Kiribati: Edge of the earth, maybe?


July 2012:  Christmas Island, KIRIBATI (Is it Wednesday yet, have we crossed the Equator, and what time is it anyway? And furthermore, who cares?)
Colorful flag of Kiribati
 
On this map, Christmas Island is indicated by its local name Kiritimati (upper right)
 
Can I "Count" Kiribati?
Can you say you’ve been to a country if your plane lands there but you aren’t allowed to walk down the stairway and stand on the tarmac? Maybe my globetrotting friends Andre, John, or Janet know the rules for “claiming” a country. I claim to have visited the Cape Verde Islands, an independent nation off the coast of west Africa because my flight from New York to Johannesburg stopped there to refuel in 1986 and we were allow off the plane and into the transit lounge. I also claim Afghanistan because my friend, Bryce, and I convinced the Mujahedeen border guards to allow us to stand inside the border for a minute for photos after Bryce’s driver took us and an “armed”(with a WWII Enfield rifle) policeman she had hired for the trip over Khyber Pass from Peshawar, Pakistan in 1989. I do not claim Georgia where I stood within a few feet of the border with my colleague, Kevin, while working in Turkey in 2002. Getting a visa for a legit entry required a couple hundred mile trip to the Georgian consulate in Trabazon, Turkey on the Black Sea. An ill-legit entry required easily stepping over a wire fence in a forest where we wouldn’t have been spotted but Kevin and I didn’t have the stomach for it knowing this had once been a piece of the Iron Curtain before the Soviet Union fell apart. Could there still be an unseen mine or other booby trap lurking?

Early bird gets worm! Arriving early at Honolulu International for long flight to Fiji via Christmas Island resulted in the offer of an emergency exit seat. There was NO seat immediately in front of me resulting in exquisite comfort.
I viewed Christmas Island from the air as we made our approach noticing a vast expanse of tidal flats, coral reefs, and palm and pine forest. Closer examination revealed discoloration in some of the roundish tidal depressions. Could these have been mine sites (phosphate perhaps)?   I’ll have to consult with my friend, Mr. Wikipedia, for an explanation. I do recall that the Brits tested some nukes in the ocean near here in the 1950s but I think the prevailing winds carried the radioactivity away from the island. Probably really ruined the day for a bunch of fish and other sea critters.

Much of Christmas Island is an expanse of uninhabited salt marshes and forests

We landed on a long, well-maintained runway but I noticed that ground control consisted of a wind sock. The “terminal” included a couple of ramshackle metal huts one of which had a sign over the door reading “VIP Lounge” (Kiribatian humor, I suppose). I was surprised at the number of passengers got off the plane as this was their destination. I had thought this was only a refueling stop. One of the Polynesian flight attendants commented to me, “See, there’s nothing here”, as I peered out of the open cabin door which was now roped off so curious passengers like me wouldn’t try to take a walk down the stairway. She explained that they used to let passengers get off for the one-hour stopover but occasionally someone would wander off and miss the continuation of the flight to Fiji or delay departure. Maybe “there’s nothing here” on Christmas Island but a spot in the tropical Pacific with miles of deserted beaches really appeals. I’d gladly trade a good day on Waikiki for a bad day on Christmas Island.


We don't need no stinkin' control tower!


Terminal at Christmas Island "International" Airport

Wow, a VIP Lounge!  Make mine a very dry Tanqueray martini, stirred not shaken, please.

 
 


 
 
 

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