Serah's Lagoon Hideaway

The day got off to a bit of a rocky start. I had been doubting Ronnie's motives and efficacy. I suppose it started with the fact that when we met yesterday, we went to get a bite of lunch and he allowed me to pay without so much as a protest, or a thank you. Then he had been late both times he said he would meet me. I realize that island time is a different concept, but I am the guest here and I consider my time to be important. Anyway, I got up to meet Ronnie at 6 as agreed. By 6:30, Ronnie still had not appeared and I just went back to bed. If he couldn't meet me at the appointed time that early in the morning, I had better things to do. I figured he would send someone to fetch me if and when he showed up.

I guess he arrived about 6:45, but didn't send anyone for me. He said he would come back. He returned at 7:30 or 7:45, and did send someone to get me at that time. But I was a touch cranky. And I wanted a definite answer on how much staying at Serah's was going to cost. And when I asked him, he said, “200, I think.” “You think, or you know?” “I know.” All right then. I decided not to fight it any more and just go. We got out here and he hadn't actually gotten in touch with Serah. He had talked to her daughter in town, but hadn't heard from Serah herself. So I got in a canoe where Ronnie dropped me off and headed out to the hideaway. And when we arrived, Serah was called out and said, “Oh, hi. I didn't know you were coming.” Sigh!! She had actually been turning people away for the past couple of days because she is going to Fiji for about a month and will just close her place while she is away. But because I am only here for one night, she decided that I could stay. That's a good thing, as Ronnie had already left. And then, the price was quite a bit higher than Ronnie told me. (Once meals are figured in, it's three times higher.) Ronnie has work to do. If he is going to have people recommending him in any way, he's going to have to be more reliable.

In any case, I was here, I had no viable way back, and it is a rather nice environment, so I just sat back and relaxed. It's a peaceful lagoon. Because I was a surprise guest, Serah had to run around a bit to get stuff for me to eat, so it wasn't what she would normally offer her guests. But she put it together quickly and set up a room for me and welcomed me like a truly gracious hostess. And she talked. And talked. And talked. I learned much of her life story and the story of what's up with the Solomon Islands. It was all rather informative, and it was nice to talk to her. I think I would have preferred more of the peaceful setting though.

She will be leaving next week to go to a craft fair of sorts in Fiji. She makes shell money. She gets hold of shells here in the islands and, with the help of family and other people in the community, cuts, grinds and puts holes into pieces of shell. Then she strings them onto some sort of line and makes what amounts to money, in the small villages of the Solomon Islands. These shell strings can be used to buy things in exactly the same way as money. They are not valid in the cities though. I asked to see them and she showed me her wares. It's quite fascinating. She has been working very hard lately to make a bunch of shell necklaces and strings to take to Fiji. And I bought some from her as well.

After that, I took a little canoe trip around the lagoon to get a good look at it from the water. Unfortunately, I didn't take my umbrella and while I was on the water, a squall came over the mountain nearby and it began to rain on me. And my new camera. I had to stop, hunch over the bag holding my camera and try to keep it as dry as possible. I did succeed, but I shall have to listen to the little voice in my head that says to bring the umbrella next time.

People in the bay have been, I gather from Serah, somewhat marginalized and don't have the same land rights. So between the mangrove forests and their own ingenuity, they have created their own land. They have gone out into the lagoon and cut up a bunch of coral into blocks. They have taken the coral blocks and made walls on the outer edges of the mangrove forests. Then they filled in the areas behind the walls with dirt and other stuff and created a bit of land.

Serah herself has spent 21 years, she told me, creating her property, on which she now has her guesthouse. I think it's quite an accomplishment.

And now, I am sitting here as the sky clears, with almost no lights on the lagoon, watching the stars twinkle, and some kind of sea life that is acting like fireflies, winking with bits of bioluminescent light in the waters around my little bungalow. (This is what it looks like in the daytime.)

It's a great place just to unwind.