TIME TO LEAVE   AND THE DRAMA CONTINUES...

There is not as much fanfare as when we left Mavo Lodge, nothing really, shows the vast contrast between the 2 experiences, though I don’t in anyway regret our time at Wilderness.  It was just such a different atmosphere as opposed to where we had begun our journey and the reason we loved Mavo so much – our relationships and interaction with the people, not to say we hadn’t made a couple of good friends along the way at WL. 

 Ron was another of the staff members here that had come over on a few nights and was very keen to learn more about us and the outside world, though his English was limited.  He is the young guy I mentioned earlier who wanted to setup a catch and release style lodge, I will watch with keen eyes and be sure post about it, should his dream come to fruition.  I sincerely hope it does.

As with Mavo, we leave the boys, John, Paul and Ron a heap of gifts, diving and fishing gear, rods, lures, clothes and a few other bits and pieces which they are truly stoked with.  As before we also leave a bunch of supplies for the schools and the first aid hut they have set up in the village.  We also all have one last session on the deck, soaking up every last drop of this place and reflect on what a journey we have all shared.  There may or may not have been some more of Pauls home grown chop-chop present!!

The day of our departure arrives and so do the storm clouds, the 2 Austrian ladies and us all share a boat to the airstrip but due to previous rain damaging the Gatokae runway, we have to make the journey all the way back up to Seghe to fly out.   Never rely on your itinerary going to plan around here and always have a plan b and c! 

We get rained on and the journey is not pleasant for the first 45 minutes until we hit the inside of Marovo Lagoon, which is as usual, perfect!  It is actually great to get another trip through it and we take a route we haven’t ventured before and get to experience some more of the magic that abounds in this place. 

We arrive at Seghe, which is also a scenic little spot, with almost a proper ‘town’ I guess you would call it.  Things don’t get any smoother here and the flight home is typically not going to be straight forward!  They can only take 3 of us due to weight issues again and for some reason the Austrian ladies have lost their normally jovial demeanour and pretty much demand that they go first.  This normally wouldn’t be an issue for me in the slightest, but it means we once again have to split up our group. 

Not overly nice of the old dames as us 3 boys could have all gone together and it complicates our already ongoing travel dramas.  I think Stenty is starting to feel the strain of such a big journey that the last few weeks have been and we send him first with the 2 ladies, as Lucas and I get set to wait around for another couple of hours until the next flight. 

  Luckily we are trained professionals at sniffing out cold beer and soon enough we find ourselves sitting on this little wooden jetty over more amazing coral and lagoon, sucking cold beers with a few snacks and watching baby Mangrove Jack swim around the pylons.   Things could be worse!!

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention the near naked and sometimes fully exposed local lunatic that resides at this airfield, quite a unit, and although a little disturbing provided a little comic relief to break up the wait! 

Seghe Airport