First Impressions of Honiara: Pothole City

Having travelled around a lot during my life, but never in the Pacific, I had no idea what to anticipate. With such little information on the internet about the Solomon Islands, it felt like I was just diving in head first, unprepared. 

My first impression of Honiara was “Oh! So this is what everyone was talking about”. It really had all the components people warned me about. Hot, dusty and nothing about city is the tropical paradise you may think it will look like from Google images. What you see on the internet about Solomon Islands is Western Province, or just anywhere but Honiara. 

Heat

The heat wasn’t so surprising, it's your standard island heat that you find in other hot countries like Indonesia and Singapore. I must admit, the lack of ventilation in a lot of stores though - that gets me every time. Some stores have fans, some don’t. Sometimes it feels like it makes all the difference, other times it doesn’t matter because you are already drenched in sweat! 

Dust

Quite frankly the dustiness of the roads didn’t really bother me until I got engulfed by a cloud of dust walking on a footpath, when a big truck zoomed by. Other than that, I’d say it’s not too bad. That being said, if you ever find yourself in a hot car in Honiara, just bear in mind while opening the windows may let some breeze in, it also means you might inhale a lot of dust!

Beaches

You won’t find any beaches near town! You will have to travel a bit further out in a car to get to some beaches and even then, it may not be the classic sandy beach you were picturing. But that being said, when you do find the beach, it’s beautiful! My tip is to just don’t be fooled into thinking that because the town centre is just by the coast that’ll  mean you find yourself near a beach everyday. 

Potholes

Now… of all the things I was warned about, this was the biggest shock for me. I thought I’d seen all types of potholes never have I seen so many potholes on one road in my life! I bet If you took a picture with a drone, some of these roads would make Honiara look like the moon with all these crater-sized potholes. Worse yet, they are incredibly deep. Lucky for me, I am situated on a road that perhaps has the worst set of potholes in Honiara. So much so, all the taxi drivers hate driving up the road! 

It makes for very bumpy, slooooow rides. The potholes, together with constant road closures, means driving in Honiara is nightmare and you will be stuck in traffic for ages! That’s why even though it’s incredibly hot, walking can be your best bet! 

Power Outages

Honiara likes to bless us with power most days, but then suddenly its out! Sometimes, its a planned power outage in your area that you weren’t aware about it (and you only find out when you hurriedly check Solomon Power’s Facebook page for updates) and other times your power just decides it’s had enough! Sometimes it’s 20 minutes, other times it’s 4 hours. Typically it lasts a few hours, but one time due to heavy rain causing a power line to tumble down… we had a power outage for over 24 hours. 

So stock up on some emergency water supplies, a bucket, some torches, candles and if you are to bring anything at all please bring a power bank! 

Now I don’t want this post to come across as I am dragging Honiara. It’s actually been a great new exciting place to call home. People in the Solomon Islands are super friendly and lovely. The fruits are amazing (especially Malaitan pineapples) and after awhile you will get used to all of it. If anything at all, all of this becomes somewhat endearing qualities of the city.

It’s a fun little way to make conversation as well. You get to joke around with all the locals and impress them with your limited pidgin by saying staka potholes (so many potholes) and road rough tumas (the road is too rough!) 

Now to end this rant of a post, I leave with you a classic joke many taxi drivers love to use here:

What is the capital of Papua New Guinea? - Port Moresby 

What is the capital of Vanuatu? - Port Villa 

Now, what is the capital of Solomon Islands? - Pothole!