July 21, 2013 Sunday
The "bogiwalu" (8 nights of strong enhanced Trade Winds) has finally started to blow itself out. Last night we had our final "lovo" (baked in an underground oven) of fish, chicken and assorted vegetables at the wonderful Leleuvia Resort. This is a really low scale place catering to backpackers and cost conscious clientele. Nevertheless, it is run by a very experienced staff under the management of one of Fiji's outstanding resort management families: The Philips Family. On Leleuvia, it appears that the management has been placed in the hands of a younger brother, Colin Philip and his lovely wife. What a magnificent job they are doing! This resort is so low keyed that everyone in treated like "friends". They will make it a priority to know your names and escort you to and from the dinghy dock. One will not find the rich and famous here and, thankfully, there are no super yachts.
The sailing distance from Leleuvia to Makogai (17-26.4' S; 178-57.2' E) is about 30 nm. With light S x W'ly winds and a favorable outgoing current in the Moturiki Channel, it's a six hour sail over to Makogai Is. We departed at 0800 hrs and arrived at 1430 hrs. This island is notable because it was used as a leper colony from 1908-1969. Today there are only seven families (30 people) living in the former homes that were occupied by the staff overseeing the management of the leper colony. These homes are made from wood brought from New Zealand and still in remarkably good condition. Most of the former concrete structures are in ruins. The last of the lepers were transferred to a facility in Suva, Fiji in 1969.
The Makogai Leprosarium was set up and run by the The Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary. Many of these dedicated sisters were from France and Switzerland. At its peak, the leprosarium housed almost 5000 patients from all over the Pacific. There is a graveyard that has almost 1500 including some of the dedicated sisters. What a magnificent calling and job these missionary sisters did in attending to the outcasts of society. There is a brief film clip of a ship landing at Makogai sometime in the late 1940's. It is bringing relatives and loved ones for a once a year visit to the lepers. What stands out is the cleanliness and attention that was given to the lepers. These Sisters were the dedicated Saints of the Lepers. There is a book published in 1978 by the Leprosy Trust Board of New Zealand titled: "Makogai - Island of Hope". It was written by Sister M. Stella who was one of the caregivers on the island. Google Makogai and view the British Film Clip and listen to the reporter's Oxford English!
Today, all that remains of this great leprosarium are the wooden structures that housed the general staff and facilities. There are seven separate families living in the old wooden buildings. Makogai is now owned by the Fijian govenment and has an aquaculture farm that raises and distributes the giant clams and Hawkesbill turtles that are endangered. It's fascinating to see the process whereby the giant clams are raised in long cement holding tanks and then moved to different units as they mature. Makogai Bay has several giant clams that measure over six feet in length. The mouths of the clams are quite colorful and vary in colors. Many of the old leper hospital beds have been thrown into the bay and are used to house cages for the giant clams. The government official in charge of the Wildlife and Fisheries program is knowledgeable and friendly. He spent quite a bit of time with us touring all the facilities and the ruins of the leper colony. They are still using the old Lister four cylinder generator engine that powered the leper colony in the 1940's. It runs four hours per day: 7-9 am and 7-9 pm. There are no televisions on the island and the children from the three villages are taken to school by boat. Like so many of the Pacific islands, Makogai is very beautiful. If I had one complaint it would be that the anchorage is plagued by "williwaws" (strong gusty katabatic winds) that descend from the mountains surrounding the bay. These winds cause the boat to meander all over the place which is quite disconcerting.
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