At Home On Lape
26 August 2012 | Lape Island 18 42.957'S 174 05.173'W
Linda
We've spent enough time at Lape Island now that I consider it to be our home away from home in the islands. Our first visit was for their Saturday evening Tongan feast which turned out to be the following week. Instead I was happy to
explore the handcraft market they set up adjacent to the beach and their community pier. Several types of weaving, ngatu (painted tapa cloth), tie dyed wraps, some carving and a few other decorative items. Being interested in
weaving and the plant materials they use, the next thing you know I'm sitting in the sand asking lots of questions and they have me weaving Kako. More on that in another post.
So about the island. It's small, maybe 4 square miles total. There are 28 people in the village. 19 are family. The remainder are 2 teachers and the minister along with their families. The family are all related to Tala (my weaving
mentor). Her husband Kolio is very forward thinking and is the driving force behind a number of island projects to improve their living as well as generate a bit of income for everyone. Funding for mooring buoys, a concrete pier and
solar panels so each home will have a light bulb come from international aid. Money collected for moorage and donations at the feast every other week go into a fund to help provide higher education for their children and other
island projects. We understand that a big motor yacht which arrived prior to us bought up most of their handcrafts, gave them a nice cash donation and brought all the school kids out to see the yacht. Good on them!
Needless to say Lape is our base here in Vava'u. We've been to a family feast celebrating a visit from a son who lives in the US, visited the school and made some great friends. Tala says I belong to Lape! If you haven't looked at our
photos in the gallery please do and enjoy. The people we meet are one of the best parts of cruising.