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Click for more information about Tonga
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MTP Member Photos - Tonga
MTP Member Posts - Tonga
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2007 Dec by Michael Novins |
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December 2007 -- I flew from Auckland on Air New Zealand and stayed at the Waterfront Lodge (http://www.waterfront-lodge.com/lodge.htm) in Nuku'alofa. | |
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2007 Aug by Shane Westmore |
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I visited Tonga on a whim after being offered cheap last-minute flights from Sydney, Australia, and only had a couple of weeks to organise things and for the first time in my travels I was under prepared. Flying onto the island of Tonagtapu I headed towards the capital of Nuku'alofa, which is worth walking around in, but the whole town can be seen in one to two hours. The best ways I found to get around Tongatapu were either by taxi (normal cars that can be distinguished by the T in their number plate and negotiating a price, although unofficial taxis can be found by negotiating a price either by a car approaching you or flagging one down), local buses which are mainly mini buses which all the locals catch heading to various parts of the island for 1 to 2 Tongan dollars (dollars are known as Pa'anga but are commonly referred to as dollars), or by negotiating a shuttle service with your accommodation place (some offer a service for the same price as a taxi but check while booking). There are a few tour companies who run tours of Tongatapu, but they range from 40 Pa'anga up to 80 Pa'anga and higher so it's best to shop around. Inquire at Teta Tours and Friends Cafe in town, or various accommodation places offer tours, the cheapest being with Toni's Guesthouse. However most tours are reasonably laid back and the only highlights are blowholes, cliffs, beaches, and some old stone structures, so it might or might not be worth the money. Beaches on the north west coast of Tonagatapu are some of the best to visit e.g. Ha'atafu beach and Otuhaka beach, but waves can often be small, a coral reef covers the coastline so shoes or flippers are required for walking even a metre from the sand, guesthouses can be very expensive and limited in the way of food or boat and surfboard hire, and buses there are infrequent so taxis are a good option. It's best to shop around and do some research or expect to pay at least 80 Pa'anga a night for basic accommodation. The island of 'Eua is either a 2-hour ferry away for about 40 Pa'anga one way, or a 6-minute flight (that's right, 6 minutes in the air!) for 60 Pa'anga one way. Flights can be booked at the Teta Tours office where service is very slow, and ferry enquiries can be made also at Teta Tours, or at Friends Cafe which also offer ferries to several other islands. 'Eua is a lot more quiet than Tongatapu (even though Tongatapu is no bustling metropolis itself), however several hikes can be had through the jungle and is the best place for hikes in Tonga. There are not many taxis to speak of, but drivers of small utility trucks drive in and out of the plantations frequently and are happy to offer a free ride if you flag them down. I stayed with Taini at her guesthouse Taina's Place, and she was very welcoming, offered a map for hiking because the tourist offices and travel agents don't, and even cooked for the guests. The island people are very relaxed and the whole place is very quiet so it's a nice soothing place to visit. 'Eua also has a handful of beaches, but finding a place to swim can be difficult as the coastline is dotted with rocks and coral reef. Tourism seems a bit underdeveloped here, and transport even when booked can often be cancelled or postponed for various reasons. I personally booked return flights to one of the smaller islands, 'Eua, and the flight back was cancelled because the only plane had been flown to Fiji for maintenance and couldn't be flown back until the following day. So be prepared for anything, and if flying out of Tonga it's wise to give yourself a day or so just in case cancellations happen. An example of low supply of tourism here, I travelled to Tonga expecting to swim with whales in Vava'u as I was told this was one of the best places to do so in the world, but I found out there was one ferry a day to Vava'u leaving Tuesdays and taking at least 20 hours to get to Vava'u and returning only on Wednesdays, and flights were only operated by Air Fiji at about 300 Pa'anga or more one way and were all booked out for weeks, so it's best to book well in advance if travelling in peak season when the whales are at their most abundant, around June to August. So I was disappointed to find out I would have to stay another week to get a ferry to go whale swimming, and it was too costly to change my flights and be stranded in Vava'u for a week, so I missed out there. Nuku'alofa itself has several cafes and restaurants and bars, a few supermarkets, a few ATMs, and a couple of banks. This is the main place to find all these things as the rest of Tonagtapu and even 'Eua are pretty barren in terms of consumerism. In Nuku'alofa harbour I noticed a lot of private boats from people who were sailing around all of the Pacific Islands. A handful were looking for one or two people to come aboard and offer assistance in sailing to New Caledonia or Fiji or New Zealand, so hiring a boat for an extended period could be the best way of getting around Tonga, and ultimately giving you control over your own travel times. | |
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1992 Dec by Veikko Huhtala* |
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In 1992 we had our second Around the World trip. From Apia we flew by Air New Zealand to Nuku’alofa, where we stayed four nights. Tonga is an archipelago of 170 islands. Kingdom of Tonga has population of 100,000. Tongatapu is the main island where 70 per cent of population is living. Capital Nuku’alofa itself has 22,500 inhabitants. We spent one day on Sun Island and met one Finnish man, who had been in Tonga about one year. In Tongatabu we walked three days around the island, accompanied by two friendly dogs, who came everywhere with us. For my opinion Tonga is one of the best countries on the Pacific area. From Tonga we flew by Air Pacific to Suva. | |
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1991 Feb by Jorge Sanchez |
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When I landed in Tonga I hitchhiked and local people drop me in Nukualofa, the capital of the country, where I found a free stay in the hall of the hotel Beach House, thanks to the benevolent receptionist. I would stay one week in Tonga visiting on foot and hitchhiking to the most remarkable places of its main island, such as the Royal Palace and the archeological ruins. While walking in the villages, I was surprised to remark that practically all the houses of Tonga had a patio with a cemetery. The tombs, rather sarcophaguses, were called Langi in the local language. I was very interested in visiting the archipelago of Vavau, because the first westerners that saw those islands were Spaniards, commanded by the captain Francisco Antonio Mourelle, in 1781, but I had not enough money for the journey in boat, so I had to stay all my time in Tongatapu Island. The last two nights I slept by the Ha’amonga Maui, a triliton of 12 tons, which is considered a mystery in Oceania. The measures of that triliton are, approximated: 6 meters long, per 5 meters high, per 2 meters wide. It was erected during the XII or the XIII centuries and its purposes are considered to be astronomical, agricultural and for navigation, indicating the position of the sun and the stars. I took off my lava-lava, a kind of skirt very popular and convenient dress used by men in hot Polynesian islands, and made a rope, thanks to which I could climb to the top of the triliton being very careful so as not to fall down. Once on the top I observed that, indeed, there were marks pointing the solstice direction. In fact the triliton had been erected observing the four cardinal points. According to local people living by the triliton and who would give me a mattress to sleep better under the stars, that triliton marked the position of sunrise during the times of the solstices and equinoxes. After one week in Tonga, I flew to Vanuatu. ................................................... In december 2014 I travelled to Vavau in order to find some signs or plaque devoted to the Spanish explorer Francisco Antonio Mourelle, who in 1781 landed in Vavau (Puerto del Refugio) for the first time for an European, in his way from Manila to Acapulco (with the Galeon de Manila) and established friendly relations with the natives.The first day, thanks to the locals, I found a plaque by the port, in english language, put by a Spanish delegation in 1981, commemorating 200 years after the Spanish discovery.Since my plane back to Nukualofa was 3 days later I had the opportunity the next day of my arrival, Sunday, to participate in the Mass service in the Catholic Cathedral. Sundays in the Pacific islands are holy and nobody works, even the airport was closed, no flights scheduled for that day.I was surprised to see everybody in church dressed with tapa, even the statues of Jesus and Virgin Mary were covered with tapa. It was a most colourful Mass service, with songs. Instead of bells, faithfull people called to the Mass service with drums, and after the ceremony they gathered to talk and prepare coffee with some sweets, to celebrate Sunday.I was lodged in a Basque Tavern, owned by a family from San Sebastian, in Spain, with spanish atmosphere, sangria, tapas and flamenco guitar. They already live there many years, since the times when they arrived by a sailing boat from Spain, via Panama, the Marquesas Islands and Samoa, and loved Tonga, deciding to stay there all their life. The son of one of the Basques found a girl from Tonga, married to her and today has five children who speak Tongan, Spanish and English languages.The third day I flew back to Nukualofa and some days later travelled back to Spain, via Los Angeles and Mexico........................................................... THE CAPITAL OF THE KINGDOM OF TONGA: Nuku\\\'alofa, the capital of Tonga has no much population and is a very pretty town. Apart from the Royal Palace there are many interesting places to visit, mainly the churches and the Royal Tombs in downtown.Tonga is the only Kingdom in Oceania and the country has never been invaded by an European country.I had to spend 3 days in Nuku\\\'alofa before flying back to Fiji and then to Los Angeles. One day was devoted to the Trilithon of Ha\\\'amonga, not far from Nuku\\\'alofa (there are frequent buses to get there), and the other two I enjoyed Nuku\\\'alofa. Hostels are cheap and people very friendly. I slept in the Backpackers Townhouse for a very fair price, and the owners even allowed me to catch papayas from the trees in their garden. It was located just next door to the Royal Tombs, in downtown.In the tourist Office they offered me a lot of information and cultural activities. The building itself was very beautiful, looking like a traditional Tonga house.I had been in Tonga for some days in the year 1991, but no much I remembered from that first visit. On this second visit in 2015 I could fly to Vavau Island where I stayed for 3 days studying about the journey of the Spanish explorer Francisco Antonio Mourelle, who discovered those islands for the Western World in 1781................................................................... IN SPANISH: Una de las grandes construcciones arqueológicas más impactantes de Oceanía es el Trilito de Ha’amonga’a, en el Reino de Tonga. Había estado en ese país unos días en el año 1991, durmiendo debajo de él. En aquellos tiempos los vecinos me trajeron un colchón y fruta para cenar. Gracias a mi lavalava (una especie de faldón polinesio) que usé a manera de soga, trepé a lo alto del Trilito para observar sus señales que marcaban los puntos cardinales y eran útiles para la navegación, pues los polinesios han sido grandes navegantes. Pero en un viaje posterior casi dos décadas y media más tarde a Tonga, cuando invertí varios días en volar a las islas de Vavau para aprender más sobre el descubrimiento para el mundo occidental de ese archipiélago por el navegante gallego Francisco Antonio Mourelle de la Rúa, al regreso en Tongatapu resolví visitar de nuevo el trilito. Esta vez todo el complejo estaba cercado con vallas. Tuve que hacer un gran rodeo penetrando en el mar y abriéndome paso entre la maleza para alcanzar ese trilito, lleno de arañazos. Al rato una nativa que abrió las rejas y trató varias veces de venderme collares y reproducciones del gran trilito. En este segundo viaje no me quedé a dormir bajo el trilito, algo que estaba prohibido. Había letreros explicando en inglés la historia del lugar. Además, noté la presencia de una gran piedra que no recuerdo haber visto durante mi primer viaje. Se llamaba Maka Faakinanga, aunque era menos atractiva que el trilitón. En mi viaje en autobús de regreso a Nukualofa, la capital del país, observé las tumbas de Lapaha a través de las ventanas del autobús, pero no las consideré lo suficiente atractivas como para bajarme a explorarlas. Celebré ese día bebiéndome en una cantina de Nukualofa una cerveza de marca Ha’amonga’a Mau’i. | |
MTP Visitors to Tonga
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