Exploring Kosrae's Hidden Wonders
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A new road roams over the hills offering scenic vistas of the Utwe-Walung Marine Park and the reef beyond. In Walung, we walked through the tiny village and said hello to the kids who were reveling in the spectacle of the Sunday visitors.
The next day it was back in the water for some more coastal exploration. Kosrae is famous for its mooring buoys that mark more than 40 sites and prevent anchor damage. This is one reason the coral always looks so good here.
The park is located between Utwe and Walung villages. It is a community based conservation area, recognized by the people and state of Kosrae for its outstanding and sustainable biodiversity. It was the dream of a local man-Madison Nena-who also owns Kosrae Village Dive and Eco Adventure Resort. His constant efforts to educate people on the value of this amazing area and finally to get it declared a marine park have earned him a number of conservation awards.
  Experienced guide Takao Wakuk takes a canoe through the A fisherwoman finds a crab among the mangrove trees.
mangroves.Experienced guide Takao Wakuk takes a canoe
through the mangroves.
And so here we were, reaping the benefits of his decades of effort. The park has numerous mangrove channels. There are also ancient stone ruins built centuries ago deep in the rainforest. You can also snorkel the reefs or stroll along the isolated beaches near Walung Village. The park has a newly completed headquarters just a stone's throw from the famous pirate trader Bully Hayes' shipwreck site. Hayes is supposed to have buried a fortune in treasure on Kosrae. Maybe it lies deep in the park. Only Bully knows for sure, rest his black soul.
This is where we burst out from the inner passages of the mangroves into a marine lake that closely adjoined the beach area, separated by coconut tree laden levees on the reef side. On the land side, huge mangrove and the indigenous Terminalia trees create a jungle.
Around one turn, we encountered mangrove crab hunters. Our guide Tadao Wakuk told us that these two women were by far the best crab hunters in all of Kosrae as they shyly displayed their crab catch--I later found out it was most probably his wife and daughter. He also said it was much more fun to encounter clam catchers. "They must dig down deep in the mud and that mud can itch if you have clothes on," he told us. "So the women catch clams completely naked!"
As the day waned, we didn't have any such exciting encounters. But we did have a Draculan moment. As the sun set, flocks of fruitbats took to the sky and started to pump their way across the park to the mainland.
It was truly one of those natural moments when the crimson sky, filled with chirping giant bats, provided a show that can only be seen in the remote places of the Earth.
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