Garove Island Revisited
We first visited Garove Islad on our northbound journey. We returned to Garove today.
Garove is a stunning island that, like Santorini, is a water-filled volcanic caldera. A portion of the eastern side of the caldera is open to the sea, and our ship was able to sail into the caldera. An interesting bookend of sorts with our sailing into the Deception Island caldera in Antarctica a few months earlier.
On our arrival an outrigger canoe came out to meet us, with men singing and with a traditional welcome gift of some sort of leaves. (I forget what kind.)
Our zodiacs ferried us to the island where we were met by young children gawking, a ladies choir group singing and, as we neared the steps up to the town green, men in traditional clothes and body paint chanting us through the “gauntlet.”
After the school children sang the national anthem, several different groups performed in the cultural offerings. Each group had a different style. Some more staid, and others raucous with sword fights. At the end all the groups performed at the same time and locals gathered round their favorite group. The group with the most fans was declared the victor in the battle of the dancers. Seeing — and hearing — all the groups perform at once was simply stunning.
