12 Apr 2014
'Tin Can' Island Exploits
One of the highlights of this trip was always going to be a visit to Niuafo’ou ('Tin Can') Island and it certainly proved a hit with our group. The historically difficult landing was this time relatively easy and with help from enthusiastic locals we were able to portage a small dinghy to Vai Lahi (Big Lake) the larger of the twin lakes in the caldera of this volcanic island. The endemic Tongan Megapode breeds on a tiny island in the lake and only a handful of people (apart from those living on Niuafo’ou) have ever seen this bird.
_l_gwynn_tongan_megapode.jpg "Tongan Megapode ©Lisle Gywnn")
©LisleGwynn Tongan Megapode
It was therefore very exciting for our entire group to get great views (and a few good photos) of a couple of individuals. You can only imagine the celebrations on board last night at the end of this unique day which ended our visit to Tonga.
11 Apr 2014
In the morning we visited Maninita Island, which was cleared of rats some years ago. This has allowed the regeneration of vegetation which in turn ha…READ MORE
10 Apr 2014
We are currently anchored in the beautiful harbour of Neiafu in Tonga’s Vava'u group of islands. Our birding party went to nearby Pangamotu Island ea…READ MORE
09 Apr 2014
We arrived in Tonga last night and completed customs and immigration formalities before sailing on to the small island of Eua, one of the oldest isla…READ MORE
