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Philip Game | profile | all galleries >> Galleries >> Solomon Islands (5 galleries) tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Solomon Islands (5 galleries)

Two men in a boat bob gently out in the channel as the dawn comes up over the forested shores of New Georgia. We’ve been assured that an inter-island freighter will pass this way sometime soon. Sure enough, just after sun-up, a white blob appears on the horizon and the good ship Bikoi hoves into view. We scramble aboard, picking our way around sleeping bodies and sacks of copra. Next stop, Seghe, where an eco lodge awaits on the shores of the majestic Marovo Lagoon, shielded from the Pacific by a double island barrier and held out to be the planet’s finest. Our unadorned bungalow has been built out over the turquoise waters, populated by fearless coral fish, giant clams and even a few sleepy sharks.

The Solomon Islands, a remote Pacific nation famed for the quality of its scuba diving, has come in from the cold after years of political disruption and in 2007 its own tsunami. The Solomons are an unspoiled chain of islands extending southeast from New Guinea, ranging from coral atolls to rumbling volcanoes, and populated mainly by the descendents of Melanesian headhunters, with a scattering of Polynesians, Micronesians and Chinese storekeepers. Travellers can truly escape the rat race and discover one of the South Pacific’s last unpolished diamonds.

Apart from superlative diving and surfing, the attractions include coral atolls, floating villages, relics of head-hunting days - and of some of the most decisive days of the Pacific War. Ironically, pitched battles were fought in these little-known islands. Divers explore many a sunken battleship or fighter plane whilst on land, the debris of war awaits discovery, be it tanks and artillery rusting quietly in the undergrowth or a myriad of smaller items collected and curated by local enthusiasts.

These images were taken with Nikon D200 (10 mpx) using RAW format, and are available for licensing. Read more on my Blog.

Laying down on the job
Laying down on the job
Honiara, Solomon Islands
:: Honiara, Solomon Islands ::
Gizo, Western Province, Solomon Islands
:: Gizo, Western Province, Solomon Islands ::
New Georgia, Solomon Islands
:: New Georgia, Solomon Islands ::
Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands
:: Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands ::
Malaita, Solomon Islands
:: Malaita, Solomon Islands ::