To photograph bats flying overhead in the sunset, a trip through the Vona Vona lagoon took us to Lola island. KUNA was left behind at anchor: it was best to conduct a reckie by fast motor canoe (a banana boat with a 40 horse power that is) rather than motor for 7+ hours zig zaging through the lagoon. During the trip I obtained a well marked GPS track for the deeper waters to follow next time with the KUNA. This lagoon is definitely catamaran country, with a max depth of 5 meters and reefs everywhere. Most small islands are free of people, and impossible to land on, as bordered by mangrove. As such it is also the country for crocodiles.
An enthusiastic scientist tells us all about the bats flying overhead in this spot, but are they really filmable ?!!
Small islets are scattered in the lagoon which is about 5 m deep on average. Crocs live here.
Vona Vona lagoon viewed from the sky (Google Earth!)
At the resort on lola island (a very low key establishment) we met a Venezuaelian fanily a father and his three sons, who have been cruising on their well travelled yacht since 1995! The sons are surfers, the yacht was loaded with 30 surfboards!!!. They were waiting for a wave 2 miles of the resort, though it’s quite late in the season (normally Dec to April) they were still hoping for a low to generate swell from the Solomons Sea. They had the refreshing mentality of going where the wind pushed them…
