During lunch the ship moved the 20 nautical miles to Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands. We were in a proper harbor today – complete with a gangway and easy access to the city.

I had booked an afternoon excursion for a trip around town. We were picked up by bus shortly after arrival. From the harbor it was straight to the national museum – here  a collection of artifacts, displaying the country’s traditions, was waiting for us. There was also a section on WW2 (and the area here played an important role in the Pacific war)  and the development towards an independent country. The most significant exhibit to me was the display of red feather money (picture below, more info here).

From the museum we continued to the city’s main market – for a quick visit and look around. It was easy to see here, how the main staple in the Solomon diet is not bread or rice (as one might expect in this region) but starchy tubers – mainly manioc/yuca/cassava and a local sweet potato – add to this the sago, we had seen in the villages.

Continuing the tour we were now running into street construction on our way out of the city – passing by stadium and sports facilities that are currently being built for the upcoming South Pacific Games. Our destination was a small museum at an Adventist school. The museum showcased an odd collection of war artifacts (and a bigger souvenir market). The Guadalcanal Memorial was more interesting to me. Here we had not only a good summary of the island’s WW2 history – but also great views across town.  Our final stop was at the Parliament of the Solomon Islands – for a guided tour – which was an interesting touch, as it provided insight into the political realities (and difficulties) in this nation of islands.

Well – our time on the Solomon Islands had come to an end – we were stamped out and on our way for Papua New Guinea.