Elato atoll, Micronesia

Elato, small atoll with less then 100 inhabitants, lay's about 20 Nautical miles west from Lamotrek, we were invited to this atoll, by the chief because some outboards engines had a problem, and I was ask to have a look at them, we did not need to pay the landing fee, which is normally between 10 and 20 USD a person.

Arrival at Elato

The men's house in Elato.

Sitting in the men's house with chief John.

Glenda in the school

Teacher Vincent.

Women like to make crowns of flowers, and give then to their husbands or loved ones.

In Elato the men catch plenty turtle, they divide the meat and eggs, nothing gets wasted, even the intestines got eaten, we have eaten them raw, cut in pieces with some soya sauce., as a snack.

the men cutting and dividing the turtle meat. 

                                     It is John's birthday, he receives some extra turtle eggs.

When the slaughter is over the dogs me clean the table.

Glenda bringing popcorn to the school.

Young girl learning how to waif a basket  from a coconut leaf.

Class for the young kids to learn how to waif a basket

Local kitchen, women spend daily much time on cooking.

Barbecue with turtle meat. 

John and his family.

No wind today

Carlos making the handle for a cutting tool.

                                                              Helena on anchor.

Coral for the baby.

Local manner of fishing, they look under water to see the fish bite.

Kids playing cards.

Steve showing the start of his carving, a dolphin.

 This carving is made for the navigators, to calm down the sea when there is a storm.

Glenda enjoying the lady's. in Elato, 

Lamotrek atoll, Micronesia

Lamotrek, Micronesia.

Lamotrek is an atoll from the state of Yap, were the old customs and tradition are common live style, for the first time we drunk "tuba" sweet and sour juice made from the coconut tree, sweet for the women and children, sour for the men, because then it is fermented and contains 6 to 8 percent of alcohol, there are four drinking circles in Lamotrek, men gather around 3 in the afternoon, to drink their morning "collect" and talk and work, around 5 they go to "collect" again, means they go to there tree's to collect the tuba for the next round of drinking, which last until 8 or 9 in the evening, then its time to go to sleep.

We were on a mooring, and sometimes just above a coral head, it looks close but it is still 5 meter below the boat.

Chief Francis, in the men's house with some children.Here we are eating sushimi, I caught two yellow fin tuna, and that with some vinegar, soy sauce, herbs and wasabi, makes a delicious snack.
Its tradition for the local people to use red lip stick on there face to make marking for fun, like the boy here in the picture.

Were the man sits, his bottle with tuba is close, some are making rope from coconut fibre.

Making rope from coconut fibre, is a general occupation.

There are some air-plane wrecks from WW2 in Lamotrek, this one is Japanese. 

One of the drinking and gathering circles.

Men making a fish trap, while drinking tuba

Man doing some wood carving.

Glenda in the school 

Chief Francis coming for a visit.

Dinghy on the beach.

The school.

Children bringing back some fish.

Chief Francis family 

Me and my love.

Men collecting his tuba in the coconut tree.

The coconut in the tree, filling up with tuba.

Glenda got customized with the local women. This is on mothers day, then the women nurse themselves with flowers and turmeric powder.

When catching a turtle, then its party time, the got killed and cooked, and the meat and eggs got divided under all the family's.    

The men cutting and dividing the turtle.

Hundreds of eggs getting divided under the family's

Girl making a lava lava.

It takes about 4 day's to make one lava lava.

Me repairing (another) outboard.

Receiving some food from the friendly local people.

Coconut crab, delicious.

some lava lavas drying.

Man cutting a piece of wood for his boat.

Paul making a fish trap.

Girls cleaning fish on the beach.

Bread fruit boiled with coconut milk.

The betel nut is chewed in Micronesia. 

To make the betel nut, stronger they ad lime (the white powder), and a piece of leave (that makes the mouth completely red),  lots of people are chewing and spitting all around. 

 Some fish is dried under glass, on the bottom under the grid is made mosquito net to protect the fish against the flies, flies there are every were plenty, on the left is some coconut fibre drying, to make rope. and the empty tuba bottle is ready to be filled up.

We had a good time in Lamotrek, a very friendly and traditional culture, lots of new things we have learned, and good people we have met, but our time in Micronesia is limited, so we have to leave, goodbye Lamotrek.