Leaving Tuvalu (maybe). TIT.

Written by Torbjørn C. Pedersen on 09 February 2023.

Day 3,410 since October 10th 2013: 201 countries out of 203. No flight, no return home, min 24 hrs in each country and 1 pandemic!

(The opinions expressed on this site are my own, and do not reflect the position or policies of the Danish Red Cross which I represent as a Goodwill Ambassador).

Hard to get here – hard to leave too

pano

The time has come to say farewell to Tuvalu and start the long journey to Sri Lanka. The first stop on our route will be returning to Fiji for the 4^th time

Last week’s entry: Tuvalu’s outer islands – seeing a country

Hey there. How are you doing? Did everything go as you expected this week? Me? Oh…well I did not expect I would be writing this entry from Tuvalu. I thought I would be at sea approaching Fiji by now. And yet here we are. In last week’s entry the good ferry Nivaga III returned the Saga to Funafuti and as such I had visited the islands of Funafuti, Nanumea, Nanumaga, Niutao, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Nukulaelae, and Niulakita. What a pleasure! Tuvalu is made up out of nine islands and the keen observer would then note that we didn’t make it to Nui, which is one of the central islands. Slightly ironic as that one has a bit of Danish history. About 150 years ago Christian Martin Kleis (from Denmark) moved to Nui, married the atolls most beautiful woman (I’ve been told), and traded large quantities of copra. As much as 100 ton during a good year. Most Tuvaluans assume that I’m Australian and I have seen many faces light up when they found out I’m from Denmark. Several people have told me about the Kleis family and I have even met a descendant. I have also come across a surprising number of seafarers who have been to Denmark, typically onboard German or Danish vessels. It now leads me to believe that more Tuvaluans might have been to Denmark, than Danes who have visited Tuvalu. Who would have thought that?

I'm always happy to take a photo with anyone who asks. I'm also always perplexed when they suggest it should be done with my camera? Nice fellow though :)

You just never know who steps out of the ATR-72 Fiji Airways airplane when it touches down on Funafuti’s magical runway. Three flights a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday). Mostly it’s people who come to work or who return to visit family. I have also experienced a fair amount of passengers who are chasing every country in the world – a challenge which has grown from 1 in the 1980s to about 300 today. And likely 1,000 within another decade. The pandemic slowed down that dream for many travelers and particularly Tuvalu kept its borders closed until December 1^st 2022. Now that the border is open there is naturally a higher concentration of extreme travelers arriving to Funafuti. I’ve only interacted with the ones who chose to stay at Filamona Hotel where I’ve been. On my return from the outer islands, I met Henning from Germany and Derek from New Zealand. Henning lives in Australia where he does analysis for the mining industry. He just wanted to visit Tuvalu for a week. Derek is a professional photographer who arrived to take some photos for a magazine. We had some good conversations.

Henning bought a round of 16.3% Hong Kong brewed beer for us. Fun guy :)

In December 2022, while I was still in Fiji, I bought a return ticket to join Tuvalu’s government owned ferry MV Manu Folau. I’ve since come to learn a lot about Tuvalu’s government owned fleet, which consists of MV Manu Folau (low flying bird), MV Nivaga III, MV Tala Moana (story of the sea), and MV Moeiteava. It seems that it’s only Moeiteava which is operating perfectly. But she is slow and small. The others all need spare parts and/or repair. Manu Folau is waiting for spare parts for her engine. Nivaga III has issues with the hydraulics which are used to raise the anchor and operate the cranes. Tala Moana has a hole in the bottom of the hull. Being an island nation with a tiny population spread across nine islands the condition of the fleet causes some issues for the governments planning. And all the students who were to return to Fiji for the start of school will now be late. But as I was told at the wharf one night: “that wouldn’t be the first time”. Acting Director Nito Lipine (Maritime Department) has been really helpful even before I reached Tuvalu. He has arranged for me to join the good ship Tala Moana as she heads to Fiji for drydock. The departure date was set for Tuesday February 7^th and departure was scheduled for 5pm. As such I entered my last week in Tuvalu after nearly a month.

A Monday evening game of te ano at the far end of the magical runway. Others played volleyball, football, or just lounged about. A truly magical space.

On Saturday February 4^th a special guest arrived! It was my friend Michele from Switzerland/Italy. We met in Djibouti back in January 2017 and later the same month in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Then we met once again when I reached Zurich, Switzerland, during August 2017. There are many ways which every country in the world can be counted and it confuses a lot of people. The Saga’s count of 203 is highly inclusive and counts ten more countries than the standardized 193 United Nations member states. On the Saga’s list Michele reached his 182^nd country when the ATR-72 touched down in Funafuti. It is great to meet new people but it is even better to reunite with familiar faces.

Michele arrived full of energy and ready to explore Tuvalu with his drone. I am often left exhausted and overworked and to top things off I was having issues with my stomach which left me with even less energy than normal. Who knows what broke my stomach this time? It could be so many different things: a meal, something I drank, something I touched? With an ongoing typhoid outbreak in Funafuti that certainly had me wondering. But we still managed to have a good time together and after a month in Tuvalu I could easily act as a guide and answer most questions. Derek left on the flight Michele arrived on, and Michele and Henning departed on the Tuesday flight (Feb. 7^th), which lands and leaves around noon. I was told to be at the wharf at 4pm that day as the good ship Tala Moana would depart at 5pm.

Tuvalu Red Cross Society invited me to join them for a farewell lunch. They are such a great bunch of people and no Tuvaluan ever avoids an opportunity for food ;) They also handed me a traditional fan made on the island of Nui. The only island I didn't make it too :)

It’s funny, when I arrived to Tuvalu, the kind Secretary General Tagifoe (of Tuvalu Red Cross) picked me up at the wharf and brought me to “downtown” Funafuti. We walked about and she was greeting people left and right. Back then I knew nobody. As I now left Filamona Hotel and began to make my way to the wharf I was greeting people left and right. My goodness Tuvalu suddenly has a lot of familiar faces. Halfway to the wharf the police offered to give me a ride, but before the policeman had time to turn around, someone else picked me up on his motorbike and away we went. Motorcycle taxis were so common across much of Africa and I just fell into the routine: handed my pacsafe daypack to the driver and got on the back with my much larger duffel bag. It felt like the “good old days” but the difference here was that it was free. Because TIT (This Is Tuvalu).

I've had more fish onboard Tuvalu's ships than on the islands. Tala Moana has a great chef!

Authorities within Tuvalu have been incredibly friendly and easygoing: immigration, customs, biosecurity, police, port security…you name it. Nothing to fear – just bucketloads of smiles and kindness. As such I easily marched inside the port and right up to Tala Moana, where I immediately saw some familiar faces as I joined the good ship. I had dinner onboard and small talked with the crew. Of course, we didn’t leave at 5pm and I hadn’t expected that either. There’s always some delay in Tuvalu. I handed over my passport and filled out an immigration form. Customs and Immigration were onboard and the atmosphere was relaxed. Everybody knew everybody and several were even related. There was some online bureaucracy which was taking extra time but it didn’t relate to me. Around 7pm I felt a wave of tiredness wash over me and went to lie down in my bunk for an hour or two. I woke up the next morning at 08:00 when my alarm went off. Wow! My body must have thought that “Tuvalu was over” and knocked out. This project is stressful. Nothing really happens on its own and I always need to stay on top of things. My stomach was fine again. I looked out the porthole: we were still in Funafuti?

From the bridge of Tala Moana. The sun sets across the lagoon behind Nivaga III.

Okay. Now what? Were we about to leave? Were we going to leave? It was Wednesday. My phone data had almost expired. Captain Logo assured me that it was fine for me to head out for a few hours and in any case they could find me if we were suddenly leaving. I started walking “downtown” but was quickly offered a ride. I topped up my phone at Tuvalu Telecom. Then I dropped by the Maritime Office where I heard a plausible explanation. Our ship was ready to go. All the required documentation had been completed. But we were being held back as Tala Moana was at present time the only vessel capable of carrying out an evacuation of the outer islands. Manu Folau and Nivaga III needed repair and Moeiteava was too slow. The life of a small island nation far into the vast Pacific Ocean. I spoke to more people and heard more explanations. Apparently, Aussieland donated top of the line police boats to all the Pacific Island nations but they all suffer from the same problem (leaking gas) which is now being fixed. For evacuation purposes there are of course also fishing boats. Over the following days I heard all sorts of things: we will leave as soon as Nivaga III’s hydraulics have been repaired, we will leave on Saturday, we are heading to the northern islands instead… It is demoralizing for the crew not knowing what is going on. I find it annoying not to know what is going on but at this point I don’t see any real risk of delay to the Saga. As per the plan forward I would likely have to wait in Fiji until February 28^th at least. Possibly even several weeks into March depending on what Swire Shipping finds possible. They have been so incredibly helpful!

Lots of people have been requesting postcards from Tuvalu. The stamps are a collectors item among philatelists. I've asked everyone who requested a postcard to donate to the Once Upon A Saga for Ukraine campaign. It is horrible with the recent news of earthquakes in Turkey/Syria. The RC is hard at work!! By donating to our Ukraine campaign the Danish Red Cross can allocate more money towards efforts in Turkey/Syria. You can also donate directly to the Red Cross Red Crescent efforts for the earthquake victims.

A really friendly Aussie named Nigel has written me several times with amazing insight into the Saga, the pending challenges, and possible solutions. He recently wrote me regarding a German cruise ship named MS Amadea operated by Pheonix Reisen GMBH in Bonn. The ship is according to their schedule set to reach Funafuti on February 16^th, call a lot of ports, and then reach Sri Lanka on April 26^th. Could you just imagine!! Wishful thinking and it would place me in Sri Lanka one month earlier than any other solution I could think of. Oh well, such companies are notoriously difficult to work with, likely to have many excuses and so far they haven’t even replied to me. But could you just imagine. Well, Nigel had another idea up his sleeve. Swire Shipping has a service from Suva in Fiji which reaches Melbourne in Aussieland. Another Swire vessel connects Perth with Singapore. I would have ten days to reach Perth from Melbourne overland. By far my favorite solution but Swire does not own the vessel from Suva to Melbourne and has to ask the owners. They will give it a go and just imagine! Otherwise, we will likely join Swire’s all-new Pacific Weekly Express (PWX) Service from Fiji to Singapore. I could join it in March and be in Singapore by late April. Our friends at MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Service) may be able to connect us from Singapore to Sri Lanka. Maldives Shipping Services (MSS) is open to helping us to the Maldives and possibly also back to Sri Lanka again from where Maersk might connect the Saga through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea. And from the first European port, Ross Energy CEO Lars Andersen could race me back to Denmark in a matter of days. August is not unrealistic. What could go wrong? ;)

The good ship Tala Moana awaiting orders...

As for now I’m being treated well by the crew onboard the good ship Tala Moana while we all try to guess what the heck is about to happen next. Perhaps I should just remind you that I have been wanting to go home since 2015 but I have pushed forward in the hopes of things getting easier and a successful completion. I’ve never felt homesick a day of my life. I do however want to relieve myself of the pressure of this momentous task and the constant workload that comes with it. It so often seems like an uphill battle. In 2019 we finally thought I’d be home in less than ten months. Ha ha ha. Three simple rules: min. 24 hours in each country, absolutely no flights, and no return home until the final country has been reached. That didn’t sound all that hard when I left home. My goodness I was wrong. I wonder where the next blog entry will be from? Thanks for all your kind support. Let’s keep on keeping on.

I would like to thank our esteemed partners for their invaluable contributions to Once Upon A Saga: DB Schenker Denmark, Kameli, Red Sand Solutions, Salomon, the Danish Red Cross and Ross Energy / Geoop

Hi Res with Geoop