Today was a spectacular day. It began with a gentle rain and the sun making its way through the clouds. Suddenly a lovely rainbow showed up in the sky letting us know that it was going to be a unique day of expedition.
As we cruised through the mighty ocean, several of our naturalists shared interesting presentations about birds of South Pacific and the sensitive coral ecosystem. Soon we began to see on the horizon an interesting formation of an atoll. The charts revealed that it was Namonuito Atoll
This atoll lies in the northwestern region of Chuuk State. It has a roughly triangular shape with the base running 82 kilometers along its southern side. A small island caught our attention, Magur Island. We couldn’t resist the idea of stopping and going ashore.
Right after lunch our expedition staff went to explore the surroundings and to our surprise, we found a small village that was home to less than 200 inhabitants. We went ashore and asked permission to land, which a majority of the village granted the honor. This little village had approximately 50 kids that greeted us with their friendly smiles and escorted us around the premises.
Not only did we have the lovely experience of meeting the villagers, but also the conditions were ideal to snorkel and use our glass bottom Zodiac. The reef was home to sea turtles and reef sharks. It was a great moment to refresh ourselves and enjoy all that Mother Nature wanted to share with us.
It was another interesting day exploring the remote Pacific.
