Daily experiences and travel tips from our two years of living in Tonga.
Seven months ago, Sam and I left the White Mountains of New Hampshire for a job assignment overseas. I have not written anything about that for several reasons. But this site is called Tonga Time, and now that I am ready to write, I don’t feel that I can write about anything until I pen…
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Over Christmas, I had a very cool experience with Sea Eagle, a company that sells inflatable sports kayaks and other boats. It was such a great experience that I wanted to share it with others. So here it is! My Sea Eagle Kayak story It was the summer of 2011, and Sam and I had been…
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View Larger Map News can be a bit slow getting here, but Sam and I have recently been informed of the category 5 cyclone (“hurricane” for Americans), Cyclone Ian, that hit Tonga’s Ha’apai island group on January 11 with winds of up to 178 miles per hour.
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Natalie currently lives and works in China, but before that, she taught EFL (English as a Foreign Language) in Romania for three years with the Peace Corps before serving as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Tonga! Teaching English in various capacities across three foreign countries over five years is no small feat, so I…
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Breand and her husband had the unique experience of living on ‘Eua island as part of their Peace Corps service. ‘Eua is a two-hour ferry ride from Tongatapu (Tonga’s capital island and where Sam and I lived during our two years in Tonga). It is also the oldest (30 million years older to be exact!) and…
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Michael Hassett is a Peace Corps Volunteer currently serving in Ha’utu, Tonga. Ha’utu is a tiny village on the southwestern side of Tonga’s main island, Tongatapu. So, what’s it like to move from Pittsburgh to the middle of Oceania where you will spend the next two years of your life integrating into a culture about…
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You know the the drill: If you were stranded on a desert island with only one thing, what would it be? What book? CD? Movie? (Yes, smarty, fine. Pretend you’re on an island with Gilligan’s professor and use your imagination here!) Would your survival item be duct tape or a Swiss army knife? If you…
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Today’s post is an interview with Returned Peace Corps Volunteer John (“Sione” in Tongan) O’Malley, who served in Ha’apai from 2009 to 2012. John is now wrapping up his service in Liberia where he works as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader, but he’s generously taken some time to answer questions about his time in Ha’apai,…
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View Around Tongatapu in a larger map This post is a continuum from Around Tongatapu, Part 1, where activities in Nuku’alofa and the island resorts visit-able by day-ferry were discussed. In part two, we’ll look at the farther-flung destinations of Tongatapu, all from the perspective of a do-it-yourself-traveler. For those who wish to simply book a tour,…
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View Around Tongatapu in a larger map So, you’ve landed on the main isle of Tonga: Tongatapu, taken the 40-minute taxi from the airport through coconut and taro fields, serenaded by the dulcet CD strains of ukulele and Pacific song, peering wide-eyed through the window as signs of a town approach and then … probably…
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