February 1&2
Tonga is the only country in the region that was never colonized. It consists of 176 islands. It’s history goes back over 3,000 years and the monarchy has been in place for around 1,000 years. Because of a tropical storm, we get an extra day in Tonga, the “Friendly Island”. We arrived Saturday night, just as the sun was setting and were greeted by local music and dancing. Sunday, everything was closed, but I did enjoy walking around town and hearing the locals singing. I even got to see the King as he arrived for church. His Royal Palace, built in 1867 is the view from our cabin. Monday, we took a 30 minute ride to another part of the island for some snorkeling.
Oh wow! What fun. We have a huge population of Tongans in the miid cities area. They are quite large and muscular. Did they do their "hooka-hooka" dance for yall. It iOS supposed to place fear in the hearts of their enemies. From the sound of it it certainly would put fear in my heart! Beautiful pictures. Where to next?
ReplyDeleteWe learned the Hooka-Hooka dance and some Tongan language. My favorite is
ReplyDelete"Fakamolimoli" which means "please". Not only are they large and muscular, but they are also Very friendly and kind. It was a fun couple of days. We are now in Auckland for two days then off ot the Bay of Isles where I will be singing "Smile little Glow Worm Glimmer, Glimmer ........"
Cannot wait for you and Dr Feelgood to give a dance demonstration of the hooka-hooka. It's ok to start practicing now. I will alert the "girls" what day do yall come back home?
ReplyDelete