Saturday, December 28, 2013
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Visit to the Island of Dahu Rei Rei
As my son has a two week break from school for the holidays, I had suggested to our Pohnpeian family that we have some fun and go visit one of the lagoon islands for a weekend. I had suggested Nahlap and Black Corral Islands, but NohNoh Dio suggested we go to the island called Dahu Rei Rei in Madolenihmw, as her relatives own it. I was excited to visit yet another new island. For only $3 each per night and $10 for gas, my son and I were able to enjoy an amazing weekend on the beautiful lagoon island called Dahu Rei Rei, which literally means, "Long Island."
Dahu Rei Rei ZOOMED OUT
Dahu Rei Rei ZOOMED IN
Dahu Mwotomwot
Dahu Rei Rei
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We all packed the cars up on Friday morning with food, fishing gear and people and drove to Ohwa Marine Park, where we unloaded everything and then parked our cars at NohNoh Dio's relative's house. It took two trips to get all of our immediate and extended Pohnpeian family members to Dahu Rei Rei. As we fought the trade winds and the choppiness of the lagoon waters, we made our way to the small island. On the way there I spotted another small island that I had thought was our destination. Come to find out, that island is called, "Dahu Mwotomwet," or "Short Island." There weren't any local houses or signs of civilization on that island, though. A little while later I spotted what would be our final destination, Dahu Rei Rei; a beautiful island paradise located between main land Pohnpei and the barrier reef. This beautiful island has a few local houses built on it and is surrounded by crystal clear waters with hues of dark blue, aquamarine, green, orange and yellow as the various corral formations are reflected by the light of the sun from underneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
Panoramic from Dahu Rei Rei
Boat trip to Dahu Rei Rei......................................Traditional nahs where we stayed
Traditional "war" or hand dug canoe on Dahu Rei Rei.............Tommy jumping from the rope swing
Traditional house on Dahu Rei Rei.............Picture mainland Pohnpei from Dahu Rei Rei in the evening
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We all stayed in a large "nahs" or traditional feast house made of local mangrove wood and thatched roof. Soon after arrival, we jumped into the waters and went spearfishing using my long, local-style Pohnpeian spear that I had to do an overhaul on before the trip. The current was so strong and the fish were fairly small where the waters were more calm on the west side of the island. After spearing only one small fish while fighting the current, we decided to go net fishing on the east side of the island, facing the barrier reef. As NohNoh Dio and Tommy spread the long net over the reef in waste deep waters, Ryan, Startel, Ivan and I splashed the waters violently, chasing the fish into the net. We caught some small fish along with a huge fish with scary teeth that I needed to spear in the head, killing it and enabling us to safely remove it from the net. As the sun went down, my son and I geared up to go night spear fishing using our Hawaiian sling spears and underwater flashlights. Once again, the current was very strong, making it a lot of work to spear fish. This time we caught many fish as we searched the branch corral for parrot fish and other reef fish that were hiding. My hands still sting from reaching into the branch corral to pull out the fish that I speared. My son and I had a blast spear fishing on Friday night. We used some of the smaller fish that we caught the next morning as bait to go "epiep" or line fishing. I put a whole reef fish onto my hook and cast my hand line into the deeper waters. using a chunk of corral as a sinker. Within moments I hooked into a large "menger" or grouper that had taken the bait and swam into the rocks. After waiting for a while, I finally landed the nice sized fish.
Brianne having fun line fishing
Spreading the net on the corral reef.............Splashing the water in order to scare the fish into the net
Spearing the large fish that got caught in the net...................The large reef fish the we caught in the net
Reef fish that we caught net fishing and spear fishing during the day
The grouper that I caught hand line fishing on our second day at Dahu Rei Rei
Ingrid and her friend, Steven barbecued chicken and hotdogs for all of us. We all slept on the floor of the "nahs." We also got to eat "mworopw" or Polynesian chestnuts that were boiled and strong smelling. Apparently, they aren't only strong smelling while being cooked. Our Pohnpeian family and friends explained to us that if you eat a lot of them, you will have a lot of bad smelling gas the next day. We all laughed for hours together as we envisioned our car ride home together and a potential new way of fishing by farting underwater after eating "mworopw" and killing all of the fish. After lots of laughs together, we headed back home in shifts. Once we got home, we all reminisced about how much fun we all had together on our visit to the island of Dahu Rei Rei.
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Christian Young
Steven and Ingrid barbecuing....................................Underwater picture of Ingrid at Dahu Rei Rei
NohNoh Dio and NohNoh Glo at Dahu Rei Rei