Accepting simple truths of life in Vanuatu… (aka some things
I have had to learn to live with):
1. Rubbish
disposal is all but non-existent. The garbage truck is very rarely in
operation. Public bins are full to overflowing. You occasionally pass people carrying
out a weekend clean-up bagging up litter from the side of the road, but it is a
scratch on the surface of the endless litter lining the verges. I even came
across one child being scolded when she threw her twisty packet into a bush and
it blew back out onto the road, as quite clearly she should have “thrown it
into the bush properly!”
2. The Vanuatu
people have not mastered road drainage. Or road maintenance for that matter.
Any bus trip is an off-road adventure, with pot holes the size of small elephants
and puddles to the bumper after heavy rain. There was a bus strike last week as
a protest against the state of the roads (no evidence yet whether this achieved
anything).
3. Safety has a
loose definition. There are no such things as seatbelts. You will often detour
via a service station when on a bus, where the driver will proceed to put fuel
in the car with the engine still running. It is not unusual to see workmen
balancing precariously on scaffolding meters high in bare feet, or operating an
angle grinder in thongs (and they’ve never even heard of safety goggles).
4. Time is a
fluid concept, as is distance. If asked how far, you are likely to receive an
answer of “klosap long wei” (translated as “close up that way”). One hour could
mean half an hour, or could mean 3 hours. Most questions are answered as “yes”
regardless on whether they mean it or not.
This brings me to my Easter Trekking experience. A last
minute decision to fly to Malekula for Easter to complete the 4-day Manbush
Trail Walk turned into the most gruelling and exhausting hike of my life, with
some hard-hitting truths of some of the above lessons.
Let me start out by saying the brochure looked very
innocent, with photos of happy faces and middle-aged couples going for a
leisurely stroll in the bush… WRONG! I guess tourism is a new concept on some
of the islands, and expectations of Western travellers are a bit different to
what the locals perceive.
Our small plane - which may or may not have had engine troubles...
We started out on Thursday, with a morning flight to
Malekula from Vila. We boarded our small 18-seater plane, only to fly a lap
over Vila and promptly land again. Engine issues apparently, so we were all
ordered to disembark and wait in the airport for further instruction. About an
hour later, we were asked to reboard (the engineers couldn’t find anything
wrong) and set off again for our hour flight to Norsup, Malekula. We did make
it thankfully, but the delay set back the start of our walk.
The view flying over Vila
Norsup airport
The truck picked us up from the airport (truck = literally sitting on the back tray of a ute) to drive us to the start of the walk, however before too long we came across a section of road that was so far underwater that even the 4wd truck couldn’t cross. The only option? Get out and walk across – another truck would pick us up on the other side. So began our first 100m waist-deep river crossing, carrying our packs and all our gear with us.
Another truck did pick us up and take us to the start of the trail. By this time it was getting close to 4pm, and the tour guide gave us the option of starting the trek then and possibly walking the last part of the day’s distance in the dark with torches, or staying in a nearby village for the night and starting off the next day. As we all had head torches and were reassured the track was quite safe, we opted to start the walk so we weren’t too far behind schedule.
It was only after starting out that they informed us about the 10 additional river crossings to complete before reaching the village where we were to stay for the night. And not just ankle deep streams – these were waist-deep fast-flowing rivers (thanks to a small cyclone the weekend before), the final five of which were crossed in the dark. Not ideal and I still can’t believe we all got through without one of us falling in the drink, packs and all, but we eventually made it to the village with soggy feet by about 8pm.
The villagers seemed a little frazzled at our arrival, but found us a hut to stay in (with thin woven pandanas mats to sleep on) and prepared us a meal of island cabbage (local spinach) and boiled taro. A shower consisted of wet wipes, and we crashed out to sleep (best we could on a hard ground with no pillow).
Our hut on the first night
Some local village children
The next morning, we were greeted with breakfast of more island cabbage, this time with boiled banana. Not the most appetising breakfast, but we sensed the need for energy for the day’s walk ahead so managed to eat our fill. We set off on a steep decline down a slippery, muddy path and soon discovered this was meant to be part of the walk completed yesterday, but due to the increasing darkness the guides had decided to stop for the night at a closer village (the reactions of the village then made more sense, they really weren’t expecting us!)
Green as far as the eye can see
More rivers to cross
Friday’s walk involved some stunning scenery, with vine-covered rainforest broken up by tropical flowers and the odd garden planted by a not-so-nearby village. However it was difficult to enjoy the scenery after a while whilst putting all concentration into foot placement so as not to slide down a muddy cliff as we climbed an 800m high mountain. Less river crossings on day 2, but we found that wet shoes + mud + steepness made for some sore muscles and physical and mental exhaustion. We also soon discovered that “meals included” did not include lunch, and so between us we shared out our dried fruit and nuts, muesli bars and crackers dipped in peanut butter for energy along the way.
Up up up!
Spot the forced smiles...
Umbrella anyone??
As darkness settled in and the head torches were brought out once again, we finally stumbled on some civilisation. 10 hours after starting out, we scrambled up a steep hill to our hut for the night, quads aching and packs feeling heavy, only to scramble back down again to wash off the mud in the river best we could (the guys were alright, they could strip off to bathe but for us ladies it was fully clothed). Our guides brought us some laplap for dinner (ground taro or yams wrapped in leaves and cooked in coconut milk) and we tried to find some dry clothes for sleeping.
Our hut, night 2
Muddy and waterlogged - my poor sneakers may never recover!
One toe casualty... Ouch!
We requested to set off early the next morning so as to get as much walking done in daylight as possible. Although 7am soon became 8.30 by the time they brought us some boiled banana for brekkie. The clouds looked ominous as we set off for day 3, and the rain soon started, making the muddy slopes even slipperier than the day before. This time it was two big mountains to climb up and then back down again. At one point we reached the top of a waterfall; a spectacular view until we saw the muddy cliff beside the waterfall that we were expected to navigate down. If I wasn’t concentrating so hard on ensuring I stayed upright it would have been quite scary. As I said, safety has a relatively loose definition. The swim at the bottom was a small salvation and a sigh of relief before heading off for mountain number two.
Laplap
Boiled banana
Wan bigfala waterfall
The final hour of walking on day three (another 10 hour day but we finished in daylight thankfully) should be classified as more of a stumble than a walk. I don’t think my legs have ever been more tired, and it was mostly the thought of a hot meal and an actual mattress for the night that gave me the energy to keep going. Fish with rice has never tasted so good, and the thin mattress felt like sleeping on a cloud!
We made it!
So that brought us to the end of our walk. We still can’t
work out why a walk that was meant to take 4 days was condensed to 2 ½ days.
The Sunday and Monday were then spent taking a leisurely three hour boat trip back up the coast
to Norsup, and then waiting around for half a day for our flight back to Vila, so we weren’t
exactly pressed for time.
I forgot to mention, our ni-Van tour guide and porters (who
carried our heavy gear) completed the whole 50 or 60kms bare-foot and looked
like they still had miles left in them at the end!
I’m still not entirely sure I could say I enjoyed the walk
after crossing the island from east to west, although it was a good challenge
and there is definitely a sense of achievement for having made it. I would have
liked a medal or at least a certificate at the end so there was something to
show, but I guess the photos will have to do! What a way to celebrate my
birthday weekend!
