SURF ADVENTURE: Land of the Blonde Fros

I live my life according to my intuition and many times do things that may have no rhyme or reason yet, I am so drawn I know I must trust and follow these inner promptings. I was on the computer one day when a photo of the Solomon Islands popped up on my screen seemingly out of nowhere. I was instantly touched with a feeling of the perfect paradise I have been searching for my entire life.

A very unique quality that these people have from any other culture is that they are of AFRICAN descent but many of them have BLONDE HAIR. It is a stunning look!

This is how it came about that I ended up living with the natives in the Solomon Islands on the island of Melanesia.

I was not at all familiar with the Solomon Islands yet have always had a desire to visit that region of the world, I was thinking more like Bali, Sumatra or Java. Being a surfer for over 30 years there are certain locations that are a must to surf in your life, of course Hawaii being on the top of the list to test your true skills as a surfer in the huge pounding surf of the North Shore of Oahu. Been there done that enough times, I have nothing more to prove! Already having surfed some of the biggest best waves in the world, I now prefer to explore waves that are unknown and may have never been ridden before.

When I first arrived I stayed in Guadalcanal for a couple of days and I racked the brains of a couple of guys who have lived there for years with as many questions as I could think of about the customs and traditions of the people in the Solomon Islands. Being naive to their ways could be a matter of life or death so I was going to learn as much as I could to keep from breaking too many taboos. Who knows what the compensation would be for the slightest infraction? Are there still cannibalistic rituals? I heard white people were too salty. I sure hope so! Compensation is when one of the local village laws is broken and the only way to make things right again is to pay; this could be anything from, a pig or shell money (two most common forms of payment), to clothes and hopefully not my surfboard!

Some customs that directly applied to me were that an unmarried woman should never walk anywhere alone, especially a foreigner, so always have at least one kid with you, for they know where you can and can’t go, for example like onto any feuding villagers property. The women are expected to wear clothes that will cover below their knees (good thing I brought along a couple of lava lavas for my shorts weren't that long). I saw many bare breasted women or wearing scantily covering tops but they all had their knees covered! I was trying to figure out how I was going to go surfing in my bikini!

These were only a few important points I had to remember luckily I am a fast learner and am here to share my stories with you!