There is no anchorage for the KUNA at Mbiche so the Kuna stays at Peava, just round the corner, 6 miles by kayak away. The village is located on the weather coast of Ngatokae, and only rugged people live on these shores constantly beaten by the trade winds.
high cliffs near Mbiche
Huge swells may raise up and down black pebble beaches: the coral platform disappears under volcanic rocks, that people there know how to turn into bowls and mortars. A Mbiche specialty!!!
Stone carving
The community there runs a number of small projects, of which they are all proud and even happier to show them on camera. Interestingly, from their on account the Mbiche mob decided to run a bit of a tour for visitors which is “over organized”. Their idea of tourism has yet to mature (by our white standards), but for a country whose tribes were head hunting eachother still less than 50 years ago, their hospitality is pretty good!).
- Look closer, there is a human skull amongst these carvings!
Mbiche even runs a small lodge, right in the middle of the village. Simple, 50SBD per person per night for accommodation with matress and mosquito net provided (says the sign!)
the small lodge in the gardens
The good thing about this lodge is that the chickens are on the other side of the village but breakfast is brought to your room early enough, 7 am, bugger! Food is plentiful (20SBD per meal) and the village ladies rotate the preparation of the meals so that everyone gets a small cash income.
The other main source of cash in this village is that of a private donor through the initiative of the University of Queensland: in exchange for conservation initiatives, ie forest and reef , the community receives cash to cover the school fees for the children.
Several organizations in the process of making Ngatokae Island and model for conservation are pushing for native forest to stay intact in the very few areas it has not been logged. Mbiche has one of the rare areas of forest which has not been logged yet and a few people in the community with environmental awareness and enough good leadership to convince people that there are cash alternatives to logging.
Taking the pikinis climbing in the forest for the camera showed it was very well worth it for future generations. Not only providing play trees, the forest provides food and shelter for itsinhabitants. Here some kids a breaking the Gnahli nuts, which falls of a huge tree
Gnahli nuts are broken with rocks and eaten in the forest
Other projects from Mbiche include an oil press. The oil press enables them to produce coconut oil, for cooking or massage and sell it. The production of coconut oil is labour intensive but the process is very simple. Nothing can go wrong with the robust oil press, so no technical knowledge is needed from the outside.
The coconuts are husked and broken open…
Then scratched…
Then dried
Then the scratchings are pressed to release the oil which is filtered and bottled.
Anyone who wishes some frangipani perfumed massage oil for Xmas let me know!!!
But wait!! There is more: all in the village insisted we come back to film the MPA, marine protected area and couldn’t wait for it to get markers again.
