A World of Archipelagos

As summer vacations approach, in case you are thinking about where to go, I want to tell you about three trips Anne and I took earlier this year to visit some of the archipelagos in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans.

An archipelago is a group or chain of islands clustered together in a body of water. For a familiar example, the Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago.

This is a tale of ten archipelagos.

The South Pacific Archipelago Collection

This trip included:

The Solomon Islands, a country consisting of six major islands and around one thousand islands. It was a British colony until achieving independence in 1976 (one of several archipelago countries younger than me). These islands have been settled more than 30,000 years ago and examples of ancient indigenous culture are everywhere. The main island is Guadalcanal which was the site of a ferocious land and sea battle in WWII and there is an excellent museum commemorating that battle.

The Republic of Vanuatu, an independent country since 1980, previously known as New Hebrides, named by Captain Cook because it reminded him of the western coast of Scotland (he obviously overlooked the differences in weather). Vanuatu consists of a Y-shaped group of more than 80 islands. The island of Ambryn offered a rough ride in the back of pick up trucks, seemingly without shock absorbers, to a huge desert caldera, a bowl-shaped volcanic depression that forms when a volcano erupts and the interior collapses leaving the bowl. The islands of Moso and Tanna offered spectacular snorkeling and diving.

The Republic of Fiji, also an independent country since 1980, consists of around 330 islands, with a population of around 1,000,000, divided 60/40 between indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians whose ancestors came as indentured servants to work in the sugar fields starting in the late 19th Century. We visited Beqa, Taveuni, Kadavu and Vita Levu islands for swimming, snorkeling and the indigenous culture.

Territory of Wallis & Fortuna is a French “collectivity” consisting of two island groups that are around 150 miles apart with a total population of only 11,000; no wonder you’ve never heard of it. We hiked and snorkeled in the Wallis group. And I am the only guy in my neighborhood with a Wallis & Fortuna t-shirt.

Indian Ocean Collection

This trip included:

Zanzibar in the United Republic of Tanzania. The country of Tanzania was formed in 1964 and the name is a contraction between Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous Tanzanian archipelago consisting of two large islands and a large number of small ones. The population is mostly Muslim. The central attraction is Stone Town, the old part of Zanzibar city. Stone Town was a central hub of the East African slave trade during the 19th century. It consists of old stone buildings on very narrow streets. I found exploration challenging because the streets are either not named or named only in Arabic.

Kilwa Kisiwani is part of the Tanzanian archipelago and the home of a UNESCO World Heritage site on Kilwa Island. This is the location of the archaeological remains of the Kilwa Sultanate’s Swahili City State which flourished from the 13th Century through the 15th Century.

Then, a number of stops in the Republic of Seychelles, an island country of 155 islands that obtained independence from the UK in 1976. The Seychelles is a remarkably successful country with the highest per capita GDP and highest Human Development of any African nation.

Aldabra Atoll – part of the outer islands of the Seychelles, approximately 700 miles from the capital of the Seychelles. An atoll is a ring-shaped coral reef, island, or series of islets that encircle a central lagoon initially formed by the eruption and subsidence of a volcano. This is the world’s second largest atoll at 21 miles by 8 miles. We explored the interior with its very diverse wildlife, principally birds, by zodiac.

Astove Island – an outer Seychelles island. Spectacular snorkeling around an undersea cliff with an enormous dropoff. Best if you can swim.

Cosmoledo Atoll – a 10 mile by 6 mile uninhabited island with 17 feet at its highest point. Nice swimming.

Farquhar Atoll – the southernmost of the Seychelles atolls; huge (65 square mile) lagoon; lots of sea turtles.

Remire Island – home of giant turtles but not much else – it is only 1/3 of a square mile.

Aride Island – this is a nature reserve managed by the Island Conservation Society of the Seychelles. It is home to huge nesting seabird colonies and can be visited only by Zodiac.

Mahe Island – this is the main island of the Seychelles and we spent a few nights at the new Cheval Blanc resort. It is beautiful and another reminder of what Beverly Hills missed thanks to the referendum sponsored and financed by an outside union. A word to those W.C. Fields disciples who believe that any man who hates kids and dogs can’t be all bad – Cheval Blanc caters to families with young children. But it is located on the most spectacular beach I have ever seen.

The Atlantic Ocean Collection

This trip started and ended in wonderful Lisbon, Portugal (more on that shortly) and a flight to Praia, the capital of the West African archipelago country of Cabo Verde. Cabo Verde was a Portuguese colony until it became independent in 1975. I didn’t see much because shortly after arriving, I tested positive for COVID and was quarantined for 24 hours. A minor case and I don’t think I missed much except for lunch in Praia that appeared eminently missable.

The trip included three major European archipelagos, the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores. All were very beautiful, prosperous and very European.

The Canary Islands are an “Autonomous Community of Spain.” With 2.25M inhabitants, these islands are the most populous overseas territory of the European Union. We visited three of the seven main islands, La Palma, La Gomera and Tenerife. These are major tourist destinations, drawing over 14 million visitors annually. It is easy to see why they are so attractive. They have beautiful beaches, great Spanish food and spectacular volcanic mountains. Lots of attractive hillside housing spilling down to the sea.

The Autonomous Region of Madeira is a region of Portugal. This was likely my favorite of all the archipelagos. Perhaps this was because our visit included a Foodie walking tour that included stops for a pork in wine and garlic sandwich, “Espada” a local fish, grilled tuna, Portuguese sausage, great bread, Madeira wine, local beer and Madeira honey cake.

The Autonomous Region of the Azores consists of nine major volcanic islands which have had this autonomous status since 1976. The island of Sao Miguel is like a miniature Yellowstone with active volcanoes and hot springs. We visited Furnas Lake where our lunch, a form of Portuguese stew was cooked in clay pots buried in the hot sand. The stew was ok but the accompanying Portuguese beer was the best.

This trip ended with three great days in Lisbon with our friends Maxine and Eliot Finkel. Anne, Maxine and I took a cooking class and I took a long walk to Livraria Bertrand, the world’s oldest bookstore established in 1732. It’s English language collection was ok but its location was great – right next to a really good gelato shop.

I hope that this brief discussion of archipelagos inspires you. Let me know if you want more details.

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On Friday May 23, I was excited to attend the playoff baseball game between BHHS and Pioneer High School of Whittier. For the first time in several years, the team made it to the third round of the CIF Playoffs. I went in part because, as you may know, I am a high school sports junkie but mostly to see first hand what the recent BHUSD sports uniform kerfluffle is all about. I can now report from first hand experience that the Beverly uniforms were beautiful, far nicer than the Pioneer High outfits, and our team looked very handsome and professional.

I note that no members of the Board of Education were in attendance. I am hopeful that this was because they were doing their job and devoting their attention to improving academics (their only job), not being distracted by micromanaging the way our sports teams are outfitted.

Fortunately, there is no connection between academic greatness and success in athletics. While it is possible that some students who participate in sports are better students than those who do not participate, that doesn’t mean that such participation causes academic success. With only 1100 students and no appetite for allowing for the recruitment of 50 to 100 athletes on permits from around Los Angeles County, there is little possibility that BHHS will ever be an athletic powerhouse in sports such as football, basketball or baseball.

Any minute that our District administration spends in pursuit of that impossible and academically irrelevant dream is a wasted minute that could and should have been spent pursuing attainable goals of improving the education of our students.