Caroline Islands, Kolonia, Pohnpei

In 1980 we drove to San Francisco, boarded the MS Enna G and sailed to the Islands of Hawaii, Majuro, Ponape, Truk, and Saipan. When our ship was disabled in the harbor of Saipan, we flew to Guam for a day, then to Hawaii for a week, then back to San Francisco, and drove home to Los Angeles.

The island of Ponape (now spelled Pohnpei) is about 16 miles around, and the very unusual ruins of Nan Madol were at the far side of the island, a two-hour, very scary, very wet, very fast outboard motor boat ride away from the harbor town of Kolonia. In this photo you can see a few of the basalt columns used to build the mysterious stone city of Nan Madol.

Combined with the wind and the waves, we got very wet, but it was a warm wind and warm water, and a wonderful experience. The people who took this same ride the following day got caught in a storm, and it rained and stormed so hard they didn’t get to see much, but wow, were they ever scared!
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The ruins of Nan Madol

The high speed open-boat ride from the town of Kolonia to the ceremonial Centre of Nan Madol, was like the Jungle Ride at Disneyland, squared — this was for real! Built of basalt columns formed by volcanic activity, weighing up to five tons or more, and sometimes exceeding 15 feet in length, the columns are stacked horizontally, cord-wood style, to form outer walls. This is certainly a distinctive form of megalithic architecture

After we left the ruins, we continued through water channels in the reef, to the fascinating Kepirohi Waterfall in the Madolenihmw district, and took a dip in the soothing water of the pool. We looked on the Internet for a description of this waterfall, and all we found were the words “wonderful, fascinating, breathtaking, …” and on and on. While it is far from the largest we have seen, Kepirohi was indeed the most unusual and extraordinary waterfall of the dozens we have visited in Hawaii, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Niagara, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Plitvica National Park in Yugoslavia, and many other places. (And if I ever find my photo of that waterfall, I'll post it right here!)

The ride back to Kolonia and our ship, the MS Enna G, was fun, but uneventful.