Maps & itinerary

Home to legendary head hunters, feared throughout the western Pacific until the middle of this century, the 992 islands of the Solomon archipelago are scattered slightly under the equator, north-east of Australia. Imagine 3 days of travelling, including some 35 hours of flight: enough to make you a little numb. But the aerial view of the Solomons offers such immense promises that it renews your energy and eagerness. Through the clouds, you can see the majestic capes of rainforest covering almost all available pieces of silt and limestone, including the 6 main islands, some 30 smaller ones and numerous tiny islets. The bright shades of green softly blend with the shimmering sea where the mangrove swamps crawl away from the land.

Only a few atolls and coralline crests seem to have been forgotten by Mother Nature during the distribution of these superb leaf covers, and instead display sparkling auras of crushed coral. But the most breathtaking sight remains that of the sumptuous lagoons drawing crescents of changing blue along the powdery shores: translucent turquoise over the sand, slightly tinted by the corals, and becoming deep indigo as the depth increases. And to imagine that these moving colours hide even brighter sceneries, crawling with luxuriant marine life!

Like all foreign visitors, we landed at the international airport, approximately 20 km west of the capital, Honiara (red splat on the map), on the island of Guadalcanal. We spent almost a year based in Aruligo, a village located east of Honiara. Because of our work, we spent a lot of time near Gizo, in the Western Province, and also stayed in a local community on the island of New Georgia, just in front of the volcanic island of Kolombangara.

 Our main expeditions were to the marine reserve of Arnavon (between Choiseul and Malaita), Marau Sound (western Guadalcanal) and the Ngellas (with Bilikiki Cruises).

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