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.

What you actually see

• 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.

Honest expectations

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.