Kapingamarangi–a ringing name that embodies the ideal of remote, pristine Pacific islands for many cruisers. We had already dreamed of coming here, before we even set out cruising–inspired by beautiful photos we had seen at one of the presentations of the “Seenomaden” (a cruising couple who’s famous in Austria).
Last week we arrived here after a bouncy 3 day trip up from the remote islands of Bougainville–and were a bit amused to find the village with its 150 people (about 500 more live in the capital Pohnpei or abroad) more developed and connected with the world than the atolls we had visited before in Papua New Guinea, with a supply ship that calls every 2 months or so, watertanks and solar arrays, a medical centre with a visiting doctor and even a starlink antenna!
We got a very friendly welcome from chief Solomon, who inspected our papers and the cruising permit (you have to apply online in advance from the Federated States of Micronesia), then the police officer Twinson showed us around the two village islands (connected by a bridge) where the people still live in traditional houses. He also gave us a breadfruit, an important part of the village’s staple food: big breadfruit trees grow everywhere next to flooded fields of taro. These starchy sources of carbs together with bananas, papayas, coconuts and of course fish are the traditional diet here. We weren’t lucky fishing on the way here, but friendly fishermen keep dropping off tuna, jacks and rainbow runners they caught out in the pass. Wonderful Polynesian hospitality as we have enjoyed it all over the Pacific 
The village islands are densely populated
Chief Solomon
The visiting doc at the medical station
Well developed infrastructure
Women drying breadfrui poi to make it last
Taro fields
Woven mats are used as walls, but also rugs to sit and sleep on
The free WiFi draws villagers of all ages like a magnet 
