Day Six on the Island

Our last full day on the island included giving our exit report at the college. “Exit report” is a rather fancy name for the half hour the team chair has to present preliminary findings to the college, perhaps with some hints about possible commendations and recommendations. The team also gets the chance to thank some of the people who have been particularly kind or helpful during the site visit. The exit report is not a dialogue; it’s a monologue. The chair introduces the members of the team and speaks for about thirty minutes. The team then leaves as a group, gets into the vehicles (getaway cars?) as quickly as possible, and leaves the campus for the last time. Questions from the audience are not allowed, and I always leave exit reports wondering how everyone has reacted to what we’ve told them. A lot of campus personnel show up for the exit report; even the campus dogs followed us to the practice gym for the presentation.

When you’ve finished your section of the draft evaluation report, like we had, you don’t have much to do on the morning of the last day of a site visit. We had lunch and talked to each other about our home campuses until it was time to give the exit report. I did go with some other members of the team to the campus bookstore and bought a book on the ethnobotany of Pohnpei. I’m hoping to find out the names and purposes of some of the remarkable and beautiful plants on the island.  

After going back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes, we were off to the ancient ruins of Nan Madol. Our guide, Kenji, and his friend (who was always at the back of the line and whose primarily goal seemed to be making sure that everyone made it in and out of the site safely) took us on quite a lengthy drive to the location of the ruins. They are quite far from the hotel and the college; in fact, they are just off Temwen Island, a smaller island situated close to the main island of Pohnpei.

Kenji made for an interesting tour guide. He told us stories about the country and its chiefs and their people and the legends of the past. The stories were a bit enigmatic, to be honest, and sounded rather more metaphorical than realistic. He’s a good storyteller, though, and was certainly entertaining to listen to. By the way, Kenji is of both Pohnpeian and Japanese heritage, and he and his wife (who is of French descent) run the ramen noodle shop where we had eaten earlier in the week.

We had to walk through a mangrove forest to get to the ruins, and we passed by what could only be described as a series of mangrove swamps. We saw some spectacular images, and everyone took lots of pictures. That book on ethnobotany is definitely going to come in handy.

For the tour of Nan Madol, we had to pay $20 each for the guides. You then have to pay tribute to three chiefs whose land you cross to get to the ruins: $1 for the first one, $3 for the second one, and $3 for the last one. I don’t know why the first chief only gets one dollar. We had to bring enough dollar bills with us to cover these “charges.”

To get to the ruins themselves, we had to cross a river (or perhaps it was a stream or maybe a canal). Thankfully, it was at low tide, so crossing was relatively easy. I had borrowed The Boyfriend’s Nike flip flops specifically for this part of the trip. I took off my shoes and socks, put the flip flops on, crossed the river, and put my socks and shoes back on. I had to do the same on the way back.

It’s tough to describe the ruins. There are lots of great views there, and you find yourself wondering how such large rocks were placed to make the walls and other structures. No one is completely certainly how long ago Nan Madol was completed, and the locals apparently won’t go near it because they think it’s haunted.

We had an exciting afternoon touring the ruins and the forests surrounding them. Our next stop was the Kepirohi Waterfall, another $3 charge. Getting to the waterfall involves another spectacular trek through the jungle and lots of beautiful plants. The waterfall itself is a beautiful sight, and much like Nan Madol, hardly any of the local people go there—although apparently not out of fear that the waterfall is haunted. Since the island has very little tourist trade, that means we had the place all to ourselves. Kenji bought a bag of donuts at the roadside stand where you pay your entrance fee to the waterfall. We then proceeded to throw pieces of donuts to the fish, who would eat them before the donut even hit the water. We also attracted the attention of a very large eel with a taste for donuts as well. I made some videos of both the waterfall and the eel.

For dinner, we went to Kenji’s restaurant, the Nett Ramen Café and Restaurant, where I had a different type of ramen this time. Both types were delicious, and I managed to get a picture this time. I also picked up four small handicrafts they had for sale at a small table near the entrance: two hearts and two stars. We also chatted with Kenji and his wife, who is expecting their first child in a couple of months. They apparently live in the house across the street from the restaurant, so we also met some other members of the extended family.

I was certainly tired when I got back to the hotel. Unfortunately, I had another “visitor” in my room. The previous day, I had encountered an enormous cockroach next to the door. I used a shoe to kill it, and it was quite… “juicy.” However, when I told the other team members, I was criticized for not taking a picture of it before killing it. I remedied that the next time. This cockroach was in the closet, so I had a chance to get my phone before it ran away. Unfortunately, though, it ran away to join its family and I missed my chance to squash this one.