2012-1-15 Fanning Island

I took the tender to Fanning Island today. Bill didn’t want to go. I only stayed an hour. Here are my fellow passengers getting off the tender. 

This is what the tender looks like inside. They double as life boats. 

We were welcomed to the island by a group of singers.

I bought a coconut because I was thirsty and I wanted to try coconut milk. One of these men slashed the top off the coconut with a machete and handed it to me. 

 Here I am drinking from the coconut. 

I bought two necklaces and a Christmas ornament. 

I resisted buying some really cool daggers made of bones for $5 each. I don’t want my grandchildren to stab each other. I can’t think of any other use for them except to hang on a wall. The daggers and swords were all sold out when I left.

I caused a mini riot by handing out my bag of toys. These are some toys collected by the staff and guests of the ship. I had a bag of toys that I brought on my own. 

I should have given my bag of toys to the teachers to hand out. I am going to buy some more toys before we get to Embara Village in Panama. Next time, I am going to give them to an adult. I should have known better.

The island is lacking in conveniences. No toilets. That’s why I only stayed an hour. People use the bushes and the surf as a toilet.

The water is stunningly beautiful. Men were fishing from small boats. Everything except fish, coconuts and some vegetables are shipped to the island. Pretty idyllic unless you need a doctor or dentist. Or lights.

Norwegian Cruise Line came to Fanning Island for many years and built some infrastructure for the inhabitants. But, NCL apparently gave up on the project because the inhabitants couldn’t maintain those structures. It's pretty hard to do with no stores and all materials shipped in. The nearest Home Depot  is in Hawaii. This is rusty trash on the beach.

Below is an old wreck near the island.

Later—

Tonight we watched a fabulous magic show. I don’t know where they get these guys but this was another great one. On our last cruise, the magician held classes in the afternoon and showed us how to do some simple tricks. Bill was better at it than I was. I think he can still do one trick.

The magician tonight was named Fred Becker. He invited an older woman to come up from the audience and dress him in a straight jacket. That situation was ripe for comedy. There was a strap hanging down in the front that she had to grab from between his legs and cinch up tight. He was trussed up like a chicken but, of course, he got out of the straight jacket in 30 seconds.

Then, he performed an amazing trick with a deck of cards. He went around the room and had three people choose cards. Then he gave the deck to another man who gathered the cards and put them back in the deck. The magician produced a sword. He asked the man to throw the deck in the air. Then, he caught those three cards on his sword in mid-air. I know that’s not possible but it looked like it.

I told the cruise director, Glen, that the talent he hired is superb. He said that’s part of his job but all the acts were hired by the head office as he just boarded the ship.

When we got back to our room, the steward had placed two chocolate candies on our bed. He does that every night and Bill lets me have both of them. Bill says if the steward put out red licorice, he would arm-wrestle me for them but he doesn’t like chocolate nearly as much as I do. I wouldn’t care if the room was swimming in red licorice.