February 28: Tabuaeran (Fanning Island), Kiribati

We were supposed to visit Tabuaeran today, and were so close to doing that we could see individual trees, but it was not to be.

At 0800, when the captain, instead of the cruise director, started an announcement on the PA system, Pam & I knew bad news was coming. Sure enough, a strong wind and a rip current through the lagoon opening led the captain to determine that conditions were unsafe for tendering passengers ashore. 

Pam & I had looked forward to revisiting the island, while at the same time having some reservations about doing so. Specifically, we were worried about how much had changed since our visit in 2012. It has been such a unique experience for us. Would change, or even a sameness, be a letdown? 

2012 was only my second year of blogging about trips. Presumably, I have gotten better at it since then, or at least the technology gives my blogs that appearance.  If you want to read about our visit over a decade ago, click here.

View through the ship's stern camera. The island is closer
than it appears, the result of its having a maximum elevation of 10 feet.
Both tsunamis and global warming are potentially extinction events.

By 0815, Tabuaeran was beginning to fall astern of Nieuw Amsterdam. 

However disappointed the passengers were, it paled in comparison to what the people ashore must have felt. Only three cruise ships a year stop at the island. The arrival of one is a huge economic windfall. Cottage industries spend months creating all sorts of things to sell. Today, the locals saw all that money and a range of supplies the ship donates to the island sail away. At the same time, they may have been philosophical about it because Nieuw Amsterdam was only the latest in a list of cruise ships that, over the years, had to abort visits due to wind and wave conditions.

We settled down to enjoy Plan B, a sea day in the tropics. Pass the SPF 30, please.