Mand is a little community of Pingelapese people who were given a parcel of land by the Nahnmwarki of Madolenihmw in Pohnpei’s modern past. You can’t call it a town, but it feels more connected than many of the island’s Pohnpeian communities. In addition to the Pingelapese who live in Mand Proper, there’s a small village to the north inhabited by Kapingamarangi islanders, who settled in the area very recently (Kapingamarangi is a distant atoll that is culturally and linguistically Polynesian but politically a part of Pohnpei State). The center of Mand consists of the elementary school and church. Next to the church is a monument which lists the names of the first settlers from Pingelap Atoll — the founding members of the community.
Kokomaru Waterfall
Most local people outside of Mand have never heard of Kokomaru, which is strange, because it is a gorgeous spot and worth visiting. The route to the waterfall, which lies just downstream from the Mand community, begins at the end of an unpaved road next to the Latter-Day Saints (LDS) Church, passes through a plot of private land, and then cuts through the forest to the river. The trail tends to be overgrown, as the falls is rarely visited except by an odd kid or two from the community. Once at the riverbed, you can get a good look at the waterfall, which is similar visually to Liduduhniap. Some of the kids in the area will tell you that the rock behind the falls looks like a heart from certain angles (we didn’t see it). The cliff on the south side of the waterfall pool is the nesting site for a huge colony of Caroline Islands swiftlets which seem to fill the air when they leave their nests.
- Plan for 45 minutes round-trip for this excursion.
Piladad Pool
There is only one place you can safely swim in the Mand area and that’s at a sweet little pond known as Piladad, which lies up-stream from the last inhabited house and pigpen. The pool, which was once a gauging station for the watershed (the gauge apparatus is still there), is large and pristine with enough depth in the middle for the fun rope swing that dangles from an overhanging tree. There are also two small waterfalls. Piladad is a great place to go on hot days; the spot is close to the feet of the mountains and the water tends to be quite chilly. This also means there’s some potential for flash floods, so it would be wise to avoid the spot when rain clouds lie over the mountains. A narrow, but well-used, 0.4 km footpath to the pool begins on the south bank of the river next to Mand Elementary School. At the one branch in the path, bear toward the river.
Almost any kid you see in the area can guide you to either location. Offer $10 for a group of five or less.
- The hike takes about 10 minutes each way.
Nanpohnmweli (“Kerenis”) Waterfall
This very tall waterfall on the Sapwehrek stream can be reached by following the unpaved road 1.24 km (0.77 mi) north and east from Mand through a tidy Kapingamarangi settlement to the next stream over. The problem with visiting the falls from this access point, however, is that you end up at the top, where you can’t really see much. The rocks are treacherously slippery and there’s a long — certainly fatal — fall for anyone who makes a mistake. A local girl was killed when she fell from this spot a few years back. The nickname of the waterfall is derived from the Kapingamarangi pronunciation of the English word “Greenwich”, which is what sailors called Kapingamarangi Atoll during the whaling period. To visit this waterfall from the bottom, visit the Nanpohnmweli Waterfall page.
- This walk takes 15-20 minutes each way.