"Kiribati" a Kiribati Travel Page by Rusket

The Republic of Kiribati conists of three groups of islands on both sides of equator and on both sides of the date line: Gilbert Is., Phoenix Is. and Line Is. Christmas Island (Kirimati) in the Line Islands lies south of Hawaii, Tarawa in the Gilberts north of Fiji. 1. january 1995 Kiribati altered its time zones to make all of its territory lie in the same zone as the Gilbert Islands (GMT +12). Due to this, Kiribati was the first country to see the new millenium :-) That is how I heard about Kiribati, and why I wanted to go there.

The I-Kiribati, the people on Kiribati, are of mixed heritage, although mostly micronesian. Just look at this picture. Some people look polynesian, some mauri and some asian. The islands have been under influence of chinese traders, they have been a british protectorate, they have been occupied by the japanese and the americans and nowadays there are missionaries and relief workers from here and there. Looks like they have all left some genes ;-) Well, not the woman to the right, that is me :-)

The picture is taken in the livingroom at the guest house on Butaritari. In the evenings they used to put up a television set and a diesel driven power generator and show films on TV-CD's. Since we were guests, we were allowed to choose film :-) The whole village came to watch, and we felt a bit awkward to be given the best seats, while all the other people stood behind us.

Oh, my, my moose has become a VT member too, and has built his own Kiribati page, the little rascal!

This page, including tips, is based on our vistit on three of the atolls of the Gilberts. In addition I have made a Gilbert Islands page about specific experiences on Abaiang and Butaritari, a specific Tarawa page and separate pages about the towns Betio and Bairiki.

Only three of the 8 atolls of the Phoenix group are inhabitated: Gardner, Sydney and Hull were colonized by people from over crowded villages in what was then called The Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony in 1938, when they took over the lease.

This site by Jane Resture is very informative, with many pictures. She and her co workers write about all the islands, history, culture, world war II, nuclear testing on Kirimati (Christmas Island) and a LOT more.