Pacific Travel
Pacific Travel
Exploring Kosrae’s Hidden Wonders
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Kosrae’s
rugged coastline awaits the adventerous traveler,
who can explore the island’s mangroves by canoe or kayak. |
The Utwe-Walung Marine Park-a massive preserve of indigenous trees and estuarine marvels- is truly one of the highlights of a trip to Kosrae. On a recent visit I was told of odd and rare coral formations that form in the brackish water and wondered about the rare and odd marine creatures that must call this strange habitat home.
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Kosrae is part of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Unlike the other FSM states-Chuuk, Yap and Pohnpei-Kosrae has no other landmasses or atolls. This state is entirely comprised of ocean and Kosrae Island. It juts from the sea and exposes its ragged cliffs to the clouds.
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The
mangrove canopy is thick, but canal-like waterways allow easy access.
The waters are home to rich marine life.
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The mangroves that surround the island provide many things for the reefs. They are an incubation area for small fish. They filter water running off the high island hills. And they exude nutrients with the tides that feed all sorts of corals and marine life.
Kosrae is known for its extremely healthy and thick growths of hard corals. From the surface you can see that this area is rich and competitive, with lots of coral diversity. Once under the water, the marine wonderland unfolds with huge bommies and a steep slope. Many Kosrae dives are like diving in an aquarium as the water here is generally always warm, clear and the corals growing on top of one another competing for space and nutrients. At Clam Point, our guide told us he worked with the island Marine Resources program and has helped seed the reefs with various clam species, including the giant, T. gigas. He showed us the clam farm and indeed clams of all sizes, some on the open reef and some in protective pens (to fend off octopus and other predators) were scattered over a broad, sunlit area. Each had its mantle out absorbing sunrays and displaying those psychedelic color patterns that seem to come straight from the '60s.
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Experienced
guide Takao Wakuk has detailed knowledge of the island’s flora
and fauna.
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A walk around the island usually brings smiles from the shy Kosraeans. Kosrae really doesn't get that many visitors so a tourist bearing a camera becomes entertainment of sorts. I was waiting along the Leluh causeway to get a nice sundown photo. I wanted to get the famous Sleeping Lady formation created by the island's mountains that looks like a lady resting on her back. A girl with a ukulele walked by and flashed a brilliant smile as she agreed to pose for me. Another fellow came by sporting but one front tooth. He watched as I snapped away as the sun headed down behind the Lady.
Kosrae has some ruins in Leluh that aren't quite as famous as those of neighboring Nan Madol in Pohnpei. But they have almost the same mysterious history. This was the ancient ruling center of Kosrae when it was a feudal society over 500 years ago (c. A.D. 1400). It had massive walled compounds. The king and high chiefs all lived in Leluh along with their servants, other commoners and low chiefs. At European Contact (A.D. 1824) Leluh had about 1,500 residents. The "city" contained over 100 walled compounds and was as large as Nan Madol. Today, one can wander the remnants of this city and imagine the effort it took to build and live in those days of social and political change.
A new road roams over the hills offering scenic vistas of the Utwe-Walung Marine Park and the reef beyond. In Walung, we walked through the tiny village and said hello to the kids who were reveling in the spectacle of the Sunday visitors.
The next day it was back in the water for some more coastal exploration. Kosrae is famous for its mooring buoys that mark more than 40 sites and prevent anchor damage. This is one reason the coral always looks so good here.
The park is located between Utwe and Walung villages. It is a community based conservation area, recognized by the people and state of Kosrae for its outstanding and sustainable biodiversity. It was the dream of a local man-Madison Nena-who also owns Kosrae Village Dive and Eco Adventure Resort. His constant efforts to educate people on the value of this amazing area and finally to get it declared a marine park have earned him a number of conservation awards.
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Experienced
guide Takao Wakuk takes a canoe through the mangroves.
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And so here we were, reaping the benefits of his decades of effort. The park has numerous mangrove channels. There are also ancient stone ruins built centuries ago deep in the rainforest. You can also snorkel the reefs or stroll along the isolated beaches near Walung Village. The park has a newly completed headquarters just a stone's throw from the famous pirate trader Bully Hayes' shipwreck site. Hayes is supposed to have buried a fortune in treasure on Kosrae. Maybe it lies deep in the park. Only Bully knows for sure, rest his black soul.
This is where we burst out from the inner passages of the mangroves into a marine lake that closely adjoined the beach area, separated by coconut tree laden levees on the reef side. On the land side, huge mangrove and the indigenous Terminalia trees create a jungle.
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| A fisherwoman finds a crab among the mangrove trees. |
Around one turn, we encountered mangrove crab hunters. Our guide Tadao Wakuk told us that these two women were by far the best crab hunters in all of Kosrae as they shyly displayed their crab catch--I later found out it was most probably his wife and daughter. He also said it was much more fun to encounter clam catchers. "They must dig down deep in the mud and that mud can itch if you have clothes on," he told us. "So the women catch clams completely naked!"
As the day waned, we didn't have any such exciting encounters. But we did have a Draculan moment. As the sun set, flocks of fruitbats took to the sky and started to pump their way across the park to the mainland. It was truly one of those natural moments when the crimson sky, filled with chirping giant bats, provided a show that can only be seen in the remote places of the Earth.
