We humans have unusual dreams. Some of us are too embarrassed to tell others. A few of us crazily decide to follow them and I was one of those people. In early September, I followed my unusual dream to the Kingdom of Tonga on a quest to swim with humpback whales, the gigantic, highly intelligent creatures.
Tonga, a Polynesian kingdom, is interestingly located right next to the International Date Line, northeast from New Zealand. Although it is not well known among Thais, its beaches and scenic areas are truly one of the world's hidden gems. Tongans are the nicest of people and they possess unique craftsmanship skills that people around the world should be talking about. Anyway, the real highlight of a visit to Tonga are no doubt the majestic humpback whales.
Tonga's water around its Vava'u and Ha'apai islands has been a breeding and nursing sanctuary for the migrating humpback whales from Antarctica for as long as Tongans can remember. Every year from June to October (the Southern Hemisphere's winter), Tonga's islands become crowded not only by whales, but also by tourists who "migrate" from all over the world to get a rare chance to swim with these oceanic beasts.
Swimming with whales in Tonga is not a piece of cake. During my seven days out in the cold Pacific waters, there were times when I was soaked and shivering to death because of unexpected windy tropical storms. There were moments that I had to swim for hundreds of metres before getting close to the whales, only to get the so-called lethal "whale slapping". Worst of all, there were days when we waited in the water and the whales were nowhere to be seen.
With all the torment and difficulties, this was still one of the most memorable of experiences of my life. I feel privileged to have got the rare chance to look into the eyes of one of the smartest living creatures on Earth as we begged her to trust us to be around her offspring.
Then I was blessed with a miracle interaction with the world's cutest and greatest baby, as I was swimming "fin to fin" with him, watching his wonderful underwater acrobatic moves, listening to the songs made by his mother and mesmerised by his stunning water bubble tricks. This real-life dream ended with the mother joining us for a swim, exhibiting a fondness for her baby. She took a glimpse at us as this marked their farewell before they both disappeared into the deep blue water.
Flying to Tonga from Thailand is not difficult. You can take a 10 hour flight from Bangkok to Auckland, New Zealand, and then take Air New Zealand's daily flight for another 3-4 hours to reach Tonga's capital city, Nuku'alofa. You can also fly to Tonga via Sydney by Virgin Australia's weekly flight.
To go from the capital city to Ha'apai or Vava'u islands, where most humpback mothers and calves are found, you can take one of the several domestic flights available from the capital. Be careful, as Tongan domestic flights have a reputation for being unpredictable. Flights are often delayed or cancelled. Even worse, some find their seats have been given away to other passengers if they do not arrive before others.
It is wise to pick a good operator months before arriving Tonga. Most of the reliable operators can be fully occupied, leaving you with all the inferior ones, so always plan ahead.
Not every day in the water was a lucky day. There were a few days when we got in the water and the whales, not being in the mood, disappeared right away. On those unlucky days, we spent most of our time on the boat.
On my last day, we ran into a very cheerful calf with his super relaxed mother. We called the calf Snowy because of some of the white parts on his body. While his mum was resting below, Snowy became extremely playful, inspecting each of us closely. At one point, we had to move back from the baby because he was flapping his fins and tail too rapidly in excitement. I don’t think he realised how powerful his body was compared to us. Snowy was obviously showing off all of his skills, from ascending to the surface of the water upside down to breaching. I watched him breach and land back in the water just a few meters from me.
The Talangala Eco Resort made my Tonga trip unlike any other. The owners deserve a big round of applause for making the resort sustainable as they have completely minimised the resort’s water usage and furthermore fuel its light and electricity with only solar power. For 10 days, I stayed in a tent, drank naturally tasty rain water, watched million-dollar sunsets, walked back to my tent every night under a starry sky and woke up to seeing whales breaching every morning.
The port of entry to Tonga is its capital city, Nuku’alofa, located on the island of Tongatapu. Although the city is small, I decided to take a taxi to visit the unique royal palace at the city centre. On the way, my taxi passed through many cemeteries, all were brightly colourful enough for me to beg the driver to stop so I could take pictures.
The small island of Uoleva, where we stayed, is no doubt surrounded by plenty of humpback whales. We nonetheless had several encounters with some other interesting creature on land. Juanita and Echo, the island’s dogs, made our stay even more charming. They sent us to the sea and welcomed us back onto the beach every day. Just metres away from my tent, a stunning bright blue king fisher was not so camera-shy. On the way to the restaurant, the biggest spider I’ve ever seen was weaving its web for dinner. Watching the progress of this kept me in awe for quite some time.
The food and desserts on Ha’apai Island were just wonderful. Some of the ingredients were grown fresh right behind the restaurant. Every day, we only talked about three things on the boat: the whales, the food and the dessert. My favourites were the fresh papaya and lemon breakfast, and dinners that included black fin tuna and chicken kebab, which was by far the best I’ve ever had.
