Survivor!!!

Aaron, our guide, took us to the narrow, unoccupied end of the island. As we splashed across the shallows onto the beach, Aaron told us that our “bush walk” was starting on one of the camp sites from the 2003 American reality TV show, Survivor,

and would end at the other Survivor camp site at the beach on other side of the island.  I had wondered where that was located, but we had no clue it was on Lelepa until that moment.  Interesting sidebar to the day.

As we walked, he shared cultural history, lore and uses of native vegetation. The path we followed seemed really wide and flat for a bush track… good reason. The US Army had cleared and leveled it for a road during WWII. The bush continues to encroach on the area, so they have to keep clearing it, but the wide flat base remains.

At the other end of the track, Survivor camp 2, we found a couple shelters used for food prep/dining and another one for grilling the meat for the BBQ they provided. 

Growing near the shelters was a group of trees that were blooming and attracting butterflies. Each tree seemed alive with fluttering wings.

Marring the vista, WWII concrete gun bases lined the edge of the beach, an ugly legacy of an ugly time. The rest room facilities where described to us as survivor toilets, but the scenery, sugar fine sand and azure water made up for it.