Venus

I dropped my bags down and went over to the patio which overlooked the astonishing view of the sun kissed blue ribboned ocean.

I closed my eyes and took it all in, inhaling the salty aromatic scent that blew through my window from the froth of the waves, as they crashed against the huge boulders beneath my room.

The passing clouds from my apartment window in London were gloomy and reminded me of stiff grey cotton candy balls, stuck in a pale background.

And as I stood, watching the clouds drifting, they came alive- fluffier, like white pollen floating freely, diffusing into the blue skies.

I was breathing in the purest air, which was an all day affair of luxury, to the people who live here.

Exploring flora and fauna on this tropical island, would bring my dream into reality. Hearing budgies singing, were the sweetest melodies I will hear since my mother sang to me.

I was in paradise, in a land where meals were not distinguished. They ate what they wanted, when they wanted, and how they wanted. I was on my dream vacation, in Guadalcanal of The Solomon Islands.

I had always loved to explore. My mom would call me Venus the little explorer as I collected seashells in my tiny bucket along the seashores and picked up souvenirs.

As I looked through my mother's journals she left behind, I knew I made the right decision. I dropped out of Philosophy classes this summer to pursue my mother's dreams of becoming an anthropologist.

My mother, Madeleine Hearth, bless her soul, was a world renowned professor of anthropology. She was always curious to find out the next best thing that transformed our future and pushed us into another new era of advanced technology and education from learning from our past.

She always had a story to speak about of her findings, and the experimental thesis she had performed.

In her doctoral dissertation research, of all her travels she explored, the one that was truly phenomenal, was the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, formerly known as the British Solomon Islands.

The Solomon Islands consist of over 900 islands, most of which still remain uninhabited. There are 6 major islands that are visited by tourists: New Georgia, Choiseul, San Cristobal, Santa Isabel, Malaita, and Guadalcanal.

I had to visit here to find out what made these islands so unique to my mother. I was here to explore their culture, religion, taboo, and ethnicity of this beautiful island.

The Solomon Islands are heavily forested, giving a diverse amount of wildlife and boasts many mountainous landscapes.

Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji.

The indigenous melanesian people were known to practice cannibalism, kidnapping, head-hunting, and slavery. The people are of a Christian faith mostly Anglicans and Roman Catholics, Seventh Day Adventist and South Sea Evangelical.

It is one of the most linguistically diverse nations in the world with seventy four local languages spoken here, four have gone into extinction.

The other seventy languages are made up of a wide-ranging mix of influences, but English remained the main language which was good for us because communication was comprehensive to learn more about their lifestyle.

Melanesians live in homesteads and hamlets and many small houses are powered by the popular solar power systems. Some families reside in the ridges, peaks and mountains beyond the coastlines and rely on vegetation and hunting.

From the time I landed, I started to document everything following my mother's footsteps.

We stayed in the capital, Honiara, of Guadalcanal due to the scarcity of freshwater resources and lack of sanitization elsewhere.

I was very aware of how serious the situation was and still is. The poorest Melanesian communities didn't have access to facilities to relieve their waste and 70% of the schools did not have access to clean drinking water and sanitation to toilets.

What was strikingly interesting when we toured the island, were schools were not compulsory and the Melanesian children have dark coloured skin with beautifully natural occurring thick blonde hair happily running around. They originated from Africa descent.

I was so fascinated by the ubiquity of blond hair kids, that night, I eagerly went over to my laptop and did my research in populations in gene mapping studies. What I found was truly amazing...

Studies have shown this phenomenon of genetic mutation of blonde hair is an arginine-to-cysteine change at a highly conserved residue in TYRP1 tyrosinase-related protein 1.

It is an enzyme previously recognized as influencing pigmentation in mice and humans and it is the major determinant responsible for blond hair.

This particular variant is found exclusively in Melanesian people and is absent in the genomes of Europeans.

The children are born blonde, but their hair tends to darken as they become adults due to increasing levels of eumelanin, a type of melanin that regulates hair and skin pigmentation.

In the late 19th century, the Solomon Islands was impacted by a condition called 'blackbirding'.

Blackbirding was the kidnapping of people on these islands, forced to labor on plantations in Australia and the Fiji Islands.

This ended around 1872 and led to many countries banning overseas labour recruitment due to the illegal practice.

I met a friend, Diana, who grew up here, and toured us around. We ate coconuts and drank the delicious water.

We started our hiking journey and visited Tenaru Falls in the rainforest which is part of the archipelago. Having a height of 200 feet it is considered to be one of the tallest and most beautiful waterfalls in Oceania and I second that.

We learn that the coastal areas are rich in beads and stones, salt and shells and the people take advantage of this to trade with the neighbouring areas.

Bags and nets are made from bush fibers which are commonly used for foraging, trapping and hunting.

Bamboo, another natural resource found on the island, is use to make water containers, carving knives, cooking vessels and torches.

The vast majority of Solomon Islands remains undeveloped to date, without telephones, electricity and roads.

There were black charcoal beaches due to the highly active volcanoes in the region. I must say, it was astonishing to see the jet black sand other than seeing it on social media and tingling my feet into it smelling like ash.

My handpicked team and I went to a section of the island whose prime location is the bottom right point of the Coral Triangle and northeast from the coast of Australia.

It is popular with scuba divers around the world due to the spectacular reefs, numerous Second World War aircraft wrecks, ships and submarines.

It is considered to be one of the best diving sites in the world and I had to experience it for myself, so I took the plunge. I swam in the blue crystal waters of the pacific ocean.

It was one of those experiences money cannot buy. I loved every minute of it.

The underwater wildlife species were so spectacular, we had to revisit it more than once.

We saw turtles and dolphins, ghost pipefish, nudibranchs, manta rays, seahorses, reef sharks and leaf scorpion fish.

The wildlife were in abundance due to the coral reefs. We spent a great day fishing in a boat charter and Daniel and I were able to catch Mahi Mahi and Barracuda with assistance.

It was my first catch and I was happy to take photos to post on my Instagram account of my great travels to the Pacific Islands.

Yam, sweet potato, kumara, cassava, plantain and rice are the main delicacies served with fish or breadfruit that locals call the Ulu and taro leaves.

These crops are locally grown along with sugar cane and spices. The pith or core tissue found in the sago palm is another delicacy of the Melanesian people.

It is processed into starch and made into pancakes or dumplings. We tried the pancakes with the catch of the day and it was scrumptious.

The sweet potato plays another important role on the island as it is heavily produced due to their inhabitants at high altitudes.

The population is still highly influenced by agriculture, fruits and vegetables are in abundance.

One of the most popular local desserts that Diana's mom Zeta, who was an anthropologist like my mother and I, made us try was bananas mixed with many other fruits, wrapped in pearl cassavas and served with whipped cream or caramel.

It was delicious! One of my team members, Keri, wanted to taste a roasted pig but was informed that pork was eaten on ceremonial occasions.

Melanesian art is another important factor in their culture. The practice of body painting, face, wigs, masks, headdresses, and elaborate costumes are all popular forms of art.

In religious ceremonies, physical art followed with music and dancing, are often used to portray mythical creatures, ancestors and for sole entertainment.

Melanesians also practice the telling of folktale, oratory, myth, which are redolent with metaphor and mythic allusion.

On our days of research we interviewed people about their name, place of birth, age, schooling, religion, marital status, how many children per household, clan and their gainful employment.

Most of the time the men would conduct the interview with us and the women would leave them to speak.

Females ranging from 15 -24 are prime for first marriages. The population is high, the abundance of children, is explained partly by a lower rate of infant mortality through mass medical campaigns over the years for the eradication of yaws and malaria.

Gender relations followed strict protocols in the separation and interaction between the sexes.

Women play a major role in Melanesian culture, they are at the forefront of agriculture, healing and rituals and domestic politics in their groups.

They are the primary caregivers to children and the primary food producers.

Antagonism between the sexes is not as dramatic among small groups as it is among larger groups. In all societies, however, the domestic space is divided between adult males and females.

It is normal in villages to have separate men's and women's houses. The reason for this is that it is a tradition for men to spend most of their time in ceremonial houses that are off-limits to all women and to non-adult males, and it is in these houses where matters of ceremonial importance were often planned.

A striking fact that is overwhelming as I moved around the islands and gathered new information daily was gender inequality and domestic violence rates on the Solomon Islands were amongst the highest in the world.

The men abuse their partners as a way of obedience and respect and the women surprisingly believe this is acceptable and justifiable if they refuse sex, not playing their roles as a women respectively or having a voice.

Another traditional practice found on the islands is something called a Bride Price. Men would visit communities, see a favourable woman, pay for her and claim ownership.

The male figure is usually dominant and violence towards women is common here. AUD- Alcohol Use Disorder has increased over the years in certain parts of Melanesia and AIDS poses a serious health threat in urban areas of Papua New Guinea.

Just as in any modern society, unemployment levels led to an uprise in crimes which affects the local tourism industry.

Visiting the Solomon Islands and studying the Melanesian people and culture was a great experience for me filled with educational adventures and exploration. For some, they would laugh at my dream vacation but to me it was priceless.