Tonga A-Z Visitors Guide - Small Guide to a tropical paradise
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 Tonga A-Z - The Tonga Visitors Guide

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Tonga


Language

While Tongan is the official language, English is also spoken by everyone. Tonga has one of the highest school enrolments in the South Pacific and 99.6% of Tongans are literate. The Tongan alphabet which only contains seventeen letters - the five vowels plus the consonants f, h, k, l, m, n, ng, p, s, t, v and the ‘ (the fakau’a or glottal stop).
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Lapaha

Lapaha was the capital and the seat of royalty for more than 600 years (from around 1200AD). Located in the northeast of Tongatapu it is the richest archaeological area in western Polynesian. There are 28 burial mounds of ancient royalty (langi) in this area. These imposing tombs have never been excavated due to local objections. They have been compared to the monolithic human staures of Easter Island (moai). The bus service from Nuku’alofa to Mua (20km) is frequent so it makes for an easy and rewarding day trip. Also in this area is the monument to Captain Cook who landed near here in the Endeavour in 1777.
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Lapita

Incised Lapita pottery has been unearthed in many places in the Pacific and is one of the main reasons to date Polynesian/Melanesian movement/settlement to some 3000 years ago. The art/craft of Lapita was lost around 200AD
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Laundromat

Savoy Dry Cleaners on Fatafehi Road in Nuku’alofa (south of the town centre) washes and dries laundry for T$2 a kilo. Open Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 6:00pm and Saturday from 8:00am to 2:00pm. On Vava’u the laundry is opposite The Moorings (Monday to Wednesday 8:30am to 4:30pm).
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Legends

Coming from an ancient Polynesian culture, legends and myths are part of the fabric of Tongan culture. For example, Tonga found its place on the planet when the demigod Maui cast a fishing line from Samoa and hooked what is now Tonga and pulled it from the sea. He then stomped on the islands to make them flat enough for gardening. In Western cultures there are still many who trace their beginnings back to a garden, a woman made from a rib and a story about an apple and a snake.
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Library

The ‘Utue’a Public Library below the Catholic basilica on Taufa’hau Road charges T$5 for annual membership and is open from 4:00pm to 8:00pm weekdays. There’s also a library in the University of South Pacific near the Golf Club on the way to the airport (they also have a collection of antique war clubs). The Friendly Islands bookshop below Tungi Arcade is one of the best in the Pacific.
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Lifuka

Lifuka is an island (11 square km) in the Ha’apai group. Lifuka and Foa islands (they are linked by a causeway) are the two most visited islands in the group but you certainly won’t find a crowd. This is a place of serenity and tropical beauty with comfortable accommodation and watersports aplenty. A good way to explore is to rent a bicycle. On the same spot where Captain Cook landed in 1777 and called Tonga the ‘Friendly Islands’, another boat (the Port-au-Prince) landed in 1806 and got an unfriendly welcome - most of the crew were murdered by warriors but the chief (Finau ‘Ulukalala II) spared young William Mariner, the 15yo ship’s clerk, and took him under his wing for four years. Mariner returned to England on a passing ship and published An Account of the Natives of the Tongan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. For a thought-provoking quote given to Mariner by the chief (and future King of Tonga), go to Money.
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