Well, it has been a while between updates. Last weekend
marked 3 months on the island, and things have been fairly busy (in a relaxed
island-time kind of way).
Visitors have been and gone, with more on the way. First up,
Mum and Dad came for a week just after Easter, bringing with them a suitcase
full of goodies (mostly for work, but some for me as well!). Highlights of
their stay included Dad experiencing a magnitude 6 earthquake whilst lying in a
hammock; Mum enjoying mastering the local buses with frequent detours through a
village to drop off and pick up various Mamas and pikinini; a visit to my work
to help out with my early intervention group (although Dad could not be coaxed
to participate in the Hokey Pokey, much to my disappointment); a cruise on a
yacht out to Moso island for some of the most amazing snorkelling I have ever seen;
and visiting my kastom Mama and Papa in Siviri, where I went for my village stay.
Despite some typical wet season weather (there’s nothing quite like tropical
rain), I managed to show them the main sights of Vila and had just enough
sunshine to still enjoy some snorkelling and waterfalls.
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| There's some familiar faces - a coffee stop on our way around the island |
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| Snorkelling at Moso Island |
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| A refreshing dip at Blue Lagoon |
Last week I had Nicole here for 6 days, and again the weather came over wet and windy. With the cooler season setting in, it was also quite cold for Nic’s stay, and I actually wore a jumper for the first time since I’ve been here! We had to change our original plans slightly (the boat ride out to one of the islands would not have been pleasant), but the loan of my housemate’s quad bike certainly came in handy for the week and we had a great time (it just meant we had to go for a massage rather than a snorkel, tough life…).
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| Quad biking around Efate |
The sun came out just in time for Emma, Matt, William and Patrick to come to Vila for the day on the cruise ship, and we had a magical time at Hideaway Island and the cascades. The boys’ 5- and 8-year old excitement made the whole day thoroughly enjoyable (squeals of delight at seeing real coral and rainbow fish whilst snorkelling in waist deep water, and swimming in a waterfall that was “even better than the one in the Chipmonks movie!”) I think they all would have slept well back on the ship that night!
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| Birch family happy snaps |
The weather has fined up again since Nic left – I think she took the rain with her!
I’m also slowly ticking off some other islands of Vanuatu from my travel list, with a trip to Pentecost last weekend.
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| Flying over an active volcano on the way to Pentecost |
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| Lonorore Airport |
A group of us ventured to the large island to the north for the annual Nanggol or land diving ceremony. Basically a bunch of crazy blokes from the villages on Pentecost build a rickety tower out of bamboo and branches, tie vines around their ankles and jump off head first (it is believed that this ritual is the grass roots of modern day bungy jumping).
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| Nanggol |
Ok there may be a bit more to it than that… The tower is actually a bit more sturdy that it looks at fist glance, with a lot of thought and strategy going into the locations of the platforms, the way the vines are tied, and the way the structure snaps in certain places to break the diver’s fall. But I stand by my crazy comment.
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| And he wasn't even jumping from the top! |
The Nanggol is considered a right of passage into manhood for young boys, with some as young as 8 years old jumping from the lower platforms of the tower. The more experienced older men jump from the higher platforms, with 15 jumps all up. Throughout the ritual, men in nambas and women in grass skirts dance and chant in encouragement. It is supposedly quite safe (although they hit the ground, the slope and softening of the ground by turning it over breaks their fall), but there are still reports of injuries and the odd death in the past – mostly put down to bad spirits, or preparation rituals not being followed correctly. Needless to say, it was an incredible ritual to experience - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
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| Preparing to jump |
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| Dancing pikinini |
After the Nanggol we took a truck to a nearby village for the rest of our weekend stay – a lovely, quaint, basic but comfortable guesthouse on the beach where we spent our time swimming at the waterfall, snorkelling, playing and singing with the village children, and relaxing with a deck of cards and a book. I had arranged prior to our visit for the chief of the village to take me to see a couple of children with cerebral palsy in nearby villages for work. The rest of the group came along for the hour and a half trek up to the village on top – a lovely steep walk with some incredible views, to a village that had never before been visited by so many white people at one time (there were 6 of us!). I managed to complete a feeding assessment, fashion a drinking cup out of my plastic water bottle, and check over a wheelchair (not exactly my forte but Jane and Jo, you would have been proud!)
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| The walk back down from the village |
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| Our own private beach |
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| The waterfall |
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| Lush scenery |
It is such a different world and pretty special to be immersed into another culture, if only for a few days. I find it quite humbling and everyone I have come across in the villages have been so welcoming and accommodating, friendly and generous. This is definitely the real Vanuatu, away from the hustle and bustle and westernisation of Vila, and I hope to spend a lot more time in villages throughout the islands over the next 9 months while I’m here.
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| Kids learn to wield bush knives from a young age - this young girl expertly cracked open a sprouting coconut for us to taste the "navara" inside. |
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| Kids from the village |
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| All smiles - the children lined up to see the pictures of themselves on our cameras |
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| On our last night the pikinini treated us to a custom dance, followed by an impromptu sing-a-long with the chief and his guitar |
Three islands of Vanuatu down, only another 79 or so to tick
off the list…
