What a great adventure day! Apii, one of the park rangers stationed here on Sawarrow, arranged a coconut crab hunting excursion for a dozen cruisers. At a motu about three miles away, we anchored and walked ashore where we saw more birds than we've seen since leaving Mexico. As this is a national park and monitored by the New Zealand government (who employs the Cook Island police officers as rangers), the birds are protected here. This motu is a full of boobie and frigate nests.
The hunt began after a vigorous walk through ankle deep passes over rough coral rock where we encountered several ribbon eels and found pretty cowrie shells. Apii led us into the jungle via a path that quickly ended and we fended off scratchy leaves and branches as we scattered in search of coconut crabs. We were told that only those the "size of a large dinner plate" are of legal size and we wondered if we really wanted encounter such a large crab out here in the jungle! Ones that can reportedly sever a grown man's finger with its large claw. Afterall, these crabs crack open coconuts for nourishment!
The jungle was crawling with coconut crabs but all we saw were too small for harvest. Disheartened we retreated to the beach after an hour's search believing we would not be feasting on crab that evening. Wrong! Ten of us garnered four medium sized crabs total. Apii emerged from the bush victorious with EIGHTEEN large crabs bundled in his shirt!
Twenty-two coconut crabs fed twenty-two people with enough left over for eighteen people to feast on crab cakes the following day. The meat was tougher than crabmeat to which we are accustomed and the shells required hearty tools. James likened it to venison versus beef where the coconut crab meat is more gamey. It wasn't as sweet and tender as the Dungeness crabs of the Pacific Northwest but we liked it just the same. There is a fatty sack at their butt end that we were told is "an acquired taste". The baby poop color and runny texture of it was unappetizing so we did not venture a taste. It is sure easy to see how the local population could survive with these in their diet. Apii talked of one of the farther motu where the crabs haven't been hunted for years. He believes there would be plenty of large ones there. We hope to go on another hunt there this week after our friends from Totem and IO arrive as we know they would love to join in the adventure.
