TuvaluMap
September Tuvalu consists of several atolls. The main atoll, Funafuti, is its capital. ![]() The airport is located in the part of the atoll that’s 400 meters wide. The rest of it is really narrow. You always have the waves crashing on one side and a perfectly calm sandy shore on the other. ![]() The airport building is only fenced off on one side. A woman collects completed forms from arriving passengers. The kid is no hindrance to carrying out official duties. ![]()
Meanwhile, another woman wearing a “Hi-Tech Security Service” arm patch checks departing passengers’ luggage by hand. The country doesn’t have an ![]() There’s no need to take a taxi from the airport. You step outside with your suitcase—and the hotel is right there, on the opposite shore. It’s a two-minute walk. And the view is divine. ![]() The atoll is small, a couple of kilometers each way. You can see the ends of the island with the naked eye. ![]() If a person on Tuvalu has enough land around their house, they bury their relatives right there in the front yard. If there isn’t much land, then—so be it—they’ll take grandma to the cemetery. ![]() The primary mode of transportation is the motor scooter. ![]() Water at the hotel is only turned on twice a day. But on the bright side, there’s an Internet cable sticking out of the wall. Tuvalu is completely useless as far as anyone anywhere is concerned. The country makes money in two ways: by acknowledging Abkhazia as an independent state and by selling .tv domain names. ![]() There are no fresh water sources in the country. And no point in shedding tears about it— they’re salty as well. ![]() Rainwater is collected into cisterns. When there’s an extended drought, neighboring countries are asked to help and bring in some tankers with water. ![]() Instead of bells, the island uses compressed air cylinders with the bottoms sawed off. They ring just as nicely. ![]() The language is simple. ![]() Schoolchildren wear uniforms. ![]() Electricity meters. ![]() Street electrical boxes. ![]() A street sign. ![]() A “give way” sign. ![]() Because the number of cars is so small, license plates consist of wooden boards painted by hand. ![]() Metal tends to corrode quickly in the local climate. But that’s no reason not to paint the corroded edges. ![]() I walked into a building with a sign that said “Bookstore.” Prolonged laughter followed me as I walked out. ![]() A convenience store. The cashier has prepared change in Australian dollars and local coins. ![]() A cafeteria. Slices of pizza of an indeterminate nature are covered with a big mesh hood to keep away flies. ![]() The post office. The postal worker wets stamps on a special roller and sticks them on my postcards. ![]() The prison. ![]() It’s already 30 degrees Celsius by 8 a.m. Every house has a wooden platform with a shade canopy outside. The residents lie there like sea lions on the shore. ![]() When there aren’t any planes, the airport runway is used for sports. ![]() Airplanes fly in twice a week. A loud siren sounds across the entire atoll before every takeoff and landing, warning people not to go out onto the airfield, since it’s not fenced off in any way (like in Gibraltar). Local residents keep pigpens along the runway. ![]() Pigs are the only kind of animal you’ll find here, as a matter of fact. ![]() Even though there are a couple of trash dumpsters in the very center of the island. ![]() A real Tuvaluan doesn’t need any dumpsters. ![]() Any edge of the atoll will do as a dump. ![]() The left one. ![]() Or the right. ![]() And—let’s be honest here—the middle is a perfectly fine place to dump trash, too. ![]() Of course, one can take a motorboat and pop over to an uninhabited piece of atoll next door. ![]() Marvel at the incredible tree roots. ![]() Hunt some exotic fish. ![]() Bask in the sunset. ![]() But the memories will haunt you no matter where you go. ![]() |
september
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september
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september 2011
Tuvalu
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