Formerly known as Pleasant Island, Nauru is the world’s smallest island nation, with an estimated population of around ten thousand. t's so small you can jog around the country! In case you hadn't already heard about Nauru, then I bet you wouldn't be able to easily locate it on a map. Not only is Nauru just a speck in the middle of the Central Pacific, but it holds the title as The Least-Visited Country on The Planet. According to our friendly Taxi driver- one of the only two taxi operators on the island, he had not met more than 4 - 5 tourists in the last couple of years! I usually trust a local cabbie more than any other guide book to get a feel for the tourist impact on a destination, and knowing this fact made this travel even more exciting and unique.
Since there are so few visitors to the island, there was so little online about it. You couldn’t book a hotel online easily, no flights showed up when searching Expedia, and even google had a hard time serving the expected search results! So, it was quite apparent that this island was not getting any love from even the extreme travellers, let alone the cliched tourists! But then, lack of crowd & visitors is what adds an extra dose of magic & seclusion to a place. And, It's not just the serenity of the place, but also the purity of the people (especially the localized refugees) that captured our hearts - Everyone we interacted with here were so sweet and helpful to us(offering us rides, helping with logistics etc)
Also, It was quite amusing to see the lost expression on the faces of the local people - who just couldn't believe that we were here just for tourism and not attached to any ‘Departments’! This place has overtaken Sierra Leone, East Timor, Liberia and Papau New guinea in our #WayOffTheBeatenTrackTavel List. So this blog is my attempt to showcase this untouched tiny slice of island that i selfishly hope stays under the radar for a few more years at least.
Meal with a View
Our first meal in the island was at the Bayfront restaurant and it turned out to be an absolute delight - both in terms of the food as well as the mood. Pacific Island Breeze, Spicy Pakistani curry & Roti, Fine Craft Ale from Australia - all at a table with a million dollar view, with Zero tourists or Selfie sticks! What more can a traveller looking to explore new destinations ask for as a refuel!!
Party time
The 4 B's of Bliss: A Beer, Bench, Beach and soothing Breeze - What more could a man ask for!! #BeachsideBeers #SexySundowners. Hotel Meneñ’s Reef Bar is the place to party. There’s live music or DJs on Friday and Saturday nights, attracting local and expat crowds.
Re-fuel time
Most of the Shipping containers scattered around the island have been converted into interesting utility structures - ranging from shops to storage sheds and offices. But the prize for the coolest transformation definitely goes to The Container Cafe - a great pitstop for a quick refuel before heading out or a trek up to Buada Lagoon
Lost in a Lagoon
Located not too far from the Container cafe is the Bouada Lagoon - A perfect place to lose track of time and orientation and chill out within a bubble of tranquility you rarely get to experience in other pacific islands that are more popular with tourists. And thats exactly what we did, on one of the cool tyres artistically converted into a ‘mini couch’
A different kind of Ruins
The beautiful island is strewn with gigantic rusting structures and old shipping containers carelessly left behind like disposable garbage by foreign corporations who had pillaged this island off its rich resources during its glory days. While its quite sad to see this, they were all great candidates for killer Instagram shots! #IndustrialRuins
Some of the best sights can be spotted right on the beach, close to the main road that you would hit when you come back from Buada lagoon. Giant tyres from mining equipment are a common site all around the island. And it was quite interesting to see how the locals had converted these industrial garbage into cute artwork.
Bowled over by the Beaches
Based on the pictures I saw - from the limited number of coverage & blogs about Nauru on the web - I expected Nauru to be surrounded by very shallow, rock filled and visually unappealing beaches. But I was completely shocked to see stunning oceanfronts with turquoise waters and thundering waves that could easily rival some of the beaches in the Caribbean or Hawaii
Sundowner
Travelling to way off the beaten track destinations can be a lot more fun - than visiting popular destinations - because of the loads of surprises that might be in store for you, since you dont know what to expect thanks to the lack of coverage in guide books or blogs. Jules on the Deck was one such magical surprise. Even locals didn’t know much about this place and there was barely any information on the internet about this bohemian bar. But, my oh my what a wonderful venue for a stunning sunset this watering hole turned out to be. And we could savour the daily ritual of the great ball of fire, while sipping on Victoria’s finest!
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