Monthly Archives: November 2007

Vanuatu Village Life Cultural Demonstration

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Once it was light out we could get a better look at the bungalows. The floor is covered in woven floor mates, the kind that we watched the lady make on Waya Island. The frame is large bamboo rods. The interior layers of walls are made up of thin bamboo stalks lashed together. The exterior layers of walls look to be similar to the woven mats on the floor. The roof is palm fronts with a relatively tall pitch. The roof extends over the porch. The roof fits snugly at the corners where the roof is lowest, but there is a big gap between wall and ceiling in the center of the little hut. This provides good air ventilation, and with the roof extending so far beyond front walls, no exposure to rain. We have seen this style of construction even in modern buildings all over the south pacific, particularly in the Marquesas. The beds have a mosquito netting over them that you can put down to protect yourself from bug bites. There is a small gas lamp at the bedside.

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The restrooms are separate buildings that are shared by a few of the rooms. There is a small stall with a toilet and a basin with soap and water. There is a second stall with a shower. If you are looking for first world luxuries, you probably wouldn’t like it too much. If you are looking for a unique experience in a picturesque setting, this is the place for you.

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Breakfast was at 07:00. They served Continue reading →

Active Volcanoes and the John Frum Sing Along

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Continuation from yesterday”¦.

“¦we could see the red sparks shooting up through a huge hole in the ground. The sparks landed on a ledge around the hole, glowing brightly. In the first photo you can see the edge of the peak we are standing, the ledge the molten rock lands on, and the hole the lava and smoke comes from. The second photo is dark, but gives you perspective on distance, although this is just the ambient lava flow, not one of the many big eruptions we will see later. Hopefully, you can get a sense that we are not standing all that much higher than the lava fallout ledge.

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From the scattered rocks around, it seems that once in a while they make it beyond the ledge up to where we were standing. What amazed us is Continue reading →

Ceremonies, Plane Rides and Active Volcanoes

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We had heard that there was going to be a big parade at 0800. Today was going to be an exceptionally busy day, but we didn’t want to miss out on the public celebration of a big holiday, the 27th anniversary of the country’s independence. We were in town right at 0800. It turned out to be a ceremony, not a parade. Across from the produce market, in front of one of the government buildings, there was a small podium set up. There were a dozen official looking people seated behind the podium. In the street was a small squad of soldiers. The whole area was surrounded by police. The spectators mostly stayed on the sidewalk by the market. The ceremony began with the usual formalities flag salute, reading of a portion of the constitution, etc. Everything was in French, English and Bislama, so it took a while with the three translations. Then the president of Vanuatu gave a long speech. Not long after he started, it began to pour down rain. We feel sorry for those poor soldiers that had to stand in the rain. Here is a photo of the president greeting the soldiers before walking up to the podium.

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We listened to the speech for a while, but we realized we were running out of time and Continue reading →

The Mele Cascades Waterfalls

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One of the biggest tourist attractions in Port Vila is the Mele Cascades Waterfall, located a few miles outside of town. Jaime had gone to the Cascades before we arrived and he said it was worth going to a second time, so we knew they had to be good.

We caught a bus. The buses are odd for us. There is no regular route. You simply hail down a minivan with a “B” license plate. You tell the driver where you want to go and they eventually take you there, after a few stops along the way (and out of the way) to deliver other passengers.

The bus dropped us off at a nice park looking area. From the entrance you can see a nice footpath paralleling a stream. The path slopes upward gently and is nicely landscaped. As you walk up, there are quite a few small drops little, tiny waterfalls — in the river that are quite pretty to look at. There are birds chirping. It is really serene.

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Tour of Efate, Vanuatu Part 2

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Continuation from yesterday”¦..

“¦We were completely surrounded by the villagers, each of us having several weapons pointed at our necks and chests.

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After a very long minute, the villagers spontaneously ran off down the road. We were told to have a seat on a bench. The villagers reappeared and danced several dances for us. The dances were different from anything we had seen before. Most of the group was in neat rows and danced in place, using their weapon as a prop. They all wore ankle bracelets of toasted nuts in the shell, which made a maracas-like rattling sound in time to the music as they moved their feet with the rhythm. There were a few lead dancers who danced all around and through the group mimicking animal movements. Each dance was for a particular animal. In this photo you can see the man mimicking a bird to the right. The music was rhythmical percussion instruments, with the dancers all singing along in a deep bass. The music was powerful.

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After the dancing we were led Continue reading →