The Kingdom of Tonga - February 4th

Aside from Great Britain, I think Tonga is the only other “kingdom” Michael and I have visited so far.  Tonga has a population of approximately 120,000 and is 289 square miles.   We are now south of Pago Pago which had a very different terrain than Tonga – Tonga is very flat while Pago Pago has mountains.  As in American Samoa, the people are very friendly. 

 

Weather is “tropical” here which means hot and humid but my “cool” thought of the day while we were out walking was, “How many people get to visit Tonga?  I’m pretty lucky.”  We went out this morning and returned with magnet in hand before noon. 

We were scheduled to take an excursion but decided to cancel it after we were told many of the “guides” are college students and not professionals and may not provide the commentary we would normally expect.  (A gal at lunch today said her guide was extremely knowledgeable and was very happy with the tour.)   We would have seen, of course, much more but we’re happy with what we did see today. 

   

We have some terrific photos of a lady making paper or “tapa” out of the mulberry tree and a man carving.  We, of course, asked these two people if we could take their picture.  I’m hoping I can download these photos today, but, if not, will try again when we have a better internet connection. 

We visited the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua, the only basilica in the South Pacific and met the Monsignor, Fr. Lutoviko Finau, the Vicar General for the Diocese of Tonga, who told us Tonga also has the youngest Cardinal who is only 53 years old.   The Catholic Church may one day have a Pope from Tonga – who knows?  The Church is lovely, built by volunteers, and especially nice were the Stations of the Cross made from coconuts and mother of pearl.  There are 11 Catholic parishes in Tonga with approximately 2,000 Catholics.  That’s a lot of Churches!  Religion is a very big part of the culture here, Protestants ranking #1 and Mormons #3, Catholics being in the middle. 

For you sports nuts, one of the windows has a big sign for the upcoming Super Bowl – which, apparently, is alive and well in the South Pacific. 

 

One of the billboards also shows Sponge Bob Square Pants – he’s everywhere!We have a nice picture of the Royal Palace with the flag raised which means the King is in residence. 

Lyn, we saw lots of dogs and we're told there are a lot of pigs around, but we saw no cats!  

Also, at dinner the evening we left Pago Pago, we were served "spearfish", the Catch of the Day - probably the best fish I've ever had. 

Cruising information:   We asked our waiter about Princess’s policy about buying alcohol in port and bringing it back to the ship.  Two reasons and I’m not sure which is the first and which is the second most important.  One, of course, is that Princess wants you to buy its booze.  The second is the concern about the purity of the alcohol.  In the US, of course, there are all sorts of regulations regarding the sale of alcohol;  however, when you’re in different countries, there is no assurance about the quality, proof, etc. of the alcohol, and you can’t be sure what you’re getting.  If someone gets sick onboard and wants to sue Princess, there is no way to tell which alcohol (the ship’s or the passenger’s) caused the problem.  We thought this was very interesting. 

Observation:  Swimsuit manufactures really shouldn’t make string bikinis in sizes larger than, say, 12 and I’m certainly not talking about the Tongan people.  I’m talking about swimsuits worn by cruisers.  The “strings” really shouldn’t be longer than the cables that lower the lifeboats.  Just sayin’…..

Michael’s Thoughts:  The people are so nice and friendly.  It is interesting to note that even here on Tonga, which is so tropical and so far away from what we’re normally used to, we still see people walking around texting.