Vanuatu STRP - 2024

 HEADED HOME We had a very good night's rest and feel ready for a long day of flying and waiting.  Our accomodations were excellent and the transport to and from the airport went flawlessly.   Moso Island from the end of the Tranquility Resort Pier. Our plane to HNL took off right on time and we arrived early at HNL airport after a smooth, uneventful flight.  Passing through immigration was quick and our luggage arrived and passed through customs without being checked.  That was all the easy part of the trip home.  After clearing customs we spent 7 hours in a sort of holding area for transiting passengers.  It was pretty cold but everyone dressed as warmly as possible and tried to get some sleep.  Laura pulled out her air mattress and we each got an hour and a half resting on it.. At the end of the night, Zane and Luke shared half the mattress each. As soon as the airport opened again (0430 h) we went over and checked in for our Hawaiian flight and found an open Starbucks...!!! We

 Saturday 1/13/24 We began our last day on Moso Island by rising at 0530 and finishing packing for our return trip to Nadi, Fiji.  After getting mostly packed, Laura went for a last snorkel before we went to breakfast.  At 0830 we carried our luggage down to the boat dock, got together for a group photo, said our final good byes to the staff and got onto the boat for our crossing to Havanah Harbor and our transport back to Port Vila.  Forty minutes later we stopped at the Tranquility resort office stored our luggage and settled our bill. We had 4 hours to kill in Port Villa before we were to catch our ride to the airport. We wandered along the waterfront of Vila, visited the crafts fair, strolled through the produce market and then had a lunch at Jill's Cafe.  That left us with about 30 minutes to stop into the supermarket and buy some ramen for our dinner tonight in Nadi. Our flight to Nadi left early and was uneventful arriving about 30 minutes early.  Our ride met us at the airp

Some guests at Tranquility, grandparents and their two grandchildren, arranged a turtle release and asked Luke and Zane to assist! Enjoy the video.

 1/11/2024 Dive at Moso Caves included a cuttlefish, blue dragon nudibranch, octopus, white tipped reef shark and many other beautiful organisms!  We were in good spirits as we headed to our last night of field work. By 8:30 pm we located a nesting turtle. Luke and Zane observed the full nesting process using the IR binoculars! All of the satellite tagged turtles are transmitting and are still in the area which leads us to believe that they will be nesting again before they leave for their forage grounds. On the way out for our last night of monitoring. sunset at out campsite. Sitting on the beach and having dinner.. what a view. Tonight it was spaghetti, with French bread and fried bananas.  Paul also brong some very tasty vegetable sandwiches.. Laura appreciated them! The monitoring team at the end of the third day. Luke and Zane were able to take video of the egg laying process using the IR binoculars.  The clips show the excavation of the egg chanber, the depositing of the eggs and

  Below is a whole array of images taken during the scuba dives and snorkeling at Moso Island.