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.
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.
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.
H, so glad to see you and the whales and the whale shark and the pan pipers! You are truly blessed to be able to swim with the giants of the deep who mean us no harm. What fantastic photos, thank you for sharing them with your friends. Love from your Solomon team.
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