Abemama Atoll

Abemama in the central Gilberts was ruled by a line of chiefs who held unusual power for the region, most famously Tem Binoka, who controlled trade on the atoll absolutely and whom Robert Louis Stevenson described at length after staying here in 1889. Remains associated with the chiefly period survive. The lagoon is broad, the villages are quiet and the atoll is little visited. Stevenson's account of the atoll appears in his book In the South Seas, which remains one of the fullest outside descriptions of the Gilberts in that period. Abemama holds around three thousand people today.

Background

The atoll lies 152 kilometres southeast of Tarawa, just north of the Equator, and its islets ring a deep lagoon, covering 27.37 square kilometres. Its outline resembles an incomplete letter G, with two passages through the reef, one of them at the north-western end, between Tabiang village and Abatiku. Of the 3 main islets, the largest holds 11 villages and most of the people, and causeways join the eastern islets so cars can drive between them. Captain Charles Bishop came upon the atoll in 1799 and marked it as Roger Simpson Island, after a friend. Robert Louis Stevenson, who stayed 2 months in 1889, returned in July 1890 on the trading steamer Janet Nicoll.

Source: Wikipedia, "Abemama"

What to look for

• The chiefly history - a line of rulers with unusual power in the Gilberts.
• The Stevenson account - the writer's description of Tem Binoka.
• The lagoon - the broad enclosed water of the atoll.
• The quiet villages - settlements little changed and little visited.

When to go

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

Things to know

Remains from the chiefly period are fragmentary and take local knowledge to find. Transport is irregular. Accommodation is village arrangements.

Nearby

Kuria is west, and Tarawa is north.

Key facts