Abaiang Atoll

Abaiang lies just north of Tarawa, a long narrow atoll where Hiram Bingham II landed in 1857 and began the mission work that brought Christianity and a written form of the Gilbertese language, and the church he founded still stands. Villages run along the ocean side, the lagoon is wide and shallow, and life on the atoll is closer to traditional Kiribati than on crowded South Tarawa. Bingham translated the Bible into Gilbertese and effectively created the written form of the language while working here. The atoll is around thirty kilometres long and holds several thousand people.

History

Thomas Gilbert, the first European to record the island, named it Matthew's Island in 1788 after the owner of his ship, the Charlotte, and later mistakes turned the name into Charlotte Island. On 16 November 1857 Hiram Bingham II of the American Board arrived here, the first missionary to live in Kiribati (Wikipedia, Abaiang).

Highlights

• The mission church - the foundation from Bingham's arrival in 1857.
• The lagoon - the wide shallow water the atoll encloses.
• The villages - settlements strung along the ocean side.
• The traditional life - an atoll less changed than South Tarawa.

When to go

April to October is the drier and calmer season. Boats and flights are irregular in any month. The wet season brings heavier weather.

Practical notes

Transport is irregular and getting stuck is normal. Accommodation is village arrangements rather than guesthouses. Supplies must largely be brought.

Nearby

Marakei is north, and Tarawa is south.

Key facts