Discover Tetepare
We could all do with some island time right now. On the top of my post-Covid travel list is a tropical island I long to return to.
Paradise in the Pacific, Western Solomon Islands
The remote island of Tetepare is a gem in the western Solomon Islands, and is one of the last places where forests have been spared in the Pacific.
Prior to the Covid pandemic I was lucky enough to stay with friends in a traditional leaf house, leaving technology behind to enjoy the richness of nature at its best.
Indigenous descendants of Tetepare, care for the land, where giant rainforest trees grow from the top of volcanic ridges down to touch the waves. For more than a decade, they have enforced a fishing ban in the large lagoon and carried out marine turtle and dugong protection. Coral famous for its diversity surrounds the island – a testament to the health of this ecosystem.
Protection of these ancient Tetepare rainforests didn’t happen easily.
Tetepare descendent Mary Bea (Auntie Mary) told us how the forest was nearly lost. She had watched helplessly as trees were logged and bulldozed on the neighbouring island of Rendova. With the loss of the forests, she says, the local culture of caring for nature broke down, and rivers became dirty and were no longer good for drinking. For the first time, people experienced flash floods in the village. She told us how the once-abundant marine fishing grounds were spoilt with sediment.
They couldn't stop the logging of Rendova. But when Mary and her family heard about a proposal to log Tetepare, the women who were the original island descendants decided they had to stop it from happening. They jumped on boats and travelled the two hours to fight in the courts to protect Tetepare.
Mary explained it is the woman in most of the Solomon Islands who traditionally own the land. As traditional landowners, the women asserted their rights to prevent logging.
“We knew what was right for Tetepare,” says Mary. “Now I am thankful to be a woman who protected Tetepare Island.”
Mary now works to ensure Tetepare has a genuinely sustainable ecotourism business, which funds the conservation, monitoring and protection of this truly wonderful eco-haven.
Visiting Tetepare Island is an adventure. First, get to Munda, by boat or by plane. From there, you are in the care of Tetepare people who transport you in a small boat.
On the journey, we saw bright blue flying fish, pigeons, dragonflies, and butterflies fluttering between emerald islands.
With a maximum of 12 guests at Tetepare Island, you are surrounded by nature and not people. The virgin forest holds a remarkable diversity of bird life. Mustachioed swifts, red-knobbed imperial pigeons, and flocks of cockatoo were everywhere. Song parrots nibbled on berries erupting from the bushes as we walked by. Giant butterflies fluttered, flashing iridescent blues.
On arrival, Mary’s husband, Uncle Twoomey explained the things we needed to take care around such as crocodiles and some very itchy trees, I really wanted to avoid. He also explained about kastom or traditional protocols and how to respect the land and the people. He told us he would guide us on walks at night and during the day to teach us and keep us safe.
The sounds of the forest were incredible. The change from night to day was a crazy chorus. At night, we debated what the calls we heard came from. It turned out the barking was from a frog that was perfectly camouflaged to look like bark. By day, skinks scuttle along tracks.
They are usually black or brown but one species looked like it wore green leotards. The sheer number was incredible. At nightfall, large coconut crabs, the world’s largest land-dwelling crustacean, took the lizards’ place on the forest floor moving like prehistoric dinosaurs. In the canopy, we spotted a cuscus – a native possum – nibbling rainforest figs in the moonlight.
Meals were signalled with a bell calling us to eat tasty traditional food in the communal dining area. As evening set, we watched fireflies flash, attracting mates by flashing like a thousand Christmas lights.
Time altered without cell phones to distract and stresses dissolved. Our days were spent in nature walking or swimming in the marine area. During the occasional rain shower we learnt new skills such as weaving from coconut palms or cooking traditional food.
The exciting thing was not knowing what you would see next. The most surprising combination was mangroves in full flower feeding hundreds of black butterflies above a darting school of foot-long baby blacktip reef sharks.
Snorkelling was also a surprise and each time I saw something new. Within the protected lagoon, the corals are striking in their diverse colours and forms. A magical diversity of colourful fish peered out at us. Dugongs and turtles fed on the seagrass. Snorkelling the drop-off outside the lagoon, we saw enormous endangered bumphead parrotfish crunch coral. They ignore the sharks swimming in the hazy deep waters. Both are a sign that marine life thrives here.
There is a high number and diversity of marine turtles surrounding Tetepare. At key times of the year you can sleep on the beach and watch the giant leatherback turtle mothers pull themselves ashore to lay their eggs. Our trip was not timed well to see this so I will need to return for this experience. I think it would make for the perfect post-Covid adventure.
It is rare to find a place pulsing with so much life. As a biologist I have been lucky to see some of the most stunning places on Earth. Thanks to the women of the land Tetepare remains one of the most spectacular wild places in the Pacific and is one of the best places I have visited.
“Snorkelling the drop-off outside the lagoon, we saw enormous endangered bumphead parrotfish crunch coral. They ignore the sharks swimming in the hazy deep waters. Both are a sign that marine life thrives here. ”