| Sinaranggu Harbour is home to the East
Kwaio people, renowned as the 'wildest' of the Malaitans. Your village
stay hosts live in a coastal village only an hour's hike from relatives
who live in traditional bush villages where life goes on as it has for
centuries, with little evidence of the encroachment of the Western world.
The men still wear laplaps and boar's tusks, the women smoke pipes while
weaving delicate string baskets, and day to day trading still involves the
exchange of pigs and shell money.
Your host can show you animist worship sites near
the harbour. Activities at Sinaranggu include dugout canoeing and nature
walks - the area is virtually untouched by development and the environment
is pristine. Due to the dominance of tribal customs in this area,
"touristy" pastimes such as sunbathing are not appropriate and
the hosts would prefer guests who will "tread softly" on the
local culture. Visitors arrive at Sinaranggu by air into Atoifi airfield
(Mon-Fri) or overland from Auki by road and canoe. Atoifi airfield motor
canoe transfers: S$75/A$24. Road/canoe transfers to Auki: S$150/A$48. |


|
| Village stay
is a warts-and-all travel experience particularly suited to the Solomons,
where villages are safe and friendly, and the traditional lifestyle is
still widely practised. Village stay gives visitors the opportunity to
experience the local culture first hand by actually staying in a
village-style house, trying out traditional foods and observing or joining
in on day to day village activities. Village hosts also accompany their
guests on excursions away from the village for sightseeing or recreation.
Who better to show you the local attractions than the people who live
there? Naturally the standard of accommodation and facilities in villages
cannot compete with resort hotels: some aspects of comfort and convenience
are traded for authenticity. But only a village stay can offer visitors a
real insight into the culture and lifestyle of the Solomon Islanders.
Host families are
well-established members of their village communities. Most of them follow
subsistence lifestyles, growing food in extensive hillside gardens,
raising domestic livestock and fishing in surrounding waters. Many village
stay hosts carry responsible positions in community and church leadership.
All members of the host family are involved in looking after guests,
undertaking various tasks such as harvesting from the gardens, fishing,
cooking, and acting as interpreters and guides. Village hosts speak
English, but will of course be keen to teach you a few words of Solomons
Pidgin or their local language.
Accommodation at
village stays is usually a guest bungalow situated next to the family
home, constructed in traditional style from logs, bamboo, loya cane, sago
palm leaves and rough-cut rainforest timbers. Bungalows usually have two
bedrooms opening onto a verandah, and can accommodate up to six people.
Bedding is supplied by the hosts (mattresses, pillows, sheets and mosquito
nets). Guests are provided with a private toilet and a screened-off
outdoor bathroom (where showers may involve standing under a gush of piped
springwater or scooping rainwater from a drum!).
Meals are
provided by village hosts, who will sit you down to three big offerings of
local-style food every day, and ply you with copious amounts of tropical
fruit and fresh coconut juice in between. Typical village breakfast is
billy tea with home-baked bread buns and jam. Lunch often features green
vegetables cooked in coconut milk, with fish, sweet potato, rice and
fruit. The evening meal is usually cooked motu style under hot stones.
This may include vegetables, fish, chicken or pork, all wrapped in banana
leaves and cooked to perfection. Guests are welcome to bring with them any
additional food items. Village drinking water comes from rainwater tanks
or is collected from underground mineral springs. |