Aitutaki Atoll, Cook Islands
The first stop on our voyage aboard the National Geographic Endeavour’s voyage through the central western belly of the South Pacific was at Aitutaki atoll, the Cook Island’s sixth largest in area, yet its second-most populated. The morning sky was a patchwork of muted blues and grays blanketing a gentle, steel-blue sea. From our perches on the bridge or the decks, we watched as our vessel closed the gap between us and the low, verdant slopes of Aitutaki’s hook-shaped, main island.
Drifting outside the reef near Arutanga Passage, we boarded Zodiacs and made our way through the passage to the island’s principle town, Arutanga. We all stepped over the sacred welcome stones, and then walked a short distance to the welcome area. Once we were all seated, the drums struck up a rhythm, and local dancers, with rubber in their knees and ball-bearings in their hips, performed a slice of the island’s Polynesian dance repertoire.
We would be here all day, allowing us to engage in multiple half-day excursions. Most of us joined at least one of the two land-based activities. The circle-island tour was a fine way to explore Aitutaki’s coast while absorbing some of the island’s lore and history as recounted by our local guide. It culminated with a stop at a beautiful, quaint seaside resort where we drank sodas and beer while languishing on the flour-white sand. Some of us rode in jeeps for a safari tour, which explored the island’s rugged interior valleys. Lush tropical vegetation covered the landscape. Through the emerald-green canopy and by diligent attention we were able to spot a few of the island’s endemic bird species. The safari and circle-island tours both took in stops at a couple of marae, arrangements of large stones where ancient Polynesians deified their ancestors through worship and sacrifice.
Aitutaki is girdled by a stellar, aqua-blue lagoon. This was the arena that hosted our two water-born activities. Most of us opted to join the locally-operated lagoon and snorkel tour. Across the lagoon’s southwestern corner we cruised in high-speed skiffs to a shallow patch barely three feet deep. After donning masks and fins we slipped into the liquid turquoise waters. Numerous species of reef fish immediately surrounded us, perhaps in search of a free handout. The coral bommies a few meters from our anchorages were bright and alive with giant clams, sponges, bryozoans, and various coral species, and all were simply teeming with fish. Our time there was an evolution of slow and awed discovery. All of us who joined the glass-bottom boat tour saw many of the same lagoon creatures that the snorkelers encountered. Both tours finished with a stop at Honeymoon Island, one of Aitutaki’s low, sandy motus. It was here that Brent Houston showed us nesting Red-tailed tropicbirds. Under virtually every shrub a mature adult was carefully guarding its fluffy new brood.
All tours made their way back to the landing site in Arutanga around the same time. From here we re-boarded Zodiacs, made way to our mother vessel, and then set sail westwards into a vista of unending blue.
The first stop on our voyage aboard the National Geographic Endeavour’s voyage through the central western belly of the South Pacific was at Aitutaki atoll, the Cook Island’s sixth largest in area, yet its second-most populated. The morning sky was a patchwork of muted blues and grays blanketing a gentle, steel-blue sea. From our perches on the bridge or the decks, we watched as our vessel closed the gap between us and the low, verdant slopes of Aitutaki’s hook-shaped, main island.
Drifting outside the reef near Arutanga Passage, we boarded Zodiacs and made our way through the passage to the island’s principle town, Arutanga. We all stepped over the sacred welcome stones, and then walked a short distance to the welcome area. Once we were all seated, the drums struck up a rhythm, and local dancers, with rubber in their knees and ball-bearings in their hips, performed a slice of the island’s Polynesian dance repertoire.
We would be here all day, allowing us to engage in multiple half-day excursions. Most of us joined at least one of the two land-based activities. The circle-island tour was a fine way to explore Aitutaki’s coast while absorbing some of the island’s lore and history as recounted by our local guide. It culminated with a stop at a beautiful, quaint seaside resort where we drank sodas and beer while languishing on the flour-white sand. Some of us rode in jeeps for a safari tour, which explored the island’s rugged interior valleys. Lush tropical vegetation covered the landscape. Through the emerald-green canopy and by diligent attention we were able to spot a few of the island’s endemic bird species. The safari and circle-island tours both took in stops at a couple of marae, arrangements of large stones where ancient Polynesians deified their ancestors through worship and sacrifice.
Aitutaki is girdled by a stellar, aqua-blue lagoon. This was the arena that hosted our two water-born activities. Most of us opted to join the locally-operated lagoon and snorkel tour. Across the lagoon’s southwestern corner we cruised in high-speed skiffs to a shallow patch barely three feet deep. After donning masks and fins we slipped into the liquid turquoise waters. Numerous species of reef fish immediately surrounded us, perhaps in search of a free handout. The coral bommies a few meters from our anchorages were bright and alive with giant clams, sponges, bryozoans, and various coral species, and all were simply teeming with fish. Our time there was an evolution of slow and awed discovery. All of us who joined the glass-bottom boat tour saw many of the same lagoon creatures that the snorkelers encountered. Both tours finished with a stop at Honeymoon Island, one of Aitutaki’s low, sandy motus. It was here that Brent Houston showed us nesting Red-tailed tropicbirds. Under virtually every shrub a mature adult was carefully guarding its fluffy new brood.
All tours made their way back to the landing site in Arutanga around the same time. From here we re-boarded Zodiacs, made way to our mother vessel, and then set sail westwards into a vista of unending blue.
