Sunday, October 17, 2010

Tui (like you're spitting)


In the village of Yalobi on Waya Island, we met 62 year old Tui who became our friend and guide. Insatiably curious, Tui engaged us on the beach with questions about our boat. After strongly hinting how much he'd love to see the inside of a "yacht like that", we invited him home with us where Bear gave him the nickel tour. We almost had to retrieve Tui's chin from the floor when he stepped into the salon. He seemed frozen in awe and kept repeating, "a floating house".


The following morning Tui led us on a hike up the mountain for "great views and lemons". After eight months of drought, we'd just experienced two days of downpour and consequently the trail was slick with mud. We scampered up the inclines in our Keens while Tui made the trip flawlessly in paper thin flip-flops. The views from the top were spectacular but the lemons were dry as bones.