world's top whale watching destinations. It was a once in a lifetime chance which I had to take even if the wheather forecast was dubious and the whale watch operators that I had phoned had told me they were fully booked.

On Friday afternoon, I travelled about one hour on a small plane to Neiafu in Vava’u.

Both days I ended up whale watching with Dolphin Pacific Diving. On Saturday only three of the eight clients showed up! This was including myself! We went with Al and Pete on a small and quite rocky boat: ‘C'scape’.

After a long morning of searching for steam clouds and seeing a couple of whales only from the boat we had already almost given up on swimming with them.

In the afternoon our luck turned: Pete thought he saw a whale calf coming to the surface and then said "no, it is something else.., a whale shark? a tiger shark? I need to be sure!" On the photo below you can see what it looked like from the surface.

And a few moments later: "It's a whale shark! Jump! Jump! Enjoy!" and hastily he jumped himself -- without taking the time to put on his fins -- leaving us a bit in confusion. But we quickly put on our snorkelling gear and had this out of the world experience of swimming next to this gentle giant (although this one was only about 4 meters). Whale shark sightings are extremely rare, perhaps once a year, and the news that there was a group who had swam with a whale shark travelled quickly via the board radios and there was quite some envy from other whale watchers and yaughties in the area!!
Luck remained on our side. A group of dolphins accompanied our boat. At the end of the afternoon we finally slid into the water near a couple of whales. I was looking for them under water ahead of me, but Pete called: "look down! Look down!" Right under me: the majestic sight of a couple of whales, piloted by 2 dolphins swimming side to side, ahead of the biggest whale. Pete said later they had thus far never seen whales and dolphins swimming together!!
On Sunday, on land all you can do is joining the Tongans with their booming singing in church. Everything else is forbidden. Even airports are closed and taxis are not running. Luckily several whale watching companies do operate on this holiest of days. I boarded 'Hakuna Matata' a slightly bigger boat from the same operator, with six other passengers.
After a couple of hours searching for whales we were so fortunate to encounter a very relaxed humpback whale group of 2 adults and a calf that let us swim with them again and again.... The calf was very playful and curious and kept coming to the swimmers, with its mother keeping a watchful eye over it.
The weekend left me with seriously sunburned lips and a bruised or possibly broken rib (I heard it crack when I climbed on board after the last swim...), but this is a small price...., because nothing compares to the experience of dangling mid water, staring into the azure abyss near a massive humpback whale....

It started raining on Sunday evening and it was still pouring when the following morning I boarded the 6 am little Metro III plane back to the capital and to my trainees...
My albums with more photos on these whale encounters:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/henriette.jansen/0509WhaleSharkWatchingVavaUTonga#
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/henriette.jansen/06092ndDaySwimmingWithWhalesVavaUTonga#

The underwater photos were made by Pete and Kelda.

Pan pipers of Solomon Islands

I had really been looking forward to see and hear them. These pan pipers performed last week at the Solomon Kitano Mendana Hotel in Honiara. They were a spectacular sight with their traditional outfits with shell ornaments and bamboo pan pipes.

Pan pipers are from Malaita, one of the provinces of Solomon Islands. I expected very traditional music and custom dancing. I was amused to see the troupe leader using a microphone ...

To my surprise some of the music pieces were affected by contemporary influences indeed: some were accompanied by modern electronic background music, and moreover some of the sang pieces even had lyrics in English. One of the titles was "tears of the islands"!

A fascinating and very enjoyable evening!

Pygmy seahorses in Solomon Islands

Yes, the diver in the photo above that is me! Last weekend I was at Peava village, in the Marovo lagoon (Solomon Islands, Western Province), staying with Lisa Choquette, founder of Solomon Dive Adventures, to take a short break away from my work in Honiara (the Capital). Peava, a village of fishermen and woodcarvers, is at the end of the world, only to be reached by a small Islander plane followed by a boat ride. The weekend was not only relaxation though; I had volunteered to give workshops on Violence against Women for the villagers. But this is not the subject of this blog (maybe another one).
I probably was the only visiting diver in the whole lagoon. I had the great company under water of Lisa and Ronald, one of the four handsome villagers who were trained and certified as divemasters by Lisa. And of course there was Dellington, the boatdriver. He was also divemaster, but recovering from a malaria attack, so he did not dive.
The boat ride to our dive site Toana was rough. We had to cross to another tiny island, and there was high surf and strong winds. The dive site Toana was extraordinary (I have already almost forgotten about incidents during the first dive: the mouthpieces of both the regulator and the octopus that subsequently came off because they were not secured with tie-trips). I did two dives on this spot, one on Friday and one on Sunday (Saturday is churchday for the villagers who belong to the Seventh Day Adventist Church).
There was an enormous variety of corals, sponges, fish and other sea critters. Yes, sure there were the sharks: a white tip and a very curious gray reef shark (photo below) that came swimming to us when we were about 30 m deep, and came again, and came again, and Lisa and I played with him until we needed to move to shallower water because we ran out of the bottomtime.
But the reason for this blog is not the sharks, I’ve seen many in my life (and I hope to see numerous again when I do a sharkdive in Fiji next week). I am so excited about having seen Pygmy seahorses for the first time in my life!! They are so tiny and so well camouflaged that hardly anybody ever sees them. But... Ronald (and the rest of Lisa’s crew) knows exactly how to find incredibly difficult to spot stuff. Below you see Ronald and I searching for a seahorse on a fan coral.
There are certain pink fan corals in which the Pygmy seahorse lives. The creatures have the same colour pink and the same knobby appearance as a branch of the coral. I bet it is hard for you to see the seahorse in this picture. Look hard!
The next picture is a (different) cropped image with the seahorse in the middle (UW photos taken by Lisa). Now go back to the previous photo and enlarge it. You can estimate from my fingers and ring how tiny the seahorse is; smaller than a pinky nail. On the second dive that weekend, Lisa had for the first time in her life found a seahorse all by herself, without help of her boys, She was so proud and happy – after having been diving day after day for many years !!
After this second dive -- Lisa and I had been down for 75 minutes -- we came up and did not see the boat or the boys. Ronald had finished his dive some time before us. When the boat finally showed up, we learned that Dellington and Ronald upon seeing a swarm of fregat birds, went trailing with a fishing line and in less than 10 minutes caught in total 10 yellowfin tuna and skipjacks. Many families in the village were eating fish that evening!! I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh sashimi that Reliance (Lisa’s guest house manager) had cut for me from our freshly caught tuna. What a bonus!!
For more photos of my weekend at Peava village: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/henriette.jansen/PeavaMarovoSolomonIslands#
For more information about Lisa's project: http://www.solomondiveadventures.com/

Pacific Casino Hotel, Honiara

I just spent a week in this hotel, in the capital of Solomon Islands. An adventure in itself, with friendly staff who tell your friends that you are out, while you are in the room :-) . Anyway it is a feast for the eyes due to the colourful decorations, and it has a wonderful view over Iron Bottom Sound, the water that hosts thousands of WWII shipwrecks.

Pigeons on my balcony in Geneva

In July I was a few days in Geneva. I am away so much that on my balcony pigeons have started nesting, with a couple of fragile eggs just behind my kitchen door. A friend said to throw the eggs on the street because if I let these urban pigeons have it their way, I would end up with years of returning parents and their offspring and tons of hard to remove pigeon shit. Mother pigeon however was loyally staying on or near her eggs looking at me with her tiny red eyes full of motherly love. I decided to let them in peace. I would be away most of the summer anyway and I even feel sorry that I will not be there to witness the young getting flying lessons and leaving home.....

Nina and Joon

20 June 2009. Mati, Greece.

Nina and Joon, wishing you all the happiness and love in the world! You both looked so gorgeous and it was such an honour to be with you on your Greek Wedding! xxx

Athens - Have you ever tried this?

June 2009. In front of the Greek Parliament is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier guarded by the city's famous statuesque 'evzones', the presidentials guards. They are being photographed by thousands of tourists every day, especially during the hourly changing of the guard. It is a spectacular sight observed by millions over the years, probably by you reader as well... But... have you ever tried to imitate the height at which they lift their legs?! Or to walk or stand still as they do....?? I did not manage when I tried it.They have a flexibility, control and balance many a tango dancer would envy!

Turkish delight (3) : Walking in Ankara

During my one and a half year in Ankara I walked quite a bit.

The daily walk from my home in Kavaklidere to the Hacettepe University Campus in Shihiye takes me 45 minutes. In this way I compensate somewhat for the lack of other physical activities such as cycling or dancing Argentinean tango, things that I used to do in another life, time and place.

Despite the presumed beneficial effects for health and condition, walking in Ankara is far from safe or healthy. And I am not even referring to the almighty car drivers who believe the streets are theirs.

Walking in Ankara is in fact a huge health hazard because there are no smooth or horizontal surfaces anywhere. Instead there are numerous slopes, potholes, high curbs, concrete "mushrooms," almost invisible and treacherous steps and gaps, and so on.

To illustrate what I mean, here some photos taken this week in the neighbourhood where I live. Anybody living in Ankara will confirm they are perfectly representative for sidewalks in Ankara city center in general.

Accident prone as I am, during my first months I stumbled and twisted my ankle several times.

The last time has been some months ago now; touch wood! As a matter of fact, I have learned to walk in a new way, watching my steps at all times. I completely unlearned using high heels.

Nevertheless I still often have that "narrow escape" feeling, when I just manage to avoid or correct a misstep.

I have just four more days in Ankara, four more days to watch my steps... I just hope I will reach the airport unscathed.

Next week, with a wedding coming up soon, I will need to relearn walking with high heels again ....

Georgia - Gaumarjos!!

April 2009. Georgia borders to Turkey in the North East, sharing the Black Sea coastline. While being so close, differences are far bigger than I expected. Take for example the unique Georgian language and its beautiful curly script.

Another interesting difference was the role of alcohol. While virtually absent in the daily life in Turkey it is overwhelmingly present in Georgia. It is for example not unusual to find a jar of chacha, the local fire water, or home made wine on the supra (meaning something like "feast") breakfast table in your guest house.

From Zugdidi, it is a five hour ride to Mestia (Upper Svanetia), along a rough winding road, with here and there fresh landslides, catching spectacular glimpses of snow capped Caucasus peaks. Along the side of the road we saw every couple of minutes small shrine-like structures, almost like mail boxes or bird-houses, some featuring portraits of one or two - usually young - men, who have perished on this treacherous road, presumably because of drunk driving. Friends and relatives leave offerings of wine and food on a small shelf in front of the portraits, and raise a glass to the memory of the departed and wishing for a safe trip for themselves.

On my last day, it was Orthodox Easter, along the road from Zugdidi to Batumi airport, where I needed to catch a flight back to Turkey, the graveyards were like joyous picnic places, living and dead people celebrating together, sharing food, wine, chacha .... (click on the photo and find the bottles!!)

Cheers, gaumarjos, sherefe!

Panta rei

"Panta rei", literally everything flows, sums up Heraclitus' philosophy, and means that everything is constantly changing, from the smallest grain of sand to the stars in the sky. Thus, every object ultimately is a figment of one's imagination. Only change itself is real, constant and eternal flux, like the continuous flow of the river which always renews itself.

The name of my blog site shows I relate to this. Changes are many, continuous and fast, and there is no keeping up with blogging. In the past month I have been in Republic of Georgia (Caucasus), Istanbul, Geneva and Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan). Now taking a breath in Ankara before moving on. I promise over the next few days to post a short visual impression of each of these places.

My second "Turkish Delight" (see my first blog for the first series) is a picture that I took last week of a shopwindow in Ankara showing side to side 'western' women clothes as well as fashionable outfits that go with headscarf. The headscarf is winning terrain in urban areas in Turkey; it is a also growing trend that these two styles go hand in hand, and relatively new that you find both in the same shop.

Our weeping philosopher Heraclitus, native of Ephesus (Efes) on the west coast of Asia Minor (nowadays Turkey), had he seen this, would he have smiled?

Until soon!

National study in Turkey finds 4 out of 10 women beaten by their husband

Ankara, 11 February 2009

For the first time Turkey has official statistics, which show that violence by husbands is the most common form of violence in the lives of married women, much more than assault by strangers and acquaintances.

"I have been married 23 years and throughout that time, I have suffered from physical and sexual violence. He would lose at gambling and frustrated, he would beat me up. He would then want to make love after the physical abuse and when I refused, more violence would follow." Those words belong to a woman of 44 years, a high-school graduate and mother of two who is now separated from her husband of 23 years.

The figures are the result of a yearlong National Research Project on Domestic Violence Against Women in Turkey, funded by the European Union with a budget of 2.5 million euros. The Directorate General of the Status of Women (KSGM) was the beneficiary of the study. According to its team leader, Henriette Jansen, the research, carried out by a consortium that includes the Icon Institute, Hacettepe University and BNP Consulting, is one of the most comprehensive in the world.

The study shows the grim reality of violence against women happening behind closed doors.

During the summer of 2008, 24048 households in 51 provinces in the whole country were visited by 150 trained interviewers who asked 12795 women aged 15-59 years, in a confidential and sensitive way, about their experiences of domestic violence and other types of violence. In the interview words like 'violence' or 'rape' were not used, but women were asked about a number of specific acts. For example, for physical violence women were asked whether her husband had ever beaten or kicked her, choked or burnt her, and so on. For sexual violence one of the questions was whether her husband had physically forced her to have sex while she did not want to.

Besides these interviews with women, also the opinions and experiences of many other people were documented, such as men, representatives of NGOs and professionals.

The study revealed that levels of violence varied between regions and that between 26% and 57% of ever-married women experienced physical or sexual violence by a husband at least once in her life. In regions where the level of violence was high the nature of the violence was also more serious.

Women who experienced violence by a husband are on average twice as likely to have poor health and mental problems, compared to women who have not. This includes suicidal thoughts and attempts. One out of 10 women reported being beaten during pregnancy.

The results also show that partner violence is very much a hidden problem. Women find it difficult to talk. For about half of the women the interviewer was the first person they had ever told what happened to them. Women very rarely seek help from health, police or other support services.

State Minister for Women’s Affair Nimet Çubukçu said at the official presentation of the results on 11 February 2009, that the research is expected to be a roadmap for policymakers, researchers, advocates and volunteers involved in violence prevention in the country. "We have to face the reality shown in this study," said Çubukçu. For the project’s team leader, Jansen, the research was a major step. "Silence is part of the problem. This research itself is an important social action," she said.

The report of this study contains the statistics as well as many stories as written up from the mouths of women.

For more information on the study: http://www.ksgm.gov.tr/tdvaw/default.htm

Turkish Delight

Turkey's delights

This is my very first blog!! So much to learn. It took me hours to just think of a name, to arrange the looks. Well, this is probably what all new bloggers go through. It is 4 a.m. so I will not make it too long, but I hope with this blog to share some nice titbits from my life and travels. Like Turkish delight (lokum), those translucent jellied jewels made with various fillings like walnut, pistachio and rose-water. Each one is surprising and delicious. I will try to make my blog entries like this. By the way, the photo in this post provides a link to my picasa web album with a similar name "Turkey's delights", with photographic impressions of my stay in Turkey. Suggestions from my blogging friends for me as new blogger are welcome. That's it for now!! More soon. Good night!