Friday afternoon we packed up and headed to the boat that was to take us to Eneco. We arrived and hiked to the end of the island to check the tide. It was still a little high, but a few of us decided to go on to the next island anyway. Everyone else stayed behind to wait for it to go down. We reached the first island right as the sun was going down. The others were pretty far behind, so the five of us decided to hike on to the next island. By this time we decided to go ahead and hike the 6 or so miles to Kalalan all in one shot. We stopped once for a little break and hiked the rest by moonlight.
It was pretty incredible watching the waves crashing so close by and then fizzling out into tiny waves at our ankles. At one point it got really slippery, I’m really surprised nobody fell. The last small stretch was the worst with lots of rocks and pointy coral, but we finally made it to the sand. My feet hurt SO bad from my dinky little water shoes, so I took them off. That was a mistake…I kicked a rock with my super long toe halfway to the campsite. I didn’t think it was too bad, but after the fire was going I saw my toenail was hanging off. It was still attached at the bottom so I had to rip it off…not too bad, but it definitely had sand all in it. Thankfully Alise brought socks so I was able to clean it and cover it the first night.
We hung our hammocks and went to sleep, exhausted from the hike (me at least). We were rudely awakened by rain, so we jumped up, ripped our hammock down and huddled together under the tree. It soon passed so we went for round 2. Around 5:30am it came again. All we could do was stand, holding our hammocks, praying for the rain to stop…haha oh good times. Then it stopped and we slept till morning.
Saturday we made a fire, ate oatmeal and hoped that the others would be coming soon, especially since between the 5 of us we didn’t have a machete and the boys hadn’t brought much water since they had planned on drinking coconuts all weekend. Then it started downpouring. We tried to stay dry, but it showed no sign of letting up anytime soon, so we embraced it. Ben and Mitch went and started building a sandcastle in the rain. We walked to the other end of the island to see if we saw anyone coming yet, but no one was in sight. The sand on Kalalan is beautiful so we stopped for a little rock free swim! There was also a huge boat washed up on shore which was interesting.
It rained off and on throughout the day, but thankfully every time we went to eat it was dry. We built a fire which survived after getting doused 3 times by high tide. Eventually we built a sand wall around it which helped I think. During dry spells we read and just relaxed. There wasn’t really anywhere to sit so we stood a lot. Jon found a couple of coconuts that him and Ben husked on a sharp branch sticking out of a tree. Ben almost impaled himself with the branch when he missed once…lol.
We decided it might be a good idea to try and build a shelter before more rain came. Why didn’t we check the weather!? And when did this suddenly become an episode of Survivor Majuro!!?? Anyway, we started ripping palm branches off trees. It was kind of difficult. A random Marshallese man who lived on the island came by with a machete and helped us chop down branches and arrange them into a shelter. We felt pretty accomplished. Then Jon almost fell into the toilet hole since he broke the seat when he sat down. AHHAHAHAHA!
After nightfall Jon and Ben hiked down the beach to where some locals live to get water from their rain catchment. They came back with a tarp the man had given them. Apparently he knows Dennis who owns the part of the island we were staying on. So we set that up on top of the palm branches. We knew the tide would be even higher than the night before so we built a huge wall around our tree so Alise and our stuff wouldn’t get wet in the night (she doesn’t have a hammock).
Soon we saw 3 silhouettes walking down the beach. It turned out to be Michael, Damo and Rob. They had walked from the other camp to make sure we would all be heading back Sunday. (Some were going to stay till Monday.) Since the group had been separated and the rain had ruined plans, we all agreed that was the best idea. They also informed us the others also had bad blisters so they stopped on an island that happened to be full of pigs haha! Some of them had also gotten stung by jellyfish on the way. Michael stayed the night with us, and Damo and Rob headed back to be with the other girls.
We settled into our hammocks, only to be woken up by big drops. Rain had come again. It was 1am. We huddled under the shelter which seemed to be doing its job. Then it let up. We went back to bed only to be downpoured on an hour later (2am). We crowded under the shelter. It was a long-winded rain so we sat down and huddled together. This went on for an hour and a half. The shelter had drips. Most of us were soaked at one point or another. At 3:30am we decided our best bet was to try and find shelter with the locals. At a brief reprieve we rushed through the woods. Somehow a couple of men were awake and offered us their room. We crashed on the hardwood floor. Never have I been so thankful to sleep on the floor…We were wet and cold, but oh so thankful. He gave us all the sheets and blankets he had. I shivered most of the night, but at least we were in a dry place.
We woke up and headed back to camp to pack up and head out. We were pretty tired from the night’s events, but ready to get back. I felt bad for Jon and Alise who were both rubbed raw with terrible blisters from their sandals. Luckily my toe had started healing a little bit. I had counted on my pack being a little lighter, but with all my wet clothes it seemed to be about the same.
We conquered the hike back in 2 hours with daylight and an extra low tide helping us out. There were lots of little eels and red-eyed crabs threatening to pinch me on the way. I got used to it…but did jump pretty high when one eel swam right into my foot! I felt so victorious when we finally reached the shore of Eneco. Damo was there and immediately informed us of a tsunami warning for an hour later! Ironically we had been hypothesizing what we would do if a tsunami hit Kalalan while we were there.
We met up with the rest of the group. It had been a fun getaway, but it was nice to be reunited with everyone. That’s the longest we’ve ever been apart besides Christmas break! We found out the tsunami that hit Hawaii was only 1 meter so we weren’t worried. We had to wait about 3.5 hours for the boat to come. We read and slept most of the time. It had been an exhausting trip. My shoes pretty much destroyed so I threw them away and wore my flip flops home.
Boy were we glad to get back. But the joy was only an instant. The bottom bars on our window were ripped off and both front windows were open. Kara and Alise’s room was one huge puddle and everything was soaked. Somehow their window was slightly cracked open. Then all the girls in our apartment except me discovered all their cash had been stolen. I only had $5 anyway….but my stuff had still been rummaged through. It was creepy to think someone had been in there! They didn’t steal any electronics, although Alise’s computer had gotten wet from the rain. We think it was a student since the school knew we were going to be gone this weekend. No one ever wants to have a break-in, but even less so after an extremely long trip like ours!
But we were thankful there hadn’t been more damage. We cleaned up, showered and headed out to eat to celebrate surviving Kalalan! For some dumb reason we decided to walk to Payless to get ice cream afterwards. Not a few of us were limping with blisters, sore muscles, etc. Haha what a sight we must’ve been.
All in all I think I would do it again. It was a growing experience. And even though all this seemingly “bad” stuff happened, I could still see God at work in the random Marshallese guy, the locals that took us in, and also in the other SMs as we came together to survive the elements. Everyone had a great attitude about everything that happened, and I can definitely say I couldn’t choose a better group of people to share my experiences with.
Psalm 91: 1-7, 10-12 – He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.” Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. (haha that’s me!)
Psalm 93:4 – The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea.
Psalm 121:3, 5-8 - He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.
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