Neiafu, Vavaʻu, Tonga

Today we are in Neiafu, the main town of the Vavaʻu Islands and the second largest city in the Kingdom of Tonga. Neiafu has about 4,000 inhabitants, many cars, vans, and trucks. The latter is already common on the smallest islands.

Tonga is somewhat different from Samoa. While there are also plenty of churches here, everything feels a bit scruffier; there is more litter lying around, and the houses appear significantly poorer.

The weather here is similar to Samoa, hot and humid, often cloudy, with occasional rain. The vegetation is lush, everything is green, there is a lot of rainforest, and fruits grow everywhere.

We went ashore from the ship using Zodiacs. First, we wandered around the town, looking at the houses, sights, and shops. Then we went on a tour. We visited various beautiful viewpoints and saw (again) a freshwater grotto. We gained a good impression of the island.

In the afternoon, we sailed to a small island where we could swim and snorkel.