Cash Power, the dump, STARBUCKS, animal friends, and a boat ride in Utwe

          

As you know, our power goes off often.  I never know when it will happen.  Usually I'm in the middle of doing the laundry (electrically powered Japanese washer with centrifuge spinner) or planning to use the laptop or make a phone call on the internet.  

Above is a photo of the Cash Power meter in my apartment.  Right now it is loaded! You can buy power at the Cash Power office (pink building above with next to no windows, secure as a vault). The exchange is almost 1 for 2.  For $200 I got 380 units.  Your receipt has on it a code that you key into the box; if you do it correctly you get some happy beeps, a smiley face, and more power!

Behind the Cash Power building is an array of solar panels.  Given the appearance of the truck in front of them, I would not guess the panels are presently adding to the power grid.  If they are, they don't help me much when all three gas-powered generators shut down. 

Across the street from the solar panels is a lovely pink and white hibiscus bush.  It is offset by the island dump, right behind it.  The dump is horrifyingly a reminder of all we waste.  Often there are people sifting through it.  I have been told that eventually it is loaded onto a ship and leaves the island.  Recycling is only evident for aluminum cans.  All the plastic bottles go in a pile behind the high school.  

  

    Sometimes when the power goes out, I decamp to the Nautilus for internet access and an iced coffee served with cream and sugar water.  

        

                                                              BETTER THAN STARBUCKS!       

Some notable animal friends: cows now allowed to roam free, neighbor kittens, a very familiar looking dog, and a small set of my extended ant family.

                                                 

              

And now for the best part!

Yesterday Harland invited me out for a boat ride in the Utwe mangrove forests.  I met Harland at the Kosraean Congregational Church in Kent, last February.  He adopted me for the duration of the service, then gave me names of relatives to meet when I returned to Kosrae.

He and his wife, their daughter and grandkids returned for a visit to Kosrae this Christmas. Harland found out I was here and surprised me by dropping by Mr. Kennedy's a few weeks ago to say hello.  

Then last Thursday he dropped by again to offer to take me out on a boat to see the Utwe mangroves on Saturday.  

                                                    It was a magnificent trip. 

The south/southwest side of the island is packed with mountains and forests fringed by strongly healthy mangrove forests and a long inlet/estuary.  Much larger than the estuary behind the Nautilus, it promises many hidden streams to visit another time with Nick and Stella, by kayak.  Also, the water is so clear it must be good for snorkeling too!

       

Harland brought along EJ, his nephew, to watch out for shallow water and pole us off the coral when we ran aground.  You can see them readying the boat which Harland borrowed from his cousin.  The views are from Utwe Harbor, and back to the town.

EJ was not a very good spotter, the tide was not high, and Harland had not been on these waters for 20 years!  But he had grown up here, and he has ambitions for becoming a mangrove tour boat operator.  Also, Harland is calm and has a playful sense of humor. 

                  

We didn't travel into the mangroves much, only to pass from one large body of water to the next.  Really, a kayak is better for exploring the winding streams (as Nick and Stella did, also  yesterday , in a boat they had borrowed from Harland!).  

   

Along the way, Harland pointed out different properties.  The coconut tree'd spot behind the kayak is one he says he will make his own (fantasy, but fun). 

                   

After a fair amount of poling off coral in shallow waters, we rested a little while where the wind blew us up against another family's camp.  Harland pointed out that most of the land on the northern side of the water was owned by the Nena family.  He spoke to the organized process the Alik family used to develop the Ka Forest (their family land) into a Nature Conservancy Easement, and mused that if the Nena family could get their act together, maybe all this mangrove land could become protected as well.

It had been 20 years since Harland had been on these waters.  He was surprised to see this opening to the ocean: he said sea-level rise and pounding surf had created this gap.  High tide was at 5, both a plus (less grounding on the coral) and a minus.  With the turn of the tide the boat would need to fight the tide to get back into the harbor.  We had a nice ride back, large swells on the ocean (almost pitched EJ off the bow!).  At the end of the day, empty boat and calm harbor, a wonderful afternoon.

        

My ride home was subdued and nostalgic.  The road from Utwe to Sansrik (where I live) is less populated and also or therefore not as potholed so I could gooseneck and drive slowly and remember driving down here so many times last year with Alice.  If it weren't so far from everything, it would be nice to live in Utwe or near.  There are some really beautiful homesteads along the way, some close to the mangroves, some close to the beach.  

However, the beach is being pounded, and the road to Utwe is precariously in jeopardy of being washed out, again.  Along the way are solitary mangroves, pioneers or remnants?