The purpose of coming into the village (besides getting acquainted) was to receive permission to stay in the anchorage and enjoy swimming in the water. These two young men were our guides as we walked around the village. Our gifts were kava and a Bible. Both were well received.

People were very friendly and the children, very curious. The village of Lalati has cement walkways - a real asset when the rains come. The water (and waste) is controlled with these little ditches that run through the village.  A number of the structures are made of cement block. Others are made of wood and "other available materials."

Individual homes do NOT collect water. Instead, people get drinking water from a central tank. (left) It's probably easier to test one tank for purity than several dozen (which would be the case if each house had its own tank - as we've seen in villages that receive less rain).

People have a cooking area separate from their sleeping and eating house. Many of the cooking huts are made of mostly fire resistant corrugated metal.

The next day (left) we were invited for dinner at Ken and Kau's house. It was a very nice meal of cassava, noodles and corned beef and fish. Dinner is brought into the main living house and served picnic style on a table cloth.

This is Ken on the right, and Kau on the left. People seemed to come and go in a very casual way. School aged children were away at boarding school during the week and this house seemed to welcome quite a number of preschool children - the relationship of the children and the women was a mystery to us.

In any case, it was a treat to enjoy a meal with such generous and friendly folks. I hope you also enjoy seeing the inside of their home. We find this the most fascinating. The sleeping area is in the back. The mosquito net is pulled up when not in use. People take off their shoes when they enter a home.

There are three doors, one of them (left) is used only for ventilation. And that works just fine.